hip-hop compilation working a North/South unity theme could have been a significant statement back in the 90's, or even as recently as 2003, if done right. There was a time when Southern rappers still seemed provincial and somehow segregated from hip-hop's birthplace. But now that commercial hip-hop's entire center of gravity has slipped below the Mason-Dixon, most rappers from New York (which is, let's face it, what "the North" means 99% of the time) have collaborated with plenty of Southerners, whether out of mutual respect or transparent attempts to maintain relevance.

The theme of The Champions: The North Meets the South is less rappers than it is the DJs. Kay Slay, from New York's Hot 97, and Greg Street, from Atlanta's V103, have both had success on the radio, with mixtapes, and with official albums (Kay Slay's for Sony, Street's for Slip-N-Slide Records), so they're at least fitting representatives. The album itself, though, doesn't offer much cross-pollination: there's maybe four songs that feature both North and South rappers (plus Twista's "Knock 'Em Out," which features neither), and the New York component on three of those is Kay Slay's overhyped Brooklyn protege Papoose. Despite being able to whip up a major label bidding war and eventually a 1.5 million dollar deal with Jive Records, Papoose is still a hideously amateurish mixtape rapper who constantly stumbles his way through overcooked wordplay like "he had to nerve to ask me if I'm sure I want beef / C'mon, man, I'm sure (shore) like the water on the beach" and "you only say 'mic check' to make sure your mic right / I say 'mic check' 'cause I get a check when I'm on the mic."

Amazingly, though, Papoose isn't even the rapper most awkwardly shoehorned into multiple tracks on The Champions. That distinction belongs to Shaquille O'Neal, who owns Deja 34, the label that released the album. The basketball superstar, credited here as Shaq Diesel, is probably the most successful athlete-turned-recording-artist of all time, with several platinum and gold plaques to his name. But he's still essentially just a guy who happens to be hugely famous for something he's actually good at that he's allowed to do something he's not so good at on a public level. Playing in Miami must be going to Shaq's head, too, because he's starting to sound a little like Rick Ross when he raps.

Despite those factors, and the inherent mediocrity that most official mixtape albums fall victim too, The Champions features several solid tracks that don't come off as mere leftovers from the artists' own albums. Remy Ma rocks a nice Cool & Dre soul sample track on "One and Only (My Boo)," and Three 6 Mafia team up with B.G. and Lil Wyte on "Hood Drug Warz," which features some awesome backmasked drum sounds. Stay Gettin', the Baltimore duo that produced several songs on Kay Slay's last retail release, 2004's The Streetsweeper Vol. 2: The Pain from the Game, return for four tracks on The Champions, including the epic posse cut "5 Deadly Venoms" with Ghostface Killah, Kool G Rap, Raekwon, Big Daddy Kane, and…Lord Tariq (four out of five ain’t bad). And Cleveland production team Kick Drums, who held down some of the best tracks on Ray Cash's recent debut album, provide a solid backdrop for "Pop the Trunk" featuring Yung Joc, Papoose, and Chamillionaire.

A few highlights do not a tight album make, though. Between the two of them, Kay Slay and Greg Street have released hundreds of different discs on the mixtape market. It's sheer quantity that keeps their names ringing, so quality isn't job one, even when putting an official album in stores. The collective talent that pitched in on The Champions may read like a who's who of mainstream hip-hop in 2006, but only a handful brought their A game.