Cero can mean 'zero' or 'candle'. While 'zero' is a common word, its dual meaning as 'candle' makes it particularly interesting and evocative in this song.
In the lyrics, GionnyScandal sings, "Se passo accendi un cero, sì" (If I pass by, light a candle, yes). This line suggests a dramatic, almost ritualistic gesture, implying a deep impact or perhaps a remembrance. It's a more poetic and less common usage than simply 'zero', adding a layer of intrigue to the song's narrative.
"XOXO" is GionnyScandal's take on a relationship that runs hot and cold. The singer opens in all black, seeing everything in dark colors, then immediately contradicts himself: "I love you, that's not true." That push and pull carries the whole song.
He keeps a secret the other person will never know, even while asking to be told the truth in return. It's a standoff: two people circling each other, each holding something back.
The chorus counts through the days of the week with "xoxo" attached to each one, suggesting a fling that keeps repeating on its own schedule rather than settling into anything steady. The title itself is the send-off of a text message, fitting for a relationship that lives mostly in messages and half-truths.
GionnyScandal is the stage name of Gionata Ruggieri, an Italian singer, songwriter and rapper born in 1991 in Pisticci, in the southern region of Basilicata. His childhood was shaped by loss: adopted as a toddler and raised in Seregno just north of Milan, he lost his adoptive father at four, his mother at eleven, and in 2012 the grandmother who had brought him up. Those years became the raw material of almost everything he writes.
He started making a name for himself in the Italian rap scene around 2010 and released his first studio album, "Haters Make Me Famous vol. 3", in 2011. Since then he has become one of the defining voices of Italian emo rap, a style that sets melodic, sung hooks against blunt and confessional lyrics, and he has collaborated widely, including with pop veteran Max Pezzali. "MI MANCHERAI" arrived in 2023, one of the singles that led into his "Black Mood 2" project.