Customer Reviews

Big Shots

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Finally after over 10 long years, Stones Throw decide to release the sadly shelved Hollywood Basic debut
album from the late great Charizma (he was fatally shot in 1993) and his co -hort Peanut Butter Wolf.
Big Shots proves it's worth by standing well strong with anything that is released
Today, the production is a stupid fat smorgasbord of head nodding funk beats, quirky and entertaining loops
And rhymes, this is kicked off from the get go with "Big Shots" opener "Here's A Smirk" or the slow flow roll of
"Methods", "Jack The Mack" was actually Charizma's debut 1992 single and it still sounds good exemplifying Charizma's early 90's tale of AIDS and flossy crack dealers.

Charizma has a rhyme style that makes you pay attention at the same time admiring Peanut Butter Wolf's soulful beat creations and knack for what makes solid hip hop music, "Red Light, Green Light" is ill, using the same drums from EPMD's ""So Watch Sayin" and a crazy flutes and whirls, sometimes PB Wolf's production has clearly been made to played at a suitable volume, "Gatha Round" is a lovely early 90's jewel as it's full of that days artists in its samples...a KRS One vocal wail runs through, while PB Wolf cuts up K-Solo, Tribe Called Quest, Kool G Rap, and Lord Finesse.

Check the way PB Wolf makes the beat stutter on Stones Throw's first ever release 1996`s "My World Premiere" as Charizma tells us how "his girls are like 7-11's..always open", interesting thing about this joint is he used the same lyrics for a track he did on a Bomb Records compilation for a track titled "Just Like A Test".

The jazzy laidback "Fair-weather Friend" has Charizma telling us how he gets down and more tales about girls, while
"Pacing On The Floor" samples Herbie Hancocks classic "Rock It" and has a deep rumbling bassline and a familiar break beat, it should be noted that some of the quality is not the best on Big Shots, but I think that it adds to the beauty of an unreleased jewel that finally let the world know how dope (and missed) Charizma is dropping dope lines and tales over PB Wolfs dusty crates of solid beats.

Having grown up in the late 80's and early 90's when hip hop & rap were simple and not all about the bling bling bull, this album is a god send. This album is from a time when we watched YO! MTV Raps, rocked the trench Goose and copped the newest tape. As soon as I popped this album in I knew it was sick. If you love hip hop and long for the beats and rhymes you grew up with....BUY THIS.

I get chills listening to this album. Just understanding the story of Charizma and PB Wolf is enough to make you buy this album. Go to stonesthrow.com to get the full story.

This album just brings a whole new sound and feel to rap music as a whole. I don't know it just sounds different from any kind of rap music that i've ever heard, in a good way. I can't believe that Charizma isn't around now, it makes me pissed to see how succesful he could have been if he just kept doing what he loved. Alas, this album is all that's left.

The first couple of seconds of the album just sets things off. The first song is a classic, I don't give an F what anyone says, the beat is just exceptional and the lyrics are hair raising. Then Charizma just takes it from there, coming down on the listener from many points of view. PB Wolf produces exceptionally well, matching perfectly with Charizma's style. For example, "Jack the Mack" has a very nice drum beat with human voices bringing the song to a climax. But if I had to summarise this album with one song then I would pick "Ice Cream Truck". It's the perfect song to represent the care-free attitude that envelopes this whole album. Charizma and PB don't stick to formulas, they do their own thing and succeed very well at it. I feel really sad as I write this because I never knew this MC and he's not around now for me to tell him how prestine and exceptional this album really is. I sincerely urge you to buy this album right now to pay your respects to an exceptional MC that nobody knew.

Nobody knew........

this album is a classic example of what you get when you put a creative beat conductor together with a lyrical genius. Charizma had the passion and skill level to be one of the all time greatest but his career was tragically cut short, and Peanut Butter Wolf is (or should be) recognized as a legend not only for introducing the world to Charizma and for composing incredible beats but also for following through with his passion for good music and taking it into his own hands by putting together his own record label (if you want something done right you have to do it yourself) Stones Throw Records

you may not agree but when i first heard Charizma i felt he had the skills of another underground legend that had his career cut way too short, Lamont Coleman. i felt the same intensity that he had in his voice, the same love for the music that he had when he laid vocals. when its all said and done their styles dont match but their impression did (on me)

thank you Peanut Butter Wolf for keeping the hope alive
RIP Charizma
RIP Big L

This right here is a taste from the golden era. I've been listening to Charizma & Peanut Butter Wolf for a long time. Charizma is one of those emcees that don't need to sound tough or even cuss. That just tells you he's a skilled emcee. These guys are probably one of the best MC/DJ combos I ever known digging through. I would appreciate it if PBW added "High School Love" on the album though.

"I left my rhymes in a shoebox
A week later I opened, it was Timberlands"
-My World Premiere

Charizma was adorable. That's not something you hear nowadays about rappers, at least not from self-respecting rap fans. Ever since Dr. Dre's "The Chronic" and the resultant gangsta-rap dominance of the mid-'90s, hardness has been a prerequisite. But Charizma's "Big Shots," a collection produced in the early '90s with now-famous producer Peanut Butter Wolf, shows what was lost when such arbitrary restrictions chopped off entire branches from the fertile tree of rap's late-'80s-to-early-'90s Golden Age. Throughout the album, Charizma comes across as a fun-loving teen, rapping about sex, his empty pockets, and his love for apple juice with equal enthusiasm. Highlights like "Tell You Something" may seem unsophisticated to modern ears, but they explode with simple, un-self-conscious wit reminiscent of De La Soul's "3 Feet High and Rising." Perhaps, with the current diversity of rap styles, another talented kid will someday bring a little silliness back to rap. Until then, we have albums like Charizma's to keep us warm.

this album is old school goodness. from first to last. peanut butter wolf did a great job with the beats. the jazzy tunes makes this album so so great. definately a 5-star album. a must have.

this album is dope....I know you hear me but can you really hear me. Real hip hop lives!

If you like Stezo, KMD, UMC's, then you will definately dig this. Pick it up, nice production from PBW--you can tell from his earlier work here, that he would later become a force to be wreckin' with!!!

Everything that is right and pure in Hip-Hop. Ice Cream Truck is so ill and real, listen closely to all the lines. If you live in a neighborhood with an ice cream truck/man you can't help but smile "ask mom dukes for loot, okay they have Push-Ups but you don't have to push up" "just like in my hood, in the truck there's always something good" "it's here, it's there, it's everywhere making papes, bumpin the same ol' ice cream truck tape" R.I.P. Charizma