Probe Audio
Encyclopedia
Probe Audio is the debut solo
album
from Romanian rapper
Guess Who
. It was produced by Agresiv, Sez and other producers and released April 25, 2009 by Okapi Sound in Romania
. It was re-released as Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio by Cat Music on December 8, 2009 in Romania
including three new tracks and a remix and remains one of the most critically acclaimed hip hop
albums in Romania
.
's 20 CM Records in 2007 and taking a break from recording with his own group, Anonim
, Guess Who immediately moved on to record his own album. Teaming up with Agresiv, a duo of Bucharest
-based producers, he started working extensively on new tracks with a rather unconventional approach. In 2007 a collective of musicians and artists came together under the name "Okapi Sound" with the purpose of collaborating, including Romanian hip hop
veterans such as Maximilian of Mahsat or Grasu XXL of XXL & 10 Grei. Guess Who recorded his album during a number of sessions in the independent Okapi Studio in Bucharest
. The album received a fair share of production credited to Agresiv, with appearances by established artists such as Grasu XXL, Paraziţii
's DJ Freakadadisk or longtime collaborators Spike and Griffo and newcomers like Lucia Dumitrescu or JJ, who provided vocals for eight of the album's fourteen tracks. Guess Who spoke on meeting and working with Agresiv in an Internet interview:
had repeatedly been criticized by Romanian hip hop
fans of having a style that resembled Paraziţii
too much, providing little innovation in an already monotone music scene. Even though he kept the ironic attitude towards approaching his subjects, he moved on to more serious social issues
such as living in a post communist country that had seemed to have lost its values, violence, poverty or drug abuse
. Focusing on the hardships of life in Romania
as well as criticizing the Romanian political system, Guess Who became an acknowledged voice for the post-communist Romanian generation.
With socio-political conscious themes abounding throughout the album, Guess Who speaks of the numerous problems that impoverish the Romania
n society and constantly observes a number of socio-political issues such as corruption in the Romanian political system, lack of interest by Romanian authorities in helping the younger generations and the new values and interests that seized the Romanian society after the fall of communism and the liberalization of the economical market. On "Flori Ilegale" (Illegal Flowers), he takes an inquisitive stance in approaching the newly developed drug habits of the younger Romanian population while speaking about his own problems with marijuana abuse. Even though the track was leaked onto the Internet
a year and a half earlier than the album's official release, it was highly acclaimed and has been referenced numerous times by various Romanian artists. Guess Who also references his issues with marijuana on the album's lead single, "Tu" (You), where, over an Agresiv reggae-funk infused beat he shares the songwriting with longtime collaborator Spike. The song depicts the duo's bizarre adventures while smoking marijuana as they go through various mental states, from anxiety
and relaxation
to being close to having a panic attack
as they get pulled over by the police and, although the track seems to actually stand as an anti-drug ode, as they describe their weird and unpleasant sensations they experience while being intoxicated, it appears to have to have caught on with the Romanian audience for the sole reason it references drug abuse.
On Eu Gen, a Romanian play of words referencing the extensive use of the word "gen" (a Romanian version of the English colloquial word "like") by Romanian adolescents and the Romanian name Eugen he ironizes the archetypical
Romanian young male of the late 2000s by creating an obnoxious, shallow and annoying fictional character named Eugen, portrayed by Romanian stand up comedian
Tiberiu Popovici, who insists on being ironic and laid back even though he is secretly ridiculed by the people he comes in contact with. The song was released as the album's second single and the music video
depicted Eugen going around the city putting up a facade to impress his peers and the women he meets as he ends up being slapped when he tries to make an impression of a hip hop
dancer. The single had less critical and commercial success than "Tu" (You) but Guess Who started a campaign against social shallowness in Romania using the character.
After "A Doua Oara" (The Second Time), a laid-back collaboration with Grasu XXL that depicts the various promises an individual makes to himself after undergoing various unpleasant experiences, Guess Who unfolds a soulful story about a young married couple who desperately try to survive and provide for their children in the Romanian society through the perspective of the male counterpart of the relationship over a jazz-influenced, Agresiv-produced instrumental. The sped up sample of Romanian singer Anca Agemolu's 1960s song "Aici" (Here) provides for the contrast between the positive and uplifting chorus and the dark, gritty lyrics. Jazz and soul influences are recurrent throughout the album's beats, contributing to Guess Who's successful and innovative style of songwriting.
