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Gang Starr affiliate, Big Shug, recently chopped it up with Sixshot's Quinton Hatfield about his latest album and having the support of one of hip hop's most legendary DJ's.


You have the new album out “Street Champ’, can you explain the title?

Well Street Champ is what it is. It’s a few street champs out here, but it’s all about the trials and tribulations, all the despair, and haters in the streets. As I came through , I defeated a lot of odds man to be here today living and rapping, performing for the masses. It’s just to say that I’m a “Street Champ” man and I’m a champion at anything I do.

So I see Big Shug is all about survival of the fittest.

Yeah, no question man. It’s not even just the physically fitted, it’s the mentally and emotionally fitted also. You just gotta keep it together man moving forward and prosper.

Speaking on “Street Champ”, how did you put your ideas together for the album?

It’s very simple, I wanted to touch on the soul of people in hip-hop, reality and shit that happened in life as we know it. The hard-coreness that I represent with lyrics and story-lines, even the melodic shit with the singing hooks and shit like that. I just wanted to give everybody the whole package that Big Shug is the street champ and basically that’s what it is.

Now you did some work with DJ Premier, so what the experience was like?

I’ve always worked with Premier so it’s not really like it’s anything out of the norm. We're like boys so it’s like equivalent to you and your man, me and him can do a whole album in like a month. I can do a different song a day or two, because we got it like that as people.

We're friends. It’s always a great experience, but it’s usually pretty quick because we usually get through songs pretty quickly.

Well you know it’s like a dream come true for some artists to work with Premier.

Yeah, you know it’s also a dream come true for some people to have sex with Beyonce [laughs]. Maybe I take it for granted I don’t know. Ever since I been in this business it’s like an automatic that we go into the studio and bang out songs.

You keep it real when you said it’s a dream come true for people to have sex with Beyonce

[Laughs], if they could do it they would be dreaming [laughs], but you never know.

Speaking on Premier how you feel about the impact he made on hip-hop culture?

I mean it’s great man, because you know the legacy will never change. He continues to blow up and continues to come with very shadowing beats whether they are in the hip-hop genre, R&B genre, or working with Christina Aguliera and other things. The commercials with KRS-One, Rakim, and all those greats.


Premier is just the head of hip-hop so I think he’s made a great impact even with the group Gang Starr. Although Guru has stepped top to the side a little bit, that still doesn’t do anything to Premier’s legacy, because he will always be a beast.

He was great for hip-hop, will always be great for hip-hop, and even the years after he’s gone.

Now you also worked with another producer by the name of Moss, what it was like fuckin with him?

That was good, because Moss did a couple of joints for my last album. He did a joint called “We Gangsta” and a joint called “Militant Soldiers” with T-Wes and Singapore Cane. It was dope, because I knew he had mad beats. I know I was going into the studio with his beats and just bang them out, coming out with a new project which Street Champ is. It was great working with Moss, I guess the vibe is just good.

Moss was killing that beat on the “Walk Away” track.

Yeah “Walk Away” was definitely some dope shit. What happens is people give you a certain beat man and if you a MC, you’ll rap your hardest. The song itself in what I’m saying just goes so good with that track.

If you listen to it, it’s talking about cats who really get caught up in themselves in this business. Sometimes the pressure gets a little too heavy for people and we basically see their break-downs right, but they don’t recognize it because their ego is too big to allow them to see that.

When they get a chance to step back they usually do or they come back. When they do come back , it’s usually bigger and if they don’t come back, they recognize they got mad millions or whatever then they fall back and walk away. Do ya thing cause life still goes on.

If it don’t kill you have to keep on going.

No doubt man!

Back to your album how you feel it faired compared to other albums that dropped this year?

I don’t even really look like that, I look at it more like when you got to the grocery store they got fruit. Some people like apples, some like oranges, pineapples, and such. I’m just another fruit out there for people to pick and I’m sure they gonna like that.

If people wanted some real hip-hop then get that hip-hop fruit right there. It’s gonna satisfy that appetite. It’s not about fairing, it’s about if you really want some good shit then pick that up that Big Shug Street Champ and it’s gonna fit right in with everything else.


Being a veteran in the game can you define real hip-hop?

Real hip-hop is what it is. Real hip-hop is rapping over beats, some people start out with a hook to do a rhyme. Real hip-hop is staying true to your music man and it’s not real hip-hop if someone is telling you how to do something or if someone is giving you a formula and you follow through.

Hip-hop is you, your expression, and who you are.

Hip-hop today is still existent, there's still graffiti, there's still break-dancing, but hip-hop is also flossing. Hip-hop is a lot of things man, but it depends on the extent. If you know who you are and you express yourself to bring great music to the masses, that's hip hop. It's not just so you can make more millions, that’s not necessarily real hip-hop to me. Hip-hop is the core man.

How you feel about the dancing songs that are not real hip-hop?

Well [they] really ain’t, because it’s good to dance in hip-hop but then when you see me doing that shit it’s like they doing that shit to sell records. They know they ain’t hopping around their house doing that shit. Let me tell you something, if I’m doing a hip-hop dance I don’t walk around my motherfuckin house doing it.

I will walk around my house and spit some rhymes, I will sit down and write some shit. I ain’t gonna be around my house hopping, skipping, and jumping. People like to dance so I ain’t really hating on that, but that’s not hip-hop because five or six years from now you won’t even remember that shit.

Real hip-hop is memorable music, it’s stuff that I still get royalties from because they still use them shits. If dudes want to dance and hop around their house then so be it. Come on man you know at the end of the day what real hip-hop is.

Big Shug, I appreciate the love you showed for Sixshot.com , anything for the fans out there?

All I got to say is stay true to the music and if you want a good purchase, pick up Street Champ.

This interview was conducted and written by Quinton Hatfield.

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