CROOKERS

CROOKERS is the name of a household Italian production duo, composed by instrumentalists Phra and Bot. 

Beginning as an effort concentrated on producing house music, the duo would make a name for themselves in the mid 2000s by crossing over into hip-house, crafting many mixtapes for the biggest Italian rappers, among which Guè Pequeno and Fabri Fibra. 

In a time where electro, house and RnB sounds were uncommonly associated with Italian rap, CROOKERS' production on tracks like "R E B" by Guè Pequeno and "Festa Festa" by Fabri Fibra and Dargen D'Amico served as a breath of fresh air for the industry, as well as an opportunity for the duo to expand their stylistic catalogue. 

Quickly consolidating themselves as providers of club bangers with a cross-genre appeal, in Italy, the duo's successes drew them to collaborations on the international music market. 

Providing official and co-signed remixes for the likes of acts like Chemical Brothers, Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Diplo and Tyga, the two Italians would direct themselves to one historic collaboration that would mark their careers, individually as well as a duo. 

In 2008, the already well-established "Day N Night", made by rap music pioneer Kid Cudi, was remixed by CROOKERS, yielding the duo their highest performing hit, to this day. 

The remix is seen as a modern classic which is popular to the point that the audience for Day N Night most likely all know this rendition. 

Jay-Z reportedly even remarked that this remix "made Kid Cudi's fortune". Regardless of the veracity of this claim, this collaboration translated into huge international success for the outlet, as well as an added cultural benchmark for hip-hop. 

In more recent years, the group has worked less and less as an entity, with Phra working by himself quite a lot., touring all over the world in various electronic music festivals. 

A full decade after Day N Night, in 2018, Phra would release his most recent body of work with "Quello Dopo Quello Prima", including 31 tracks and featurings from all over the Italian rap scene.

More recently, Phra founded his own music label, "Pluggers" ,with producer Nic Sarno,  to which new upcoming rappers like Massimo Pericolo, Speranza and Barracano signed, producing big hits like "7 Miliardi" by Massimo Pericolo and becoming an independent but valid alternative to major labels.

In summary, be it on the purely instrumental side, the music industry infrastructure side, or the full-length project side, CROOKERS have indelibly left a mark on Italian hip-hop culture.