A fair share of the album's tracks are dedicated to the artist's new approach of interpersonal relationships
. A dark piano riff
on "Eu, Tu Si Restu' ..." (Me, You And The Rest ...) plays as Guess Who examines a complicated relationship with a woman with whom he has grown apart to the point that he finds her presence highly irritating while JJ provides the background vocals. Much like "Ca Doua Flori", the song's chorus is written in a different key than the rest of the lyrics, again creating a strong contrast as Guess Who browses through extremely diverse feelings. The track also contains a sample of the highly acclaimed Cristian Nemescu
film Marilena from P7
, featuring one of the characters expressing his beliefs that all women are materialists
who only use men to achieve personal goals. Guess Who further discusses the topic on "Special", a collaboration with pop singer Lucia Dumitrescu. Under the appearance of a jazzy love song
he cynically renders romance useless when dealing with women only interested in material values as he applies reverse psychology
and tells such a woman everything she wants to hear for the sole purpose of having sex with her. The album's ninth track, "De Urgenta" (Emergency), runs a little over two minutes and, though only an elaborate skit, it appears to be the female counteroffensive to the misogynistic tone of "Eu, Tu Si Restu' ..." (Me, You And The Rest ...) and "Special". It features Guess Who singing a few words over a multi-layered guitar track and a sample of Romanian actress Iulia Marcov in character viciously cursing at men in the 2006 short film "Amatorul" (The Amateur). This technique is reminiscent of Ice Cube
's "It's a Man's World" from his 1990 solo effort Amerikkka's Most Wanted where, together with fellow female rapper Yo-Yo
, he engages in a hip hop battle of the sexes
. A personal friend of Guess Who, credited on the album cover as Mircea "Ciulikă" Ştefan performs a monologue about financial difficulties and contemporary life in Romania
on the thirteenth track, "In Viata Mea" (In My Life). Swedish producer RazOne contributes to the song's instrumental, as credited in the album's liner notes.
The album ends with the soul-funk influenced song "Nicio Grija" (No Worries), produced by the Galaţi
-based producer Sez with additional contributions by Agresiv. Guess Who unfolds his general views on life, music and social status on what seems to be the most sincere track of the album while urging the listeners to relax and put aside their personal frustrations. The song was carefully selected to be the last on the album as it serves to an honest and pragmatic ending. Guess Who later stated in an interview that this was his favorite song off Probe Audio.
's 20 CM Records and started working on new material, he leaked "Flori Ilegale" (Illegal Flowers) and "Eu, Tu Si Restu' ..." (Me, You And The Rest ...) on the Internet and, after receiving positive reviews, he announced the album for a 2007 release. In spite of this, the production process underwent several difficulties forcing him to delay this release for over two years. In March 2009 he started a personal website and a blog to allow him easier communication with his fans and apologized for the repeated pushbacks of the album stating that he would release it shortly. After releasing the Agresiv-produced single "Tu" (You) in February 2009, the album was made available on April 26, 2009 via his official website. The CDs were originally mailed to customers through the Romanian Post but after experiencing various problems, the delivery method was changed to a private shipping company to enable fans to receive merchandise faster. Two weeks before the album was made available to retail, a number of unfinished songs were leaked onto the Internet
, contributing to the album's highly anticipated status amongst Romanian hip hop
fans.
Promotion was done independently and exclusively on the Internet for the first version of the album and despite this it sold over two thousand copies in the first weeks of availability. This attracted interest by the Romanian TV music channel 1Music who started airing the album's lead single "Tu" (You). On YouTube, the music video
for Tu (You) was accessed by over 120,000 viewers. In late 2009 Guess Who signed a contract with the Romanian music label Cat Music who distributed a new version of "Probe Audio" together with the sports newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor (The Sports Newspaper in Romanian). The re-release of the album included three new tracks and a remix to the album's second single "Eugen" and also the video for the third single "Locul Potrivit" (The Right Place). Cat Music's interest in Guess Who was stimulated by Romanian radio stations that started airing "Locul Potrivit" after radio host Şerban Huidu
discovered the song on the Internet
and aired it on Kiss FM
during his morning show. Guess Who promoted his albums in a series of interviews and radio ads in the Romanian media throughout 2009.
in Romania, receiving a consistent amount of positive feedback. The track's original name was Anul 2000 (The Year 2000) but he later changed it as he stated the "Anul 2000" brand was registered in Romania and thus, not available for free public use.. The song was discovered by Romanian radio host Şerban Huidu
and he gave high praise to the track's original and intelligent lyrical delivery as he started promoting it on Kiss FM
. Shortly afterwards, many other radio stations started airing the song, creating a new buzz around Guess Who and also sparking interest from Romanian music labels. He eventually signed with Cat Music for a one album deal similar to fellow hip hop acts B.U.G. Mafia
and Puya, who also released their albums with Romania's largest sports newspaper at the time, Gazeta Sporturilor to boost their cd sales. Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio included the re-release's lead single "Locul Potrivit" (The Right Place), two other new tracks, amongst which a collaboration with Romanian reggae
group Camuflaj and a remix of the original album's second single "Eugen".
