Vlad Irimia (Romanian pronunciation:[ˈvladiriˈmi.a]; born October 17, 1976), primarily known by his stage name Tata Vlad, formerly Tataee ([taˈta.(j)e]), is a Romanianrecord producer, rapper, record executive, and music manager. He is one of the founders of the influential Romanian hip hop trio B.U.G. Mafia, also having produced albums and overseeing the careers of many acclaimed Romanian hip hop artists, such as La Familia, XXL & 10 Grei, Mahsat and JerryCo. As a music producer, he is frequently credited as one of the pioneers and key figures in the architecture of the Romanian version of gangsta rap, a style of music that closely resembles its American counterpart but also includes various local influences derived from balkan music or, more recently, electronica.[1][2][3][4]
Tata Vlad began his career in music as a solo artist and he later found fame as a member of the gangsta rap group B.U.G. Mafia with Alin "Uzzi" Demeter and Dragoș "Caddilac" Vlad-Neagu, with whom he popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. Their 1998 album, "De Cartier", released under Cat Music in Romania led them to become one of the country's best-selling performing artists, as well as one of the most respected Romanian hip hop groups.[5] Later in his career, he worked with Romanian artists such as Akcent, Andreea Antonescu, Bitză, Cristina Spătar or Adriana Rusu, receiving credit for changing and improving their sound.[6][7][8][9][10][11][12]
Following the success of B.U.G. Mafia's Băieții Buni in 2003, Tata Vlad focused on producing music for various other artists. He started his own record label, Legend Audio, in 2002, as he assumed his role as a record producer and music executive. In 2005, he signed Romanian hip hop artist JerryCo who released his debut single in late 2009 following a four-year work period with Tata Vlad on his first album, "Orice E Posibil" (Everything Is Possible), released in 2010 by Legend Audio in Romania.[13][14][15][16][17]