Showbiz and AG’s Runaway Slave is perhaps the best album I have that I’ve never really loved.  I know that sounds utterly contradictory and well, it is. For whatever reason, I just can’t get into it though I’m hard pressed to suggest what’s wrong. Is it the beats? Are you kidding?  Showbiz is killing it with his juicy loops and smacking drum breaks.  And I’m not even going to suggest that A.G. couldn’t come with it lyrically – of the D.I.T.C. crew, only Big L seemed to have more spark and even then, AG’s biting, straightforward flow was pure MC steez.

And the songs?  “More Than One Way Out of the Ghetto” is still one of my all-time favorite narratives, capturing Andre the Giant’s switch from the crack game to the rap game. “Hold Ya Head” with its deeply felt sentiments and somber feel is one of the best songs DITC ever
released.  Both mixes of “Silence of the Lambs” hit like a brick (even if the title was rather lame).  And you can add more on there: “Still Diggin’s” blaring energy, the black power politics of “40 Acres and My Props”, and instant dance floor spark of their classic “Party Groove” and “Soul Clap”.

In the end, Runaway Slave had all the right elements, but fell short of fusing into the kind of album that say, Diamond had with Stunts, Blunts and Hip-Hop or even Lord Finesse The Funky Technician. For starters, it’s just not as much fun – AG is clever, but lacks the sense of playful humor that both Finesse and Diamond brought. Musically, Showbiz’s beats are well made, but they begin to feel a little one-note after half the album – it’s the same basic formula: crackling drum break, short one, two bar loops, a lot of hyped energy, but not as much finesse or raw sample flavor.  And sequencing wise, the album buries all the older material at the very end,
setting them up as almost disposable rather than as an important integration into the overall effort.

All these things considered, the album’s strengths far out pace its weaknesses and though I may not always feel the album – that’s no reason why you shouldn’t.  This is early ’90s era hip-hop at its best.