"Locul Potrivit" was the single meant to promote the re-release of "Probe Audio" being officially released on December 8, 2009 with a music video directed by Marian Crişan depicting Guess Who's friends and collaborators with protest signs such as "Nu ne-am nascut in locul potrivit" (We weren't born in the right place) or "Ne vedem in anul 3000" (See you in the year 3000), Romanian gymnast
Laura Cristache performing some routines as a reference to Romania
's underfunded sports system and children dressed as young communists
singing the socialist adulation
-styled sample of Horia Moculescu
's 1977 song "Noi În Anul 2000" (Us In The Year 2000) in the beginning of the song. The track casts a critical view upon the Romanian society and its post-communist flaws as Guess Who expresses his wish of being born in a different place.
"Viseaza" (Dream) is a ragga
-influenced collaboration with Romanian reggae act Camuflaj. Bucharest
-based duo Agresiv produced the downtempo, reggae-funk infused instrumental and, as Guess Who sings his way through the chorus with lyrics about marijuana consumption and general considerations about life in general, Camuflaj complete the song with a soulful and conscious approach in discussing the use of cannabis
in stress-related issues.
"07.03.2006" (March 7, 2006) is one of the album's darkest and most introspective tracks. Guess Who shares his thoughts on various subjects, generally related to contemporary life in Romania
such as Traian Băsescu
being elected president, alcohol
and drug
abuse in high school, the concern that his financial income is very limited as a Romanian hip hop
artist and describes the next day, March 8th
, as an opportunity for materialist women to show their flaws. Even though the main themes of the song are the general monotony and repetitive patterns of life that lurre him into deep depression
and angoisse
, it also proves to be one of the darkest depictions of life as a Romanian
in the mid to late 2000s.
"Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio" was highly anticipated by the Romanian audience and was bootlegged
very fast, only a couple of hours after its release with Gazeta Sporturilor. Guess Who spoke about this re-release in a 2009 interview with the Monden.Info website:
Dan Lucian Stefancu of "Deceblog" has noted Guess Who's ability to use the Internet in his own favor saying, "Hip hop artists were the ones to understand the Internet and have taken full advantage of it. The music video for Tu [the album's first single] has gathered over 100,000 views on YouTube and 66,000 on Vimeo" .
Mihdel of DivercityCafe also reviewed this album saying, "Probe Audio has been produced by Agresiv and Guess Who, it includes 14 tracks having a strong message to send in its raw lyrics with their ironic approach that emphasize on a more melodic interpretation. I think it's not only a hip hop album, but really more than that." .
The Romanian hip hop
community has also extensively covered this album in their online debates on Internet forums, such as Hades Records
or Hiphopkulture.. The reception amongst fans has also been generally positive, emphasizing on the album's jazzy production and socio-political lyrical themes.
after the Internet
gained widespread availability in the mid 2000s. This led to a situation where most labels avoided signing any new hip hop acts, since the Internet bootlegging would practically impair any possibility to move units. Guess Who has claimed on his official blog that the album received over 1,000 pre-orders in the first week it was made available for sell on the official website. Since it was an independent release, no other official data has been made available by the artist or his legal representation. After he signed with Cat Music to re-release the album with Gazeta Sporturilor (The Sports Newspaper), the label has said that the request for the album has been so high that an additional number of discs had to be manufactured and sent out.
Lyrics by Guess Who, Griffo, Spike, Mitza, Grasu XXL, Camuflaj, music compositions listed below.
Solo album
A solo album, in popular music, is an album headlined by a current or former member of a band. A solo album may feature simply one person performing all instruments, but typically features the work of other collaborators; rather, it may be made with different collaborators than the artist is...
album
Studio album
A studio album is an album made up of tracks recorded in the controlled environment of a recording studio. A studio album contains newly written and recorded or previously unreleased or remixed material, distinguishing itself from a compilation or reissue album of previously recorded material, or...
from Romanian rapper
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
Guess Who
Guess Who (rapper)
Laurenţiu Mocanu , better known by his stage name Guess Who is a Romanian rapper. He began his career as a member of the rap group Anonim along with group members Zekko and Griffo, and later launched a successful solo career in music...
. It was produced by Agresiv, Sez and other producers and released April 25, 2009 by Okapi Sound in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
. It was re-released as Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio by Cat Music on December 8, 2009 in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
including three new tracks and a remix and remains one of the most critically acclaimed hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
albums in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
.
Conception
After departing from ParaziţiiParazitii
Paraziţii is a Romanian three-man rap and hip hop group founded in 1994. It consists of Cheloo , Ombladon , and FreakaDaDisk .The group is largely known for their dark beats and political humorous lyricism.-History:The group was subject to multiple restrictions by the Romanian National Audiovisual...
's 20 CM Records in 2007 and taking a break from recording with his own group, Anonim
Anonim
Anonim were an underground hip hop duo from Bucharest, Romania, consisting of emcees Laurentiu "Guess Who" Mocanu and Zekko. The group was largely known for their dark humour and affiliation with hip hop veterans Paraziţii in their early careers....
