Toseina is a slang term for codeine, a pharmaceutical opioid often used in cough syrup. This word is interesting because it directly references a key element of the song's title and theme, "Syrup."
In the context of the song, it highlights the artist's lifestyle and the drug culture often associated with trap music, where codeine syrup is mixed with soda to create a recreational drink. It's a unique and specific term that stands out from more common vocabulary.
"Syrup" is Shiva's ode to having made it on his own terms. The syrup in the title is lean, the codeine drink that's become a staple image in trap music, and he uses it as the song's running symbol for a slower, more indulgent life he can now afford.
Most of the song is straight bragging, but it's bragging with a point: he made his money without signing to anyone, and he wants that independence heard in every line. He name-checks Milan as home turf, brushes off gossip and haters, and lists out the cars, jewelry, and cash that prove he doesn't need the industry's approval.
There's also a harder edge underneath the flexing. He talks about coming up through real hardship ("I've been through storms") and about rivals who talk badly about him now buying his music later. It's a song about turning doubt into fuel, and about a lifestyle built on staying in your own lane.
Shiva is the stage name of Andrea Arrigoni, an Italian rapper born in 1999 in Legnano, a town near Milan in the Lombardy region.
He began releasing music as a young teenager, and a freestyle contest win in 2015 landed him his first record deal. His debut album, Tempo anima, came out in 2017, but it was the 2019 singles Mon fre, with Emis Killa, and Bossoli that made him a star.
Since then Shiva has become one of Italy's leading trap artists, topping the charts with albums like Milano Demons and Santana Season and teaming up often with fellow Milanese rapper Sfera Ebbasta. His music leans into a laid-back, melodic flow over stories of Milan's fast money and faster nightlife.