In 1990s Russian criminal slang, the term «the blues» denoted a distinct category of criminal groups made up mainly of previously convicted individuals — so-called career criminals. Unlike other gangs of the era, «the blues» had a distinctive internal hierarchy rooted in prison culture, and a code of conduct based on prison rules.
The name «the blues» refers to a defining trait of these groups' members — bodies covered in tattoos. These tattoos, usually done in blue or blue-black ink, weren't mere decoration but a system of signs reflecting the bearer's criminal "status," experience, and place in the hierarchy. This tattooing practice traces back to the Soviet penal system, where it carried quasi-ritual, strictly codified meaning.
In the 1990s, against the backdrop of collapsing state institutions and general legal chaos, «the blues» groups were heavily involved in criminal conflicts, extortion, and turf wars for control of territory and markets. Unlike the so-called commercial crews that sprang up "from scratch" with a business orientation, «the blues» leaned on prison subculture and were often seen as bearers of the "old school" of the criminal underworld.
That's precisely why, in the novel's text, a mention of «the blues» instantly signals a particular criminal aesthetic and symbolism of the era to the reader. For the protagonist, admitting that he «doesn't go to meets with the blues» isn't just information — it's a marker of his current distance from the criminal world and an attempt to signal a shift in his life's direction: from "shaking down kiosks" to the image of a "patron."
So «the blues» aren't just one of the 1990s street gangs — they're a cultural and historical phenomenon tied to the era of post-Soviet collapse and prison-world romanticism, one that left a deep mark on the mass consciousness of Russia at the time.