, Guess Who immediately moved on to record his own album. Teaming up with Agresiv, a duo of Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
-based producers, he started working extensively on new tracks with a rather unconventional approach. In 2007 a collective of musicians and artists came together under the name "Okapi Sound" with the purpose of collaborating, including Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop is the hip hop music style that was developed in Romania around 1992. Most notable Romanian hip hop artists come from Bucharest, Romania's capital and largest city. The genre is currently growing in popularity in Europe...
veterans such as Maximilian of Mahsat or Grasu XXL of XXL & 10 Grei. Guess Who recorded his album during a number of sessions in the independent Okapi Studio in Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
. The album received a fair share of production credited to Agresiv, with appearances by established artists such as Grasu XXL, Paraziţii
Parazitii
Paraziţii is a Romanian three-man rap and hip hop group founded in 1994. It consists of Cheloo , Ombladon , and FreakaDaDisk .The group is largely known for their dark beats and political humorous lyricism.-History:The group was subject to multiple restrictions by the Romanian National Audiovisual...
's DJ Freakadadisk or longtime collaborators Spike and Griffo and newcomers like Lucia Dumitrescu or JJ, who provided vocals for eight of the album's fourteen tracks. Guess Who spoke on meeting and working with Agresiv in an Internet interview:
Music and lyrical content
AnonimAnonim
Anonim were an underground hip hop duo from Bucharest, Romania, consisting of emcees Laurentiu "Guess Who" Mocanu and Zekko. The group was largely known for their dark humour and affiliation with hip hop veterans Paraziţii in their early careers....
had repeatedly been criticized by Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop is the hip hop music style that was developed in Romania around 1992. Most notable Romanian hip hop artists come from Bucharest, Romania's capital and largest city. The genre is currently growing in popularity in Europe...
fans of having a style that resembled Paraziţii
Parazitii
Paraziţii is a Romanian three-man rap and hip hop group founded in 1994. It consists of Cheloo , Ombladon , and FreakaDaDisk .The group is largely known for their dark beats and political humorous lyricism.-History:The group was subject to multiple restrictions by the Romanian National Audiovisual...
too much, providing little innovation in an already monotone music scene. Even though he kept the ironic attitude towards approaching his subjects, he moved on to more serious social issues
Social issues
Social issues are controversial issues which relate to people's personal lives and interactions. Social issues are distinguished from economic issues...
such as living in a post communist country that had seemed to have lost its values, violence, poverty or drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
. Focusing on the hardships of life in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
as well as criticizing the Romanian political system, Guess Who became an acknowledged voice for the post-communist Romanian generation.
With socio-political conscious themes abounding throughout the album, Guess Who speaks of the numerous problems that impoverish the Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
n society and constantly observes a number of socio-political issues such as corruption in the Romanian political system, lack of interest by Romanian authorities in helping the younger generations and the new values and interests that seized the Romanian society after the fall of communism and the liberalization of the economical market. On "Flori Ilegale" (Illegal Flowers), he takes an inquisitive stance in approaching the newly developed drug habits of the younger Romanian population while speaking about his own problems with marijuana abuse. Even though the track was leaked onto the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
a year and a half earlier than the album's official release, it was highly acclaimed and has been referenced numerous times by various Romanian artists. Guess Who also references his issues with marijuana on the album's lead single, "Tu" (You), where, over an Agresiv reggae-funk infused beat he shares the songwriting with longtime collaborator Spike. The song depicts the duo's bizarre adventures while smoking marijuana as they go through various mental states, from anxiety
Anxiety
Anxiety is a psychological and physiological state characterized by somatic, emotional, cognitive, and behavioral components. The root meaning of the word anxiety is 'to vex or trouble'; in either presence or absence of psychological stress, anxiety can create feelings of fear, worry, uneasiness,...
and relaxation
Relaxation (psychology)
In psychology, relaxation is the emotional state of low tension, in which there is an absence of arousal that could come from sources such as anger, anxiety, or fear. Relaxation is a form of mild ecstasy coming from the frontal lobe of the brain in which the backward cortex sends signals, or...
to being close to having a panic attack
Panic attack
Panic attacks are periods of intense fear or apprehension that are of sudden onset and of relatively brief duration. Panic attacks usually begin abruptly, reach a peak within 10 minutes, and subside over the next several hours...
as they get pulled over by the police and, although the track seems to actually stand as an anti-drug ode, as they describe their weird and unpleasant sensations they experience while being intoxicated, it appears to have to have caught on with the Romanian audience for the sole reason it references drug abuse.
On Eu Gen, a Romanian play of words referencing the extensive use of the word "gen" (a Romanian version of the English colloquial word "like") by Romanian adolescents and the Romanian name Eugen he ironizes the archetypical
Archetype
An archetype is a universally understood symbol or term or pattern of behavior, a prototype upon which others are copied, patterned, or emulated...
