On this day in 1992, Bronx duo Showbiz & A.G. released their debut full-length album Runaway Slave through Payday/FFRR Records, delivering one of the defining underground projects to emerge from New York during Hip Hop’s golden era.
34 years later, the album remains an essential piece of the Diggin’ in the Crates legacy and a blueprint for the rugged, sample-heavy New York sound that would dominate much of the underground throughout the decade.
Showbiz and A.G. had already begun establishing themselves before the album arrived. Their 1991 Soul Clap EP introduced listeners to a producer-MC combination rooted firmly in the Bronx tradition: hard drums, obscure samples, jazz and funk underneath straightforward but technically sharp rhymes. Records such as “Soul Clap” and “Party Groove” created the foundation, but Runaway Slave gave the duo room to fully develop that sound.
Showbiz handled the bulk of the production, digging deep into jazz, soul and funk records to construct the dusty drums, chopped loops and heavy basslines that became his signature. On the microphone, Andre the Giant, better known as A.G., provided the perfect counterpart. His delivery wasn’t built around gimmicks. It was calm, confident and precise, with the type of understated lyrical ability that rewarded anyone actually paying attention to the bars.
Together, they sounded unmistakably like the Bronx.
Runaway Slave delivered a collection of underground staples, including “Fat Pockets,” “Bounce Ta This,” “Hold Ya Head” and the title track, while material previously heard on Soul Clap helped connect the album to the duo’s earlier work.
“Fat Pockets” in particular became one of Showbiz & A.G.’s signature records. Powered by Showbiz’s unmistakable drums and A.G.’s effortless delivery, the track captured exactly what made their chemistry work without needing anything extra added to the formula.
Then there was “Represent.”
The posse cut brought A.G. together with fellow D.I.T.C. affiliate Lord Finesse, Deshawn and a young Harlem MC named Big L. At the time, L had yet to release a solo album, but his appearance offered another glimpse of the punchline-heavy lyrical talent that would eventually make him one of the most revered MCs to ever come out of Harlem.
That record also captured something larger that was happening around Showbiz & A.G.
Alongside Lord Finesse, Diamond D, O.C., Buckwild, Fat Joe and Big L, the duo became part of the collective eventually known throughout Hip Hop as Diggin’ in the Crates. Long before D.I.T.C. released its own group projects, records like those surrounding Runaway Slave were already establishing the crew’s identity: elite lyricism paired with producers who treated record digging as both an art form and competitive sport.
Runaway Slave never needed enormous mainstream numbers to establish its importance.
The album earned its reputation where records like this were supposed to earn it—in record stores, mixtapes, DJ sets, college radio, neighborhood ciphers and among Hip Hop heads who understood exactly what they were hearing. There was nothing glossy about the project and little attempt to chase whatever was commercially popular in 1992.
It was beats and rhymes, straight from the source.
The album also arrived during an important transition in New York Hip Hop. The polished sample-heavy production of the late ’80s was evolving into something darker and grimier, and producers such as Showbiz were helping build the sonic bridge toward the boom bap that would define much of East Coast Hip Hop over the next several years.
Thirty-four years later, Runaway Slave doesn’t require much explanation for anyone who understands that era.
Showbiz brought the beats. A.G. brought the bars. The Bronx provided the backdrop. And the extended D.I.T.C. family helped create an album whose influence would travel considerably farther than its original commercial reach.
Runaway Slave remains a reminder of a period when digging for the right break, finding the right drums and putting the right MC over them could be enough to create something timeless.
Salute to Showbiz & A.G. and the entire Diggin’ in the Crates family for a Bronx classic that still represents 34 years later.