Probe Audio (Sound Check) 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.
Background
Conception
After departing from Paraziţii'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:
Music and lyrics
Anonim 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 Romanian 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 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.