Romanian young male of the late 2000s by creating an obnoxious, shallow and annoying fictional character named Eugen, portrayed by Romanian stand up comedian
Stand-up comedy
Stand-up comedy is a comedic art form. Usually, a comedian performs in front of a live audience, speaking directly to them. Their performances are sometimes filmed for later release via DVD, the internet, and television...
Tiberiu Popovici, who insists on being ironic and laid back even though he is secretly ridiculed by the people he comes in contact with. The song was released as the album's second single and the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
depicted Eugen going around the city putting up a facade to impress his peers and the women he meets as he ends up being slapped when he tries to make an impression of a hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
dancer. The single had less critical and commercial success than "Tu" (You) but Guess Who started a campaign against social shallowness in Romania using the character.
After "A Doua Oara" (The Second Time), a laid-back collaboration with Grasu XXL that depicts the various promises an individual makes to himself after undergoing various unpleasant experiences, Guess Who unfolds a soulful story about a young married couple who desperately try to survive and provide for their children in the Romanian society through the perspective of the male counterpart of the relationship over a jazz-influenced, Agresiv-produced instrumental. The sped up sample of Romanian singer Anca Agemolu's 1960s song "Aici" (Here) provides for the contrast between the positive and uplifting chorus and the dark, gritty lyrics. Jazz and soul influences are recurrent throughout the album's beats, contributing to Guess Who's successful and innovative style of songwriting.
A fair share of the album's tracks are dedicated to the artist's new approach of interpersonal relationships
Intimate relationship
An intimate relationship is a particularly close interpersonal relationship that involves physical or emotional intimacy. Physical intimacy is characterized by romantic or passionate love and attachment, or sexual activity. The term is also sometimes used euphemistically for a sexual...
. A dark piano riff
RIFF
The Resource Interchange File Format is a generic file container format for storing data in tagged chunks. It is primarily used to store multimedia such as sound and video, though it may also be used to store any arbitrary data....
on "Eu, Tu Si Restu' ..." (Me, You And The Rest ...) plays as Guess Who examines a complicated relationship with a woman with whom he has grown apart to the point that he finds her presence highly irritating while JJ provides the background vocals. Much like "Ca Doua Flori", the song's chorus is written in a different key than the rest of the lyrics, again creating a strong contrast as Guess Who browses through extremely diverse feelings. The track also contains a sample of the highly acclaimed Cristian Nemescu
Cristian Nemescu
Cristian Nemescu was a Romanian film director.Nemescu was born in Bucharest. He graduated from the Academy for Theater and Film in 2003. During his final year in the academy he made a short film, Story From The Third Block Entrance, that received awards at the NYU International Student Film...
film Marilena from P7
Marilena from P7
Marilena from P7 is a medium-length Romanian film, directed by Cristian Nemescu. First released in 2006, it was also nominated the same year for the Semaine de la critique section of the 59th Cannes Film Festival....
, featuring one of the characters expressing his beliefs that all women are materialists
Economic materialism
Materialism is a mindset that views the consumption and acquisition of material goods as positive and desirable. It is often bound up with a value system which regards social status as being intrinsically linked to affluence as well as the perception that happiness can be increased through...
who only use men to achieve personal goals. Guess Who further discusses the topic on "Special", a collaboration with pop singer Lucia Dumitrescu. Under the appearance of a jazzy love song
Love song
A love song is about falling in love and the feelings it brings. Anthologies of love songs often contain a mixture of both of these types of song. A bawdy song is both humorous and saucy, emphasizing the physical pleasure of love rather than the emotional joy...
he cynically renders romance useless when dealing with women only interested in material values as he applies reverse psychology
Reverse psychology
Reverse psychology is a technique involving the advocacy of a belief or behavior that is opposite to the one desired, with the expectation that this approach will encourage the subject of the persuasion to do what actually is desired: the opposite of what is suggested...
and tells such a woman everything she wants to hear for the sole purpose of having sex with her. The album's ninth track, "De Urgenta" (Emergency), runs a little over two minutes and, though only an elaborate skit, it appears to be the female counteroffensive to the misogynistic tone of "Eu, Tu Si Restu' ..." (Me, You And The Rest ...) and "Special". It features Guess Who singing a few words over a multi-layered guitar track and a sample of Romanian actress Iulia Marcov in character viciously cursing at men in the 2006 short film "Amatorul" (The Amateur). This technique is reminiscent of Ice Cube
Ice Cube
O'Shea Jackson , better known by his stage name Ice Cube, is an American rapper and actor. He began his career as a member of the hip-hop group C.I.A. and later joined the rap group N.W.A. After leaving N.W.A in December 1989, he built a successful solo career in music, and also as a writer,...
