Showbiz & A.G. had been instrumental in defining NYC rap’s early 90s aesthetic. Leaning closely on producer/emcee Showbiz’s ear for esoteric samples ample with harmonic twists and turns, the duo’s information bounced with a no-nonsense confidence, oozing authenticity by the vocals of accomplice A.G. (AKA Andre the Big). “Keeping it real” was nonetheless a couple of years away from peaking as a catchphrase (and, in flip, a cliché). On Runaway Slave, the pair’s 1992 underground traditional debut LP, it’s an unstated but essentially pragmatic mindset for youth nonetheless grappling with the fallout of the crack period who turned to music as a method of survival.
Runaway Slave is plain-spoken in its topicality as a result of the psychological enslavement referenced by its title feels so inseparable from every day life: circumstances are brutal, mates die far too younger, rumour ruins relationships and reputations, cops frequently goal younger Black males, and crime as a profession turns into a self-fulfilling prophecy. “I want kids and a wife not 25 to life,” Present laments on the album’s eulogy to those that’ve handed, “Hold Ya Head.” “A beer will relax my mind, but I still pack my nine,” A.G. provides on the title observe, capturing the stress of their environment. And whereas their ethical compass is most overt on compositions like “More Than One Way Out the Ghetto” (a type of proto-“Juicy” autobiographical narrative with much more modest and practical aspirations) its chorus-free music construction and ominous call-and-response horn strains couldn’t be much less commercially minded. As flagship members of the crew Diggn’ within the Crates (a nod to the depths of their pattern supply in search of) Showbiz and A.G.’s purist method was baked into their sensibility. The enjoyment in exploring that artistry – the identical infectious vitality that fuels the album’s opener “Still Diggin’” that includes fellow D.I.T.C.-er Diamond D, or the Dres of Black Sheep-assisted “Bounce Ta This” – makes all the things else in life tolerable.
Although not the primary artists to meaningfully pattern jazz, right here they elevate the apply to one thing memorably poetic and nonetheless uncompromisingly hip-hop. The pre-LP single “Party Groove” is cleverly constructed round a winding sax hook loop that playfully turns itself up and about, anticipating the bodily motion the observe would induce in occasion locations. Huge band horn stabs journey thunderous drum loops in service of avenue anthems (an ode to sustained financial self-sufficiency, “Fat Pockets”; a throttling shutdown of competing crews, “Silence of the Lambs [Remix]”). All through, a plethora of chirpy sax strains and amplified guitar shards are pillaged from former Cream bassist Jack Bruce’s frenetic 1970 jazz ensemble recording, Issues We Like, climaxing with a borrowed riff for the Huge L, Lord Finesse, and D-Shawn-featured posse minimize, “Represent,” that’s concurrently discordant and exuberant, suggesting some demented British brass band promenading down Grand Concourse.
“40 Acres and My Props” takes the album’s thematic concepts round enslavement to their logical conclusion: reparations. The duo’s too clear-eyed to count on justice (“I asked for a mule, I got an iron horse,” Present says sardonically). Slightly, they place their collective religion of their chosen craft (A.G.: “Rap is my career and it’s my only way outta here/ Every day I do damage/ And I manage to use all the anger to my advantage”). As Showbiz expertly flips post-bop sax swells and piano chords over one other punishing drum loop, leaping generations and merging the sounds of smoky 60s Village jazz haunts with the boom-bap of even cloudier 90s uptown beat labs, a chorus of self-reliance materializes: “Gimme my props yo/ More than a cop yo/Till I master hip-hop I won’t stop yo.” Can’t cease received’t cease is the one possibility.
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