Paraziții | |
---|---|
Origin | Romania |
Genres | Hip hop |
Years active | 1994–present |
Labels | A&A Records, Rebel Music, Roton, Cat Music, 20 CM Records |
Associated acts | Raku, Bitză, Pacha Man |
Website | http://www.20cmrecords.com/ |
Members | Cheloo Ombladon FreakaDaDisk |
Past members | DJ Ies Dinte |
Paraziții (Romanian for "The Parasites", pronounced [paraˈzit͡sij]) is a Romanian three-man rap and hip hop group founded in 1994. It consists of (Cătălin Ștefan Ion), (Ion Pastaca), and (Petre Urda). The group is largely known for their dark beats and political humorous lyricism.
The group was subject to multiple restrictions by the Romanian National Audiovisual Council, due to explicit language. Romanian television and radio stations were repeatedly fined for playing some of their videos/songs and two videos were banned outright. This motivated their song "Jos cenzura!" ("Down with Censorship!") which criticized the Social Democratic government and was released shortly before the local elections in June 2004; the music video includes a monologue of Larry Flynt blasting Romania's government for its censorship practices.
Ombladon, member of the group, won the Best Romanian Act Award at the MTV Europe Music Awards in 2004 with the song "Egali din naștere" (Born Equal).
In 2003 they established their own label, "20CM Records", providing launch pads for Romanian hip hop artists such as Spike and Guess Who.
Their first recorded track, "În jur" ("Around" - a homophonic pun on Înjur - I curse), dated September 13, 1994, represented Paraziții's breakthrough. At the "Nici o problemă" (No Problem) album release concert, a big fight started due to the La Familia-R.A.C.L.A. musical war.
Paraziții first performed out of Romania in 2000 by participating at the "Summer Hits" festival in Chișinău, along with the groups BUG Mafia and Zdob și Zdub.