După blocuri

După blocuri
Studio album by B.U.G. Mafia
Released	January 18, 2000
Recorded	1999 Magic Sound (Bucharest,Romania)
Genre	Gangsta Rap
Length	57:53
Label	Cat Music/Media Services/Sony Music 101 2000 4
Producer	Tataee
B.U.G. Mafia chronology
De cartier (1998) După blocuri (2000) Întotdeauna pentru totdeauna (2000)
Singles from După blocuri
"După blocuri" Released: January 2, 2000

După blocuri (In The Projects) is the fifth studio album by Romanian hip hop group B.U.G. Mafia, released on January 18, 2000, by Cat Music in Romania. Recording sessions for the album took place throughout 1999 at the "Magic Sound" studios in Bucharest. The album features a darker tone than its predecessor, with heavy beats being accompanied by an overall sobriety in the lyricism. It has been categorized by fans and critics alike as the group's darkest work. Production for the album was handled by group member Tataee and some of his frequent collaborators at the time, keyboardist Camil Beldeanu and guitarist Cristi Andrei.

The album is notable for being the first in the group's history to have its tracks fade into one another and for including the hit single "După blocuri", for which B.U.G. Mafia shot their first official video directed by Bogdan Albu in January 2000.

Background

The group started work on the album in late 1998 and recording sessions carried throughout 1999. As their previous album De cartier had sold over 130,000 copies which was unprecedented for a Romanian hip hop group, B.U.G. Mafia were catapulted to superstardom and with that, new problems occurred for them. The Romanian media started capitalizing off their success by publishing false stories and intentionally portraying the group in a demeaning light. The anger and frustration of being unable to publicly defend themselves was put into a large number of the songs recorded for the album thus producing what the critics have called "their darkest work since their debut album".^[1]

Content

Production

In composing the music for the album, Tataee returned to work with studio musicians after in 1998, for De cartier, he had been more hands on with the production, playing much of the album's music on the group's newly-bought keyboard. Camil Beldeanu makes a number of appearances, playing keys on 5 of the album's 19 tracks and Cristi Andrei returns to create a number of funk-influenced guitar riffs, most notably on the album's title track. Romanian composer Viorel Sârbu was also heavily involved in the production of După blocuri, composing the album's basslines. The overall sound differs significantly from De cartier, as all B.U.G. Mafia and Tataee's productions do from album to album. The heavy, "boom bap"-influenced drums and the haunting synthesizer-keyboard elements account for much of the album's dark feel. The album relies more on live instrumentation rather than sampling. However, "A Fost Odata-n Cartiere" (Once Upon A Time In The Neighbourhoods) references a famous moment in the group's history through a sample of the audience at the 1998 "Ballantine's Music Awards", who had felt that the B.U.G. Mafia deserved the "Song of the Year" award that went to Holograf, by chanting the group's name. Romanian pop singers Roxana Andronescu and Nicoleta "Nico" Matei make guest appearances on four of the album's songs. Matei would later return to collaborate with B.U.G. Mafia for their 2002 single "Cine E Cu Noi" (Who's With Us?).

Lyricism

The album's lyrics represent a complex and introspective look cast upon the working class life in the poverty-ridden late 1990s post communist Romania. The group also addresses its long-standing feud with the Romanian media, who had retaliated a year earlier by capitalizing on slanderous articles suggesting that the B.U.G. Mafia had no respect for its fans or that they asked for ridiculous amounts of money to perform live. Songs such as "Carteru' Pantelimon" (The Pantelimon Neighbourhood), "Tine-o Tot Asa" (Keep It Up), "Anturaju'" (The Entourage) and "Mahoarcă" (Weed) depict the life of inner-city youths in Romania and some of their views and opinions about the contemporary society. "A Fost Odată-n Cartiere" ("Once Upon a Time in The Neighbourhood", named significantly after Ice Cube's song) serves as a short biography of the group, while "Cât A Trăit" (While He Lived) is a soulful ode to a personal friend of group member Uzzi who had died due to drug abuse a year earlier.

