User:The Mind Chaotic/sandbox

ACBG (Bulgarian hip hop group)
= ACBG =

ACBG are a Bulgarian hip hop collective formed in 2011. The group consists of performers TLay, D-ZastA, M1taka, and GBT, as well as DJ Chukee. ACBG perform in a variety of styles, such as contemporary hip hop, trap, and pop. Additionally, the group themselves describe their music as “futuristic” and have been influenced by music genres outside of hip hop.

Background
In early 2011, members Stanislav Marinov and Chavdar Budakov, known respectively as TLay and DJ Chukee, established their own recording studio under the name “Audio Cream Bakery Gang”. Based in Svilengrad, Bulgaria, the duo was providing music production services to local artists. After gaining some experience, they decided to expand in a different creative direction and soon began releasing their own music. By 2012, the duo had temporarily put their production on halt, having been accepted in different universities. With Chukee in Sofia, TLay had moved to Burgas, where he first met Gabriel Marinov, known as GBT, through their collaboration on a song. Later on, GBT introduced TLay to Dimitar Georgiev (M1taka).

In 2013, while still studying in Burgas, Bulgaria, TLay helped form the now-defunct label MFZanimation, along with other local artists, both emerging and already established. It was through working at the label that he met Georgi Kirov, known as D-ZastA; both of them had sought improvement and experience with music production. Acknowledging the similarities and the differences in their style of production, together they worked on a large part of MFZanimation’s output. When not in the studio, TLay and D-ZastA would meet up in the former’s dorm room, where they would continue working on producing songs with M1taka (who would later join the label, forming the group NNZ with Marinov and Kirov) and GBT, using a simple home studio setup. It was during this time that they would release several songs together, such as “Aptechkata”, “Pluq”, and “Strahove”. In September 2015, TLay, M1taka, and D-ZastA, among other artists, left MFZanimation due to creative differences.

Independence
Between 2015 and 2016, the artists began releasing their first independent singles, such as “Akuli”,  “Az Sam 5” and “One Thing”. It was during this period that Marinov and Budakov decided to form a group with the others, rebranding “Audio Cream Bakery Gang” as ACBG in the process.

2017 marked the start of a large creative output for ACBG, with all four performers releasing individual projects: the EPs PDRKT, described as ”a one-of-a-kind blend of hard truths and chill vibes”, and Razkanat Do Hastara by GBT and TLay respectively, as well as M1taka's mixtape 7 ot 7, boasting “[A]n aggressive sound combined with devastating and outspoken criticism of the overly commercialized genre tendencies”. The year also saw the release of D-ZastA’s full-length album Probiven, a project that aimed to create a “meaningful emotional experience”. Probiven would later go on to win an Album of the Year award at the 6th 359 Hip Hop Awards. Up until 2018, ACBG would collaborate several times with artist V:RGO on singles like “Oprai Sa”, “Ari Dai”, “Bankomati”, and “Trendy”. In 2018, TLay released his long-anticipated album Hastar, described as a blending of “dark and ominous vibes with underlying optimism”, his EP Razkanat Do Hastara being comprised of songs left out of the album.

In the summer of 2018, ACBG introduced a whole new rebranded vision with the release of ACBG TAPE. The album contains lead singles “BALLI”, “KAJI MI”, and “PASTA”. The group have described ACBG TAPE as a “collection of club anthems”. They would go on to claim that they owe their first live performances since leaving MFZanimation to the album; the live performances would often feature appearances by DJ Chukee, who would provide musical backing.

In 2019, GBT followed up his EP PDRKT with PDRKT V2,  a continuation of the artist’s efforts to utilize his “unique vocal stylings and subversive approach to rhyming”. Later that year ACBG released the album LED. The LP features a mix of hard trap and pop music, along with guest appearances by Dim4ou, VenZy, Vladymoney, HAARP, and MISTA. Lead singles “MAXA”, “OT VOLE”, ”LED”, and “MAHLENSKI ZAKONI” were later accompanied by respective music videos, with the video for the eponymous single featuring an appearance by Bulgarian pop folk performer Milko Kalaydzhiev.

Studio albums

 * Probiven ("Пробивен", 2017) (D-ZastA)
 * Hastar ("Хастар", 2018) (TLay)
 * ACBG TAPE (2018)
 * LED ("ЛЕД", 2019)
 * ACBG TAPE 2 (TBR 2020)

Mixtapes

 * 7 ot 7 ("7 от 7", 2017) (M1taka)

EPs

 * PDRKT (2017) (GBT)
 * Razkanat Do Hastara ("Разкънат До Хастара", 2018) (TLay)
 * PDRKT V2 (2019) (GBT)