De Cartier

De Cartier
Studio album by B.U.G. Mafia
Released	September 20, 1998
Recorded	1997-1998 Schneider Productions (Sebeş, Romania) Midi Sound (Bucharest, Romania)
Genre	Gangsta Rap
Length	69:40
Label	Cat Music/Media Services/Sony Music 101 1122 4
Producer	Tataee
B.U.G. Mafia chronology
IV: Deasupra tuturor (1997) De Cartier (1998) După blocuri (2000)
Singles from De cartier
"Pentru '98 (feat. July & Andreea)" Released: June 11, 1998

De cartier (From The Hood) is the fourth studio album by Romanian hip hop group B.U.G. Mafia, released September 20, 1998, by Cat Music in Romania. The album went on to sell over 130,000 copies and due to some of its violently charged content, and the group's acerbic statements on drug dealing and Romania's post communist social situation, De Cartier was the source of much controversy upon its release. The frenzy that arose from this situation was also the source of a massive discreditation campaign by the Romanian media, who capitalized from the subject by intentionally portraying them in a negative light using false information. The pressure that was put on the group after these events occurred was put into words on their 2000 După blocuri album, making it one of their darkest materials to this day.^[1]

Background

The recording sessions for the album began in late 1997 and carried on throughout half of 1998. Similar to IV: Deasupra tuturor, Tataee was very active in the album's production, though the overall sound differed. Unlike their 1997 effort, which featured a more g-funk oriented sound, De cartier had more hard edged beats that made use of synthethized strings and electric guitars to orchestrate the dramatic sound that carried throughout the album. Longtime collaborators Camil Beldeanu and Eddy Schneider made fewer appearances playing keyboards for Tataee, who instead chose to be more hands on with the production of the album, contributing with keyboards on every track. He has stated in various interviews that the group had just bought their own keyboard and that that was one of the reasons he was able to contribute a significant amount to the album's compositions. A number of the tracks also use samples taken from iconic gangsta rap acts such as Eazy E and Scarface

Content

Production

While making De cartier the group decided to craft an album which would reflect their views on the Romanian society in the late 90s as inhabitants of a working class neighbourhood in Bucharest. Although rough, the album's tracks provided a more introspective and soulful outlook of working-class life in Romania than the majority of Romanian gangsta rap artists had showed to that point. With soulful songs such as "Poveste fără sfârşit" (Endless Story), "Ai grijă de şmenaru' tău" (Take Care Of Your Hustler) and "Viaţa-i doar un drum spre moarte" (Life Ain't Nothing But A Way To Die) the album worked its way through the controversy created by the rest of its content, paving B.U.G. Mafia's way to superstardom in Romania.

The success of the album also drew attention of Romanian pop artist Loredana Groza who recruited the group for her 1998 hit single "Lumea E A Mea" (The World Is Mine). The music video shot for the song was also the first hip hop music video to be released in Romania. The production on the album was generally seen as top-quality for that point in time, with Tataee's production performing well with his instrumentals and keyboard beats and Cristian Andrei's guitar contributions that added to the album's funk and rock-oriented influences.

