Big Skeem review appeared in last week's (issue 78) of One Week to Live
BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY
Hip Hop
What we have here is the usual street game blend. Messiah-complex brags, unsophisticated put-downs, punchlines that are hard without being intelligent, calculation of riches, traversing through clubs/women, etc. So far, so identikit, right down to the sleeve artwork, MySpace advertising and 'Big' prefix, and so not worthy of your hard-earned shekels. However, this is hip-hop. It can rattle the streets and hustle its way into homes, even if it never intends to advance to a high level to make its mark. Pennsylvanian pistol Big Skeem is a hybrid of Fat Joe and Juelz Santana, the latter portion proving ideal for the Dipset-style posturing. With sky-scraping, chest-puffing bluster, Skeem marches as a one-man, gridlock-causing ticker-tape parade. When steaming through, especially over the beats on hire for the freestyles 'Blow' and 'Cannon', he's a convincing blower of his own trumpet. A solid flow and tight hooks are perfectly suited and tuned into the production. You can't imagine him rhyming over any other style other than the hostilities on offer to get by, which includes a scheming drop of new G-funk on 'Just Ridin'. Again the backbone verges on generic, but it's valuable. Synthesized and Southern-fried club shakes (the keyboard work throughout seems reinforced rather than coming off flimsy), compete with murderous stomps and sulks ('Bounce') and chipmunk intervention ('Life on the Line'). The deluge of guests (of which Peedi Crakk is probably the most high-profile), culminates in the gigantic posse cut '25 to Life'. Taking its cue from Late's 'International Rhyme Spittin', in fairness, the masses that pass through from the local underground don't drop the ball. 'By Any Means Necessary' is textbook thuggin', but if you're after a street album to annoy neighbours and pedestrians with, get it as the title suggests.
" Carnariu "wutanghiddenmember" Eladio "
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