Shaka airs out his thoughts after Supreeme calls it quits

SUPREEME: Shaka (right) with Sam and Negashi in 2007
Photo credit:

Pussy, paper and pride have come between the best of friends.

But if they somehow led to the recent demise of Atlanta rap trio Supreeme, as de facto leader/producer/MC Shaka Girvan (aka Dope Pope, aka Tom Cruz) suggested in our phone interview a week and a half ago, it’s all the more monumental considering their steelo. Even at their shit-talking best — and Supreeme talked a lot of it on the six CDs and mixtapes released over the last six years — they always delivered their youthful exploits with an air of pomp and circumstance that elevated them above the run-of-the-mill.

Then three weeks ago, Shaka unceremoniously announced, via email, that he, Negashi Armada and Sam Terrell (aka King Self) had split. Attached was a copy of the new, unreleased album, God Bless the Child — on which Sam only appears on one of 13 tracks.

As Shaka and I talked, it became apparent that he was torn between his excitement for the new album and his disappointment at Supreeme’s demise. He’d only had a couple of weeks to digest the group’s split, and the more we discussed the details surrounding their break-up, the group’s legacy and the album’s theme, the title God Bless the Child took on a whole new meaning. Here’s the final chapter of their story, according to Shaka:

SUPREEME BEING (THE ALBUM’S THEME)

You all reference God a lot on the new CD. Sometimes it seems like you’re referring to yourselves as gods in a sense

Sometimes we’re referring to God, too, third-party.

Right. So I’m curious. Why all the God talk?

(MP3 no longer available on the site)