Streetchamp

Big Shug | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (July 17, 2007)
• Original Release Date: 2007
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Babygrande Records
• ASIN: B000R9YE38
• Also Available in: Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #403,512 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3-1/2 stars -- Streetrunnerup, January 14, 2008

By 

Anthony Rupert "shut up, Shut Up, SHUT UP!!!" (Milwaukee, WI) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Streetchamp (Audio CD)

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

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars 3.5 stars "PLAY IT", July 25, 2007

By 

....... "Jawtaprap" (philadel) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Streetchamp (Audio CD)

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.

4.0 out of 5 stars Pretty good 2nd album, close to 4.5, August 3, 2010

By 

G$ "Z-Wad" (B-More, MD) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Streetchamp (Audio CD)

It's been almost 2 years, and Shug drops his 2nd album (not counting his early 2005 release of his older songs), and it's a solid 4 star album. Not many will argue that he is average, at best, on the mic, but the way he delivers and comes off with his straight stree and hard lyrical content makes up for his lack of creative lyrics (though it does get a little old after 16 songs), but he does a real good job at what he does (think Freddie Foxxx-like). This one has 16 songs, and of those 16, 1 is a classic, 1 I skip, 1 is ok, the rest are good, mostly real good songs. Guests aren't too heavy either, only appearing on 4 of the songs. Production is very good, and not surprisingly if you look at who handled it. MoSS did the majority, 12 of the 16 songs, the great DJ Premier did 3 and Kid Carnage did 1. A nice album to have for fans of the real hard-street rap.

#2 - 9 (nice beat)
#3 - 8
#4 - 8.5 (good beat)
#5 - 8.5 (f/ Termanology & Ea$y Money)
#6 - 9 (nice beat)
#7 - 10 (CLASSIC -- f/ Twin Gambino & Sean Price -- also on Price's "Master P Mixtape" -- great beat)
#8 - 9 (f/ Singapore Kane -- nice beat0
#9 - 7
#10 - 8.5 (good beat)
#11 - 8.5 (nice beat)
#12 - 8.5 (f/ Singapore Kane & dre robinson -- good beat)
#13 - 8.5 (nice track dissing DJ's and promoters)
#14 - 9 (deeper song with some nice storylines)
#15 - (short interlude w/ Shug singing)
#16 - 9 (tight beat -- about fake G's)
#17 - 5.5 (him singing the whole song)
#18 - 7.5

Cary Guy -- Boston, MA
Check all my reviews