Big Shug (born Cary Guy) is a hip hop artist from Boston, Massachusetts, and a member of the Gang Starr Foundation collective.
Guy spent much of his early life in Boston's Mattapan area (known locally as "Murdapan").[1] Growing up, he forged a friendship with future Gang Starr MC, Guru. The two were separated when Shug was imprisoned and Guru moved to New York, forming Gang Starr with DJ Premier. On his release, Shug again hooked up with Guru, joined the Gang Starr Foundation, and contributed to each of Gang Starr's albums, beginning with Hard to Earn in 1994 (on "F.A.L.A."). He also appeared on "The Militia" from 1998's Moment of Truth, and contributed to Guru's "Jazzmatazz" albums. During the 1990s, Shug recorded a few 12-inch singles produced by DJ Premier for Payday and Chrysalis, but his first solo album proper, Who's Hard was not released until 2005.[1] He signed to New York's Babygrande in 2007, and released his second album, Streetchamp. The album was produced by MoSS and DJ Premier and features guest appearances from DJ Premier and Sean Price. A third solo album, Otherside of the Game, was released in November 2008, and features DJ Premier, Bumpy Knuckles, Billy Danze of M.O.P., Termanology, Blaq Poet, and Singapore Cane. This album is a gem and was hard for me to choose just one track to podcast .
