''După Blocuri'' (Behind the Buildings) is the fifth

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by Romanian hip hop group

B.U.G. Mafia B.U.G. Mafia (an abbreviation for"Bucharest Underground Mafia"), is a Romanian hip hop group from Pantelimon, Bucharest, widely regarded as one of the seminal acts of gangsta rap in Romania. Founded in 1993 as Black Underground, its original line ...

, 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 its 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 Vlad Irimia (; born October 17, 1976), primarily known by his stage name Tataee (), is a Romanian record producer, rapper, record executive, and music manager. He is one of the founders of the influential Romanian hip hop trio B.U.G. Mafia, also ...

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 ''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 conten ...

'' had sold over 130,000 copies which was unprecedented for a

Romanian hip hop Romanian hip hop first emerged in 1982, along with the break-dancing movement which became very popular in the 1980s. However, Romanian hip hop was developed in the early 1990s, when American rappers hit the European charts. Most notable Romanian ...

group, B.U.G. Mafia were catapulted to superstardom and with that, new problems occurred for them. The

Romanian media The mass media in Romania refers to mass media outlets based in Romania. Television, magazines, and newspapers are all operated by both state-owned and for-profit corporations which depend on advertising, subscription, and other sales-related reven ...

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".

Content

Production

In composing the music for the album,

returned to work with studio musicians after in 1998, for ''

'', 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 Romanian may refer to: *anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Romania **Romanians, an ethnic group **Romanian language, a Romance language ***Romanian dialects, variants of the Romanian language **Romanian cuisine, traditional ...

composer Viorel Sîrbu was also heavily involved in the production of ''După blocuri'', playing the album's

bassline Bassline (also known as a bass line or bass part) is the term used in many styles of music, such as blues, jazz, funk, Dub music, dub and electronic music, electronic, traditional music, traditional, or classical music for the low-pitched Part ( ...

s. The overall sound differs significantly from ''

'', as all

and

's productions do from album to album. The heavy, "boom bap"-influenced drums and the haunting

synthesizer A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

-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.

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

, 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 low-income 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 An ice cube is a small piece of ice, which is typically rectangular as viewed from above and trapezoidal as viewed from the side. Ice cubes are products of mechanical refrigeration and are usually produced to cool beverages. They may be produc ...

's song) serves as a short biography of the group, while "Cât A Trăit" (While He Lived) explores opioid use disorders through a narrative account of the heroin-related descent into addiction and consequent death of a close friend of group member Uzzi. The album's title track roughly translates to "In The Projects" and its lyrics depict the life in the working class

inner city neighborhoods The term ''inner city'' has been used, especially in the United States, as a euphemism for majority-minority lower-income residential districts that often refer to rundown neighborhoods, in a downtown or city centre area. Sociologists sometim ...

in Bucharest specifically 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

dance artist

Loredana Groza Loredana Groza (born 10 June 1970) or mononymously Loredana is a Romanian singer. She is known for continuously reinventing herself and for approaching numerous music styles throughout her discography, ranging from pop to traditional music and m ...

Track listing

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

, Caddy, Uzzi, Mari, Co-G and

Puya Puya may refer to: * ''Puya'' (plant), in the family Bromeliaceae * Puya (river), in Russia * Puya, a variety of Guajillo chili * ''Puya'' (Meitei texts), traditional or mythological texts of the Meetei people * ''Culoepuya'' or ''Culo'e Puya'', V ...

Personnel

*B.U.G. Mafia - executive producer *Vlad "

" 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 Sîrbu - bass guitar *Camil Beldeanu - keyboards *Cristi Dobrică - mix engineer/masterer *Cornel Lazia - photographer *Alin Surdu - designer

References

External links

După blocuri
' at Discogs {{DEFAULTSORT:Dupa blocuri 2000 albums B.U.G. Mafia albums