After the finale of the debut season of The Hustle you’d have to be a sour ass hater to not acknowledge the success of what turned out to be a very intriguing contest over creativity and showmanship. Well done to the talented Big Star Johnson, the winner of the inaugural season of The Hustle.
I must admit however, when I was first introduced to the show I was a little sceptical. Without watching an episode, an image came to my mind of a bunch of dudes snuggly huddling in a circle and hurling rap insults at one another. That would hardly make for good TV. I was wrong. The show highlighted and re-invigorated some of the things that are missing in the SA Hip Hop scene currently and reminded us why we hold such a strong affinity to this genre of music which makes up a big part of our culture. What was more surprising and inspiring about the show was how it didn’t take the conventional route of MC’s tearing each other down with lava hot rhymes. The producers put the rappers into situations that exposed them to veterans of the game sharing advice and also specialists coming to assist with things like PR and stage presence.
The winner of the show comes in the form of a super friendly and super humble Big Star Johnson. Whether this is fake humble only time will tell. Big Star walks away with a lucrative prize bag which includes cold hard cash, a recording deal but I’m sure to the dismay of most dudes who watch the show, the prize lacks a candle lit dinner with the host of the show DJ Sammy Sosa (hey boo).
From my very first watch it was staggeringly apparent how nice this dude Big Star is with the bars. His talents do not end with pen and paper however as he also can sing and play musical instruments. A great personality, creative mind and talented being culminates to give us what could very well be the next big rap star of the SA Hip Hop scene. Only time can tell if Big Star has what it takes to become a household name but I’m optimistic that pure talent (which has not been the case in many instances) can survive the tests that plague the fame hungry artists of our day.
Let’s keep a lookout for this up and comer and let’s support local talent as much as possible.
In case you missed the flighting of the show, you can check out below a freestyle by Big Star Johnson I found on the internet.
Check our exclusive interview with him over here:
