Direct Strike was one of underground groups from Romania in the 90s, from Bucharest, Berceni 1996 originally composed of: "Marius Boda" (alias Manevră, Eng. Hustle), "Iulian Jewel Stroe", "Leonard Fulau" Leo D. Berceni, alias "Leo XXL" and "Răzvan Boda" (also known as Smooth Dog).
'Biography'
In January 1996, Hustle (Marius Boda) set up Direct Strike with Jewel (Iulian Stroe) as a result of joint studio projects. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sala_Polivalenta,_Marius_Boda,_Ars_Poetica.jpg
Until the summer of the same year other members joined the group: Grasu XXL (Leonard Fulău) and Smooth Dog (Razvan Boda). Although founding member and producer of the first tracks, Iulian "Jewel" Stroe will not appear in concerts with the rest of the band for objective reasons.
The idea of forming the band arose few years before that, as two members of the band grew up on the neighbourhood: Grasu XXL (Leonard Fulău) and Hustle (Marius Boda) representing the same street in the Berceni, the borough that would give some of the biggest names of the Romanian hip hop artists: Jada, Raku, Carbon, Tase, Unchiu Sapro (1-Q Sapro), Cedry2k, DJ Paul, Baxter etc.
The first single released is called "Boss not a servant", written by Jewel and Manevră (produced), and recorded in the Berceni AMMA Music Production studio.
The versatility of "Boss not a servant" has made it quickly become one of Berceni's favorite radio listeners (Radio ProB, Radio Party Zone), which was promoted by local DJs such as DJ Johnny alias Ion Bogdan (from Sky FM).
After the first song took shape, there were several other songs that made through, such as: "We Do not Like It", " Full Moon" "(one of the first recorded songs in Romania belonging to Horror core, Ars poetica all recorded with AMMA Music studios.
Between 1996 and 1998, several concerts took place, starting with the several high school proms or small clubs in Bucharest's 2,3 and 4 boroughs. The last concert took place in the spring of 1998 at the Polyvalent Hall in Bucharest, consisting members only of Hustle (Marius Boda) and Grasu XXL (Leonard Fulău).
'The end of the project - 1998'
After the cessation of performing live, member of the group Grasu XXL (Leonard Fulău), had joined with Jada (Vali) and Musca the group Pirats Klan with founder member Tase (Răzvan Tase), later member joining the group Carbon (alias Viorel Ionita), a.k.a. Narco Branco.
Hustle (Marius Boda) started a project with Sfantu 8 Infinitu (alias Mihai Draguleasa), producing most of their solo material, but also he focused on producing studio instrumentals, sound mixing and recording. Basically, the musical career of Sfântu 8 Infinitu was generated as a result of the Direct Strike project, although he was not an active member of this band.
The current project of the only remaining active member of Direct Strike, Marius Boda, is a project called OctoJunk , whose genre is Big beat trip hop, set up in 2017 in the U.K. and based on the production of beats and live concerts with guests from all musical areas.
http://www.marphahiphop.tv/pagini-de-istorie-marpha-strict-hip-hop-ii/
http://www.hiphopdinromania.org/2013/09/infinitu-aka-sfantu-8-nenorocitu-thc.html
http://www.hiphopnews.ro/descarca-pirats-klan-ars-piratica/
http://www.hiphopdinromania.org/2009/08/biografie-carbon.html