The end of Supreeme, the end of an era (God Bless the Child)

Photo credit:

?
SEE DOWNLOAD LINK BELOW

?
I had an epic phone interview today with Shaka Girvan (aka Dope Pope aka Tom Cruz) of Supreeme. Wish I could just post the audio flat-out because not even a full transcription is going to do it justice, I don’t think.

?
In case you haven’t heard, the Atlanta-based rap group recently announced that it is no more. That’s right, Negashi Armada, Sam (King Self) Terrell and Shaka have gone their separate ways. But along with the surprising announcement of their split (received by email) came a link to their new and final album, ‘’God Bless the Child -Supreeme’s Last Testament.?

?
For the past week or so, I’ve been pouring through the album trying to digest both it and the finality of their demise. Rarely do music writers/critics get the pleasure to cover local acts of which we can truly count ourselves as personal fans. For me, Supreeme was such an act. As MCs, they always seemed to walk a fine line between intellect and immaturity in a way that was endearing even though they were bratty as hell. And Shaka’s production has always been, well, supreme. That they were natives who represented everything “Atlanta rap” didn’t to the eyes and ears of the mainstream made them all the more infectious.’’