's "It's a Man's World" from his 1990 solo effort Amerikkka's Most Wanted where, together with fellow female rapper Yo-Yo
Yo-Yo (rapper)
Yo-Yo is a Grammy-nominated American hardcore rapper and actress. Much of her music has advocated female empowerment, denouncing the frequent sexism found in hip-hop music. She is the protege of gangsta rapper Ice Cube...
, he engages in a hip hop battle of the sexes
Battle of the sexes
-Films:*The Battle of the Sexes , American film directed by D. W. Griffith*The Battle of the Sexes , American remake of the above, also directed by D. W. Griffith...
. A personal friend of Guess Who, credited on the album cover as Mircea "Ciulikă" Ştefan performs a monologue about financial difficulties and contemporary life in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
on the thirteenth track, "In Viata Mea" (In My Life). Swedish producer RazOne contributes to the song's instrumental, as credited in the album's liner notes.
The album ends with the soul-funk influenced song "Nicio Grija" (No Worries), produced by the Galaţi
Galati
Galați is a city and municipality in Romania, the capital of Galați County. Located in the historical region of Moldavia, in the close vicinity of Brăila, Galați is the largest port and sea port on the Danube River and the second largest Romanian port....
-based producer Sez with additional contributions by Agresiv. Guess Who unfolds his general views on life, music and social status on what seems to be the most sincere track of the album while urging the listeners to relax and put aside their personal frustrations. The song was carefully selected to be the last on the album as it serves to an honest and pragmatic ending. Guess Who later stated in an interview that this was his favorite song off Probe Audio.
Release and promotion
After Guess Who left ParaziţiiParazitii
Paraziţii is a Romanian three-man rap and hip hop group founded in 1994. It consists of Cheloo , Ombladon , and FreakaDaDisk .The group is largely known for their dark beats and political humorous lyricism.-History:The group was subject to multiple restrictions by the Romanian National Audiovisual...
's 20 CM Records and started working on new material, he leaked "Flori Ilegale" (Illegal Flowers) and "Eu, Tu Si Restu' ..." (Me, You And The Rest ...) on the Internet and, after receiving positive reviews, he announced the album for a 2007 release. In spite of this, the production process underwent several difficulties forcing him to delay this release for over two years. In March 2009 he started a personal website and a blog to allow him easier communication with his fans and apologized for the repeated pushbacks of the album stating that he would release it shortly. After releasing the Agresiv-produced single "Tu" (You) in February 2009, the album was made available on April 26, 2009 via his official website. The CDs were originally mailed to customers through the Romanian Post but after experiencing various problems, the delivery method was changed to a private shipping company to enable fans to receive merchandise faster. Two weeks before the album was made available to retail, a number of unfinished songs were leaked onto the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
, contributing to the album's highly anticipated status amongst Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop is the hip hop music style that was developed in Romania around 1992. Most notable Romanian hip hop artists come from Bucharest, Romania's capital and largest city. The genre is currently growing in popularity in Europe...
fans.
Promotion was done independently and exclusively on the Internet for the first version of the album and despite this it sold over two thousand copies in the first weeks of availability. This attracted interest by the Romanian TV music channel 1Music who started airing the album's lead single "Tu" (You). On YouTube, the music video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...
for Tu (You) was accessed by over 120,000 viewers. In late 2009 Guess Who signed a contract with the Romanian music label Cat Music who distributed a new version of "Probe Audio" together with the sports newspaper Gazeta Sporturilor (The Sports Newspaper in Romanian). The re-release of the album included three new tracks and a remix to the album's second single "Eugen" and also the video for the third single "Locul Potrivit" (The Right Place). Cat Music's interest in Guess Who was stimulated by Romanian radio stations that started airing "Locul Potrivit" after radio host Şerban Huidu
Serban Huidu
Şerban Huidu is a Romanian radio and TV star. He hosts, together with Mihai Găinuşă, the morning show on Romanian radio station Kiss FM, and a weekly satire show on the Romanian channel Prima TV....
discovered the song on the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
and aired it on Kiss FM
Kiss FM (Romania)
Kiss FM is a Top40/Hit Radio station from Romania, owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The station was rebranded from the old Radio Contact, after being purchased by a Belgian radio network...
during his morning show. Guess Who promoted his albums in a series of interviews and radio ads in the Romanian media throughout 2009.
Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio
In late 2009 a new song by Guess Who surfaced on the InternetInternet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
in Romania, receiving a consistent amount of positive feedback. The track's original name was Anul 2000 (The Year 2000) but he later changed it as he stated the "Anul 2000" brand was registered in Romania and thus, not available for free public use.. The song was discovered by Romanian radio host Şerban Huidu
Serban Huidu
Şerban Huidu is a Romanian radio and TV star. He hosts, together with Mihai Găinuşă, the morning show on Romanian radio station Kiss FM, and a weekly satire show on the Romanian channel Prima TV....
and he gave high praise to the track's original and intelligent lyrical delivery as he started promoting it on Kiss FM
Kiss FM (Romania)
Kiss FM is a Top40/Hit Radio station from Romania, owned by ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG. The station was rebranded from the old Radio Contact, after being purchased by a Belgian radio network...
