Search - Showbiz & Ag :: Goodfellas

Excellent Album From Show and A.G. (Rating: 8 out of 10- -4.

Chandler | Atlanta (College Park), Georgia | 09/07/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Showbiz & A.G. have been representing the D.I.T.C. crew for the mid 90's. After comming off their debut album Runaway Slave back in 1992, their second full length LP Good Fellas is a good follow up to that album. No doubt Showbiz can produce here, although he doesn't come near the microphone as much on this LP as he did the last (not saying hes wack, but on the last one he rhymed just as much, if not more, than A.G.). The production here has a much darker and less lively sound here, compared to some of the other songs I've heard him produce (ie. "Soul Clap"). "Check It Out" and both mixes of "Next Level" has great production, not to mention A.G. does a good job on the mic. In fact A.G. is consistant on the mic throughout this whole entire album. "All Out" is a great song, that shows his wordplay (nice sample of Redman on the hook as well). The chemestry together is real smooth and laid back on many of the tracks here.



Like I said, Show and A.G. are great here on this album. What kills this is guest appearances. A.G. began putting his crew The Ghetto Dwellas on here and they sound horrible. Theres a guy named Party Arty who is on about half of the tracks on here. Seriously, imagine the Cookie Monster trying to rap, and you'll have an idea of what he sounds like. Basically his horrible rhymes kills whatever good song Show and A.G. were doing. I wonder if they could have found any better guest appearances to appear on this album. The only great appearance is Method Man (who I swear he just randomly showed up and someone asked him to just drop a short verse), who says three lines on the last 20 seconds of "Got The Flava". And Lord Finesse as well as D-Flow do a good job as well on "Add On". I wouldn't have minded hearing Big L on this album as well.



Overall, Good Fellas is a good album from the mid 90's. Show and A.G. do their job, no doubt. It's the guests that I have a problem with. I don't want to completely penalize this album because of that, but I personally think if A.G. isn't passing the mic to anyone in the D.I.T.C. crew, to just keep it to himself. Fans of mid 90's east coast rap will like this here. Seeing that this album is out of print, this is one that you shouldn't pay no more than 30 bucks max. I was in Orlando a few months ago and found this album as a Japaneese Import at a music shop for about 15. It's not one of those albums that I recommend you go out and find right away (although if you see for a reasonable price anywhere, go ahead and pick it up). Newcommers to Show and A.G. should hit up Runaway Slave before diving into this one. But check it out. Peace!!



Lyrics: A-

Production: A-

Guest Appearances: B-

Musical Vibes: B+



Top 5 Tracks:

1. Next Level

2. Got Ya Back

3. Add On (featuring Lord Finesse and D Flow)

4. Time For

5. You Want It (featuring Diamond D)



Honorable Mention Track:

1. Got The Flava (featuring Walli World, D Flow, Party Arty, and Method Man)"

Itunes

PM | 01/24/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"F*ck the $50 copies get it on itunes now. Hopefully they'll get runaway slave soon."

A Classic

Gindalooon | Upstate,New York | 06/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If you can't tell by the price this album is being sold at this is a rare find and actually deserves the price tag which it garnered. A masterpeice of an era long gone in hip hop music...Showbiz handles the production with DJ Premier and Roc Raida and has classic DITC crew guest spots. Method Man appears on the rarely heard "Got The Flava" and provides a verse which seems to be frozen in time. Along with Main Source "Breaking Atoms" this album,though expensive,belongs in any true New York Hip Hop head's collection."