Single Review - "Couple Hunnit Shots." By Shooter McShootem ft. T.I
Going toe-to-toe with fellow great rappers is never as cut-and-dried as the always-cited "Renegade," where rap analysts compare the wordplay of Jay-Z and Eminem. Sometimes artists collaborate with bars aside in the name of making a great song, ala Jadakiss and Styles P. In these scenarios, the artists know they're making great music, but their innate competitive nature ensures their pen is top-notch and that lyrical doubt is never in question. The latter is the case for Shooter McShootem's latest song "Couple Hunnit Shots."
Shooter McShootem has always been the vigilante, not that we want, but one we need. A superhero-esque figure willing to take out any busters daring to overstep lines deemed less than unsavory by the friendly neighborhood shooter. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Shooter remains a world-class wordsmith, using the booth as an anonymous journal to either his past or imminent future.
However, on this lucky spooky season, Shooter may have taken a day away from his usual activities to make it scary on the microphone once again with his song "Couple Hunnit Shots," a bar-for-bar stamp highlighting Shooter as a great emcee, even if being the emcee is his side venture.
On this track, Shooter takes on the aforementioned lyrical test with his running mate being the "King of The South" himself, T.I., fresh off the release of his latest album Kill The King. While lesser artists could, and quite frankly, would falter in the challenge, Shooter not only thrives in the challenge but tells the all-too-realistic story of another Shooter adventure, matched with humor and adequate threats, all while maintaining the standard swagger of a twenty-year vet.
Opposite Shooter, T.I. makes it his duty to keep the momentum high, finishing the two-verse track with his trademark grounded, yet ready-to-escalate, energy. Playing the role of Shooter's cool-as-an-ice-cube friend, his verse is not the traditional by the numbers guest-spot, as he is trying to prove a point: that he can be equally dangerous as a verbal and literal shooter as the Shootersville resident himself.
While it's quite possible, as Jay-Z once said, the two might literally shoot up the charts, the track is a masterful display of how to piece together words while getting the point across that action is only a matter of opportunity for the two emcees. On this holiday, enjoy two masters of their craft, doing what they do best, remaining dangerous for our entertainment.