. Shortly afterwards, many other radio stations started airing the song, creating a new buzz around Guess Who and also sparking interest from Romanian music labels. He eventually signed with Cat Music for a one album deal similar to fellow hip hop acts B.U.G. Mafia
B.U.G. Mafia
B.U.G. 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, it was among the first Romanian hip hop acts.The original line-up consisted of Vlad "Tataee" Irimia, Dragoş "Caddillac" Vlad-Neagu and two...
and Puya, who also released their albums with Romania's largest sports newspaper at the time, Gazeta Sporturilor to boost their cd sales. Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio included the re-release's lead single "Locul Potrivit" (The Right Place), two other new tracks, amongst which a collaboration with Romanian reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
group Camuflaj and a remix of the original album's second single "Eugen".
"Locul Potrivit" was the single meant to promote the re-release of "Probe Audio" being officially released on December 8, 2009 with a music video directed by Marian Crişan depicting Guess Who's friends and collaborators with protest signs such as "Nu ne-am nascut in locul potrivit" (We weren't born in the right place) or "Ne vedem in anul 3000" (See you in the year 3000), Romanian gymnast
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a sport involving performance of exercises requiring physical strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, and balance. Internationally, all of the gymnastic sports are governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique with each country having its own national governing body...
Laura Cristache performing some routines as a reference to Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
's underfunded sports system and children dressed as young communists
Pioneer movement
A pioneer movement is an organization for children operated by a communist party. Typically children enter into the organization in elementary school and continue until adolescence. The adolescents then typically joined the Young Communist League...
singing the socialist adulation
Cult of personality
A cult of personality arises when an individual uses mass media, propaganda, or other methods, to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are usually associated with dictatorships...
-styled sample of Horia Moculescu
Horia Moculescu
Horia Moculescu is a self-taught Romanian pianist, composer and producer.After finishing high school in Turda, he studied at the Mining Institute in Petrosani....
's 1977 song "Noi În Anul 2000" (Us In The Year 2000) in the beginning of the song. The track casts a critical view upon the Romanian society and its post-communist flaws as Guess Who expresses his wish of being born in a different place.
"Viseaza" (Dream) is a ragga
Ragga
-Origins:Ragga originated in Jamaica during the 1980s, at the same time that electronic dance music's popularity was increasing globally. One of the reasons for ragga's swift propagation is that it is generally easier and less expensive to produce than reggae performed on traditional musical...
-influenced collaboration with Romanian reggae act Camuflaj. Bucharest
Bucharest
Bucharest is the capital municipality, cultural, industrial, and financial centre of Romania. It is the largest city in Romania, located in the southeast of the country, at , and lies on the banks of the Dâmbovița River....
-based duo Agresiv produced the downtempo, reggae-funk infused instrumental and, as Guess Who sings his way through the chorus with lyrics about marijuana consumption and general considerations about life in general, Camuflaj complete the song with a soulful and conscious approach in discussing the use of cannabis
Cannabis
Cannabis is a genus of flowering plants that includes three putative species, Cannabis sativa, Cannabis indica, and Cannabis ruderalis. These three taxa are indigenous to Central Asia, and South Asia. Cannabis has long been used for fibre , for seed and seed oils, for medicinal purposes, and as a...
in stress-related issues.
"07.03.2006" (March 7, 2006) is one of the album's darkest and most introspective tracks. Guess Who shares his thoughts on various subjects, generally related to contemporary life in Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
such as Traian Băsescu
Traian Basescu
Traian Băsescu is the current President of Romania. After serving as the mayor of Bucharest from June 2000 until December 2004, he was elected president in the Romanian Presidential Elections of 2004 and inaugurated on December 20, 2004...
being elected president, alcohol
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol abuse, as described in the DSM-IV, is a psychiatric diagnosis describing the recurring use of alcoholic beverages despite negative consequences. Alcohol abuse eventually progresses to alcoholism, a condition in which an individual becomes dependent on alcoholic beverages in order to avoid...
and drug
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
abuse in high school, the concern that his financial income is very limited as a Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop is the hip hop music style that was developed in Romania around 1992. Most notable Romanian hip hop artists come from Bucharest, Romania's capital and largest city. The genre is currently growing in popularity in Europe...
artist and describes the next day, March 8th
International Women's Day
International Women's Day , originally called International Working Women’s Day, is marked on March 8 every year. In different regions the focus of the celebrations ranges from general celebration of respect, appreciation and love towards women to a celebration for women's economic, political and...
, as an opportunity for materialist women to show their flaws. Even though the main themes of the song are the general monotony and repetitive patterns of life that lurre him into deep depression
Depression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
and angoisse
Angoisse
Angoisse is a commune in the Dordogne department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Population:-External links:* * -See also:*Communes of the Dordogne department...
