Search - Big Shug :: Streetchamp

3-1/2 stars -- Streetrunnerup

Anthony Rupert | Milwaukee, WI | 01/14/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"The first time I remember hearing about Big Shug was back when he and Freddie Foxxx helped rip up Gang Starr's "The Militia". And Shug has been doing his thing on the underground for some time; now he's back to shine with his sophomore solo set, Streetchamp.



Shug spends a lot of time talking about how other cats can't compare to him, and most of the time that claim is pretty substantiated: check out "Walk Away", "Street Move" or "Spitfire". And DJ Premier is still around producing dope cuts like "Play It"; and even though "It Just Don't Stop" has a played-out title, the song itself sounds anything but. Shug is also pretty good at singing as well, as evidenced by "Lost".



But one thing that's a little annoying is that Shug spends a good deal of time saying nothing but similes, and sometimes they don't sound all that hot (see "I run this whole game/Like catch with my sons" from "After Me"). "Hood With That" starts out fine but then gets really uninteresting, and sorry, but "Spit It Real" is a contradiction because Shug is spittin' some of the most sluggish rhymes ever on there. This is also evident on "Exposed", where his bars on the third verse get less and less on beat until he just stops rapping abruptly while the music is still going. And the second verse of an otherwise dope "Hear Me" has him telling a foe that he doesn't drink haterade; I had no idea grown men used that expression.



Speaking of that song, there are also a couple of times where the samples don't quite work well with the rest of the music (see the obligatory keep-your-head-up song, "What You Gonna Do"). And "Legbreakers" shows that the Big Twins don't exactly have the right voices to be rapping with (well, whoever's rapping the first verse, anyway). Streetchamp isn't quite as good as Shug's first album or anything from Gang Starr's catalogue, but it still has enough enjoyable moments for you to want to bump in your ride.



Anthony Rupert"

3.5 stars "PLAY IT"

....... | philadel | 07/26/2007

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I have always liked almost everything that has come out of the Gangstarr camp. So when i heard Big Shug(Who in my opinion has a great voice for an emcee but is pretty 1 dimensional with his lyrics)was dropping a new album i was mildly excited, but when i heard that Primo was producing a few joints in addition to the soon to blow producer MoSS i was fully committed to buying this album. When i did, i played it for a good while and i played a few songs over that really caught my ear those included "Play It" "Warpath" "Walk Away" "Legbreakers" "It Just Don't Stop" and "Spitfire" the only problem with this album is that as i said before, Shug's lyrics are not that "original." Street Champ is a decent album and i recommend it for any Gangstarr fan but i think this could have been a bit better."