The album's title track roughly translates to "In The Projects" and its lyrics depict the life in the inner city neighborhoods in Bucharest and in Romania in general. The group shot its first official music video for the song, which was released as a single in January, 2000. Even though they had already appeared in the "Lumea e a mea" (The World Is Mine) video two years earlier, the group regards "După blocuri" as their first video as "Lumea e a mea" (The World Is Mine) was a single released by Romanian dance artist Loredana Groza.

Track listing

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

Lyrics by Tataee, Caddy, Uzzi, Mari, Co-G and Puya

#	Title	Time	Songwriters	Producers	Additional performers	Additional credits
1	"Intro"'	1:58	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Sârbu	Tataee	Laura Mesescu	Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Viorel Sârbu
2	"Cartieru' Pantelimon"'	4:37	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, C.Beldeanu, V.Sârbu	Tataee, co-produced by Caddy & Uzzi	Nico	Keyboards by Camil Beldeanu Bass by Viorel Sârbu
3	"Interludiu"	0:34	A.Demeter, V.Irmia, D.Vlad-Neagu		Țeavă
4	"Ține-o Tot Așa"'	4:02	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	"...Rămâne așa"	0:32	V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi & Caddy		Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
6	"La Greu"'	4:26	A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Irimia, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee		Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
7	"Capu' Sus"'	4:52	V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter, C.Beldeanu, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee	Roxana Andronescu	Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
8	"Cât A Trăit"'	3:22	A.Demeter, V.Irimia, C.Beldeanu, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi	Puya	Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei Additional Vocals by Roxana Andronescu
9	"Combinații"	0:38	V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter		Greu'
10	"Anturaju'"	4:32	D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Irimia, A.Demeter	Tataee		Keyboards by Tataee
11	"Interludiu"'	0:22	A.Demeter, V.Irimia, D.Vlad-Neagu		Pleșa
12	"Unii Sug Pula"'	4:18	D.Vlad-Neagu, A.Demeter, V.Irimia, C.Beldeanu, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee		Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
13	"A Fost Odată-n Cartiere"'	4:37	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, C.Beldeanu, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi	Luchian, Nico	Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
14	"Progres"'	0:56			Cătălin
15	"Două Dube"'	2:38	V.Irimia, A.Demeter	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi		Arrangements by Uzzi & Tataee
16	"Mafia și M&G"'	4:42	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, M.Codreanu, G.Codreanu, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee	M&G	Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
17	"Mahoarcă"'	4:35	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei, R.Bloch	Tataee	Roxana Andronescu	Keyboards by Tataee Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei Flute by Rudolf Bloch
18	"După Blocuri"'	4:24	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, C.Beldeanu, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi & Caddy		Keyboards by Tataee & Camil Beldeanu Bass by Viorel Sârbu Guitar by Cristi Andrei
19	"Outro"'	1:34	V.Irimia, A.Demeter, D.Vlad-Neagu, V.Sârbu, C.Andrei	Tataee, co-produced by Uzzi & Caddy	Greu'	Keyboards by Tataee

Personnel

B.U.G. Mafia - executive producer Vlad "Tataee" Irimia - performer/producer/mixer Dragoş "Daddy Caddy" Vlad-Neagu - performer Alin "Uzzi" Demeter - performer Marian "Mari" Codreanu - performer Gabriel "Co-G" Codreanu - performer Dragoş "Puya" Gardescu - performer Luchian - performer

Greu' - additional vocals Țeavă - performer and additional vocals Cătălin - performer and additional vocals Pleșa - performer and additional vocals Laura Mesescu - performer and additional vocals Roxana Andronescu - performer and additional vocals Nicoleta "Nico" Matei - performer Rudolf Bloch - flute

Cristi Andrei - guitars Viorel Sârbu - keyboard bass Camil Beldeanu - keyboards Cristi Dobrică - mix engineer/masterer Cornel Lazia - photographer Alin Surdu - designer

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

După blocuri at Discogs