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Shuko + DJ Dutchmaster | The Foundation

Coalmine (2009)
By CHRIS FARAONE  |  April 28, 2009
3.0 3.0 Stars

090501_Shuko_mm

It was inevitable that some of hip-hop's next great producers would come from Europe. Even as American rap fans have the audacity to question whether artists should still be judged by skills (as opposed to hype and swagger), kids from Spain to Germany are internalizing English battle rhymes and preferring scratched hooks to Auto-Tuned choruses.

Enter Shuko, a traditional German beat genius who slid into the North American underground lighting theatric flames under Bekay, Doujah Raze, and Soulstice — all of whom fertilize The Foundation, along with some 30 other MCs (Boston giants XL and Dre Robinson among them). On the downside, some of these cuts — like Hell Razah's "Thankful" and "Supah" from R.A. the Rugged Man — have already been around the block, and some of homeboy's samples are chronically overused, in particular the chipmunk-soul loop on Doujah's "Give It Up," which I've heard at least four times over the past three years.

Still, Shuko is a gifted young artist with a serious career to grow into. And, more important, he already has a cast of subterranean all-stars who are eager to devour everything he cooks up.
Related: Joe the rapper, Review: Akon | Freedom, Present perfect, More more >
  Topics: CD Reviews , Entertainment, Hip-Hop and Rap, Music,  More more >
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ARTICLES BY CHRIS FARAONE
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  •   MAIN MAN OF MATTAPAN  |  December 01, 2009
    Ask any group of teens on Blue Hill Ave how many of them rap and you'll get more affirmatives than you would surveying kids at Mass and Boylston for slap-bass skills. Allston might be a crab bucket of indie-rockers, and one in three JP residents is an abstract painter, but MCs in Boston's black communities have more competition than nail salons in Dudley Square.
  •   IBEW PRESSURES STOP & SHOP  |  November 24, 2009
    Folks driving past suburban Stop & Shop locations this week might wonder why laborers are suddenly concerned about food safety.
  •   TALE OF THE TAPES  |  November 25, 2009
    Soon after music-minded UMass-Boston management professor Pacey Foster signed on to write a Boston chapter for the most comprehensive hip-hop tome ever compiled, his mission brought him to rural Maine, where it has long been speculated that the Hub rhyme scene's Holy Grail is safely stored.
  •   WALE | ATTENTION DEFICIT  |  November 24, 2009
    It turns out there is merit behind the billion-dollar hype machine that’s been propelling Wale since he surfaced on the face of URB two years ago.
  •   REVIEW: THE BLIND SIDE  |  November 17, 2009
    It’s tough for any self-respecting critic to refrain from joyously tackling a Sandra Bullock movie — so it’s a good thing The Blind Side isn’t one.

 See all articles by: CHRIS FARAONE

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