Lyrics

The lyrics on the album were mainly written by the group themselves. Critics of the album expressed their view that the record glamorized crime, but the artists argued that the group was simply showing the reality of living in the working class areas of Bucharest, Romania. Tracks such as "Raid mafiot" (Mobster Raid) and "La vorbitor" (an untranslatable expression, basically meaning jail visit) are concept songs which depict a bank roberry and a conversation during a jail visit respectively while "N'ai fost acolo" (You Weren't There), "Când te loveşti de realitate" (When Reality Hits You) and "Limbaj De Cartier" (Hood Talk) are reserved for responding to critics who felt that the album's lyrics glamorized gang violence and had no factual basis whatsoever. "Limbaj De Cartier" (Hood Talk) is also notable as the first of two times when B.U.G. Mafia crossed paths professionally with Paraziţii, arguably their only real competitor in the Romanian music market from a sales point of view, as group producer Cheloo made a guest appearance. The album's best known track, "Poveste Fără Sfârşit" (Endless Story) was partly responsible for the popularity that B.U.G. Mafia gained during the late 90s, also winning them a "Best Rap Song" trophee at the 1998 Ballantine's music awards. De cartier is also notable in the group's history for its inclusion of the "La vorbitor" track. The song, which basically means "Jail Visit" in Romanian, features group member Uzzi writing from a convict's point of view depicting the harsh reality of the Romanian prison system. The concept was fairly new at the time and set a milestone in Romanian hip hop as prisons and incarceration had only been briefly mentioned in Romanian gangsta rap. Similarly, "Viaţa-i doar un drum spre moarte" (Life Ain't Nothing But A Way To Die) was dedicated to a friend of the group who had lost his life in a motorcycle accident in Spain.

Track listing

All song titles, notes, samples, writing and production credits are according to the album booklet.

Lyrics by Tataee, Caddy, Uzzi, Cheloo, Puya and Don Baxter.

#	Title	Time	Songwriters	Producers	Additional performers	Additional credits
1	"Intro"'	2:10	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, E.Schneider	Tataee, co-produced by Caddy, Uzzi & Eddy Schneider		Keyboards by Tataee & Eddy Schneider
2	"Ghici cine s'a întors"'	3:49	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu	Tataee, co-produced by Caddy		Keyboards by Tataee
3	"Pentru '98"	4:32	A.Demeter, V.Irmia, D.Vlad-Neagu, C.Beldeanu, C. Andrei	Tataee	Iuliana "July" Petrache, Andreea	Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
4	"Când te loveşti de realitate"'	4:47	D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Irimia, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi & Caddy		Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
5	"Viaţa'i doar un drum spre moarte"	5:18	V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, C.Beldeanu, C.Andrei	Caddy	Cătălina Toma	Keyboards by Tataee Guitar by Cristi Andrei
6	"Raid mafiot 2"'	3:07	A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Irimia, G.Mitran	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi		Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Gabi Mitran
7	"N'ai fost acolo"'	4:22	V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter, G.Mitran	Tataee		Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Gabi Mitran
8	"Hai să fim HIGH"'	4:17	A.Demeter, V.Irimia, D.Gardescu, E.Schneider	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi & Caddy	Puya, Cătălina Toma	Keyboards by Tataee & Eddy Schneider
9	"Poveste fără sfârşit"	5:24	V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter, C.Beldeanu, C.Andrei, G.Mitran	Tataee	Cătălina Toma	Bass by Gabi Mitran Guitar by Cristi Andrei
10	"Sânge latin"	3:52	D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Irimia, A.Demeter, C.Beldeanu	Tataee		Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu
11	"1, 2, 3"'	3:27	A.Demeter, V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, S.Istrati	Tataee & Caddy	Don Baxter, Gunja	Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu
12	"De cartier"'	4:24	D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter, V.Irimia	Tataee		Keyboards by Tataee
13	"La vorbitor"'	4:06	V.Irimia, A. Demeter, C.Beldeanu, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Don Baxter		Keyboards by Tataee & Don Baxter Guitar by Cristi Andrei
14	"Ai grijă de şmenaru' tău"'	4:39	V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter, C.Beldeanu	Tataee	Cătălina Toma	Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu
15	"Limbaj de cartier"'	5:42	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, C.Ion, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi & Caddy	Cheloo, Puya	Guitar by Cristi Andrei

Samples

• "N'ai fost acolo" contains an interpolation of "Homies & Thugs (Remix)" by Scarface
• "Raid mafiot 2" contains a sample form "Ruthless Villain" by Eazy-E

References

1. ^ "B.U.G. Mafia Biography on the group's official website". http://www.bugmafiaoficial.ro/istorie/Pagina-5. Retrieved 2010-11-26. 

External links

• De cartier at Discogs