La Familia (rap group)

La Familia are a Romanian hip hop group from Sălăjan, Bucharest. Founded in 1996 by Dragoș "Puya" Gărdescu and Tudor Sișu, they have been widely regarded as pioneers of the gangsta rap subgenre in their native Romania. Mentored by fellow gangsta rap group B.U.G. Mafia, they quickly emerged as one of Romania's most popular rap acts in the late 1990s and early 2000s. In 2003, group member Tudor Sișu was sentenced to three years in prison after being arrested by Romanian authorities in a widely publicized drug-trafficking case. The group also lost the rights to its name after a public feud with former mentors B.U.G. Mafia, whom they had lyrically attacked in an unreleased song the previous year. Group member Puya worked mostly individually on their 2004 effort, before managing to recover the rights for the band's name following a lengthy court trial.[1][2]

In late 2005, Sișu was paroled and the group resumed its activity before finally disbanding in 2011. This followed a string of failed attempts at releasing a comeback album. Gărdescu and Sișu have remained cordial, reuniting frequently on each other's solo efforts and occasionally for live performances.

In 2017, they reunited as La Familia and released their ninth studio album independently.[3][4][5][6]