.Shuko & DJ Dutchmaster

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 thirty 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.
(Coalmine)