, it also proves to be one of the darkest depictions of life as a Romanian
Romanians
The Romanians are an ethnic group native to Romania, who speak Romanian; they are the majority inhabitants of Romania....
in the mid to late 2000s.
"Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio" was highly anticipated by the Romanian audience and was bootlegged
Bootleg recording
A bootleg recording is an audio or video recording of a performance that was not officially released by the artist or under other legal authority. The process of making and distributing such recordings is known as bootlegging...
very fast, only a couple of hours after its release with Gazeta Sporturilor. Guess Who spoke about this re-release in a 2009 interview with the Monden.Info website:
Critical
The album has received generally positive reviews from critics and although he released his first official song in 2003 on a Rebel Music compilation, Guess Who established a reputation as a new, talented artist after the release of this album. Most critics have noted the contrast between the album's dark and sober production and Guess Who's witty and humorous addressing of his themes while managing to remain serious-minded enough to avoid a completely comical approach.Dan Lucian Stefancu of "Deceblog" has noted Guess Who's ability to use the Internet in his own favor saying, "Hip hop artists were the ones to understand the Internet and have taken full advantage of it. The music video for Tu [the album's first single] has gathered over 100,000 views on YouTube and 66,000 on Vimeo" .
Mihdel of DivercityCafe also reviewed this album saying, "Probe Audio has been produced by Agresiv and Guess Who, it includes 14 tracks having a strong message to send in its raw lyrics with their ironic approach that emphasize on a more melodic interpretation. I think it's not only a hip hop album, but really more than that." .
The Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop
Romanian hip hop is the hip hop music style that was developed in Romania around 1992. Most notable Romanian hip hop artists come from Bucharest, Romania's capital and largest city. The genre is currently growing in popularity in Europe...
community has also extensively covered this album in their online debates on Internet forums, such as Hades Records
Hades Records
Hades Records is one of the first Romanian independent Hip-hop labels, based in Bucharest.The artist roster includes , B.R.G., Cast, Criss Blaziny, Da Hood, Dagga, Dribbler, Funktastics, Interventii Lirice, KaTaNa, Keri, KST, Zeppelin and Veritasaga.Hades Records emerged at the end of 2000, based...
or Hiphopkulture.. The reception amongst fans has also been generally positive, emphasizing on the album's jazzy production and socio-political lyrical themes.
Commercial
Album sales have dramatically dropped in RomaniaRomania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
after the Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...
gained widespread availability in the mid 2000s. This led to a situation where most labels avoided signing any new hip hop acts, since the Internet bootlegging would practically impair any possibility to move units. Guess Who has claimed on his official blog that the album received over 1,000 pre-orders in the first week it was made available for sell on the official website. Since it was an independent release, no other official data has been made available by the artist or his legal representation. After he signed with Cat Music to re-release the album with Gazeta Sporturilor (The Sports Newspaper), the label has said that the request for the album has been so high that an additional number of discs had to be manufactured and sent out.
Track listing
All song titles, notes, samples, writing and production credits are according to the album booklet.Lyrics by Guess Who, Griffo, Spike, Mitza, Grasu XXL, Camuflaj, music compositions listed below.
Locul Potrivit/Probe Audio
Musical personnel
- Laurențiu "Guess Who" Mocanu - vocals
- Paul "Spike" Maracine - vocals on "Tu" (You)
- Petre "Freakadadisk" Urda - scratches on "Unu Doi" (One Two)
- Griffo - vocals on "Unu Doi" (One Two)
- Clique - vocals on "Viseaza" (Dream)
- Mr.Oneshot - vocals on "Viseaza" (Dream)
- George Hora - co-producer for "Locul Potrivit" (The Right Place)
- Vlad Octavian Lucan - keyboards, mixing and additional programming
- Mihai "Mitză" Ghidarcea - keyboards, mixing, drum programming and vocals on "Sunete" (Sounds)
- Dragoş "Grasu XXL" Nichifor - vocals on "A Doua Oară" (The Second Time), producer for "Special" (Remix)
- Ioana "JJ" Oegar - additional & background vocals on "Eu, Tu si Restu' ..." (Me, You and The Rest ...)
- Tiberiu Popovici - vocals on "Eu Gen"
- Florin a.k.a. "Crocodilaru" - additional vocals on "Sunete" (Sounds)
- Mircea "Ciulikă" Ştefan - vocals on "În Viaţa Mea" (In My Life)
- Lucia Dumitrescu - chorus vocals on "Special", additional & background vocals on "Nici o Grija"
- RazOne - producer for "În Viaţa Mea"
- Liviu "Sez" Pirvu - producer for "Nici O Grija"
- Dan "Dax" Nedelcu - saxophoneSaxophoneThe saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...