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.

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".

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 Sîrbu was also heavily involved in the production of După blocuri, playing 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?).

...
Wikipedia