Moderators: TheBigSleep, djfilthyrich
At least one time this forum (possibly informally) pitted those two together and I think I remember Diamond D was the preferred choice, just barely.soopacee wrote:Definitely Diamond D...I played the shit outta that cassette. Show & A.G. was a close second though.
Originally this poll was just going to be the two Diggin' albums but then I remembered Red's debut was the same day and that kinda tied the last Dropped Same Day in with this one, the group feel and the Wu connection. And for me it was the reversal, I first heard those two D.I. albums as a kid living in New York in late '92.Bigg Boss Luciano wrote:Funk Doc...my favorite East Coast album from '92. Never liked early D.I.T.C. stuff.
Yeah, there's two ways to look at it, from back then or right now. If people hadn't heard the albums yet and were voting with their dollar, that's different than today, where we've all heard these albums (or could easily for those who haven't).I Smell Like Un Kasa wrote:Back then I copped the Redman album easily...but now I'd much rather listen to Runaway Slave, so I had to go with that.
Not quite landslide for me but yeah, this is my pick as well.vaporized2 wrote:Runaway Slave by a landslide.
aleph wrote:Since they were linked, I always thought of Runaway Slave and Stunts as two parts of the same album. The story of the early '90s New York sound. But I go with Runaway Slave. Redman's great too, yo Sleep come up with an easier poll next time.
Agreed. Alright, sure thing. Next up, P.M. Dawn's debut vs. Tim Berners-Lee's idea for the World Wide Web, Tuesday, August 6th, 1991.Yeah, that's part of why the concept appealed to me when I came up with it, to remind people. Plus it seems like a (slightly) less arbitrary way of putting albums against each other when you do it like this.Versive wrote:That's some fucking day. I give it to Stunts, Blunts probably just because I'm biased to rapper / producers. All three are mad close though.
And with that, my post count enters the nineties, fitting. Glad to hear it. I'm trying to rediscover those kinda days so people know which ones they were.Tim Burton wrote:I would have to say Diamond D because I think I listened to it most back in the day but I had all three albums and loved each one. That could be the best release day ever!
Looking at it song by song rather than as a complete work, interesting approach.bbatson1 wrote:Diamon-D. Even though it probably has more average songs than the others, I think the best songs are better than the best ones on the other tapes.
I knew the Diamond fans would represent for this one. This is the album from him, his best style. And A.G. was really the only one who remained mostly consistent outta these guys. But, as was said, there is something remarkable about someone who makes their own beats. I probably do prefer the beats here but the rhymes and overall sound of Runaway Slave edges it for me. The results are even closer than I thought they would be so far though.shadowmaster wrote:Diamond's first LP contains his best solo material for me, he was often funny and just seemed care free, enjoying his time. Brilliant selection of beats on his debut, later on he seemed to boast a hell of a lot more with some threats thrown in. Although later in his career, to me Day One featured his last classic verse, that was a dope verse.
For sure, I remember people arguing about those two before I really even knew what the internet was. Second Dropped Same Day I thought of after Wu and Tribe.clark bent wrote:Stunts and Runaway Slave have forever been debated and I'll say again, I was never a fan and to this day don't get the love affair with Runaway Slave...Stunts on the other hand is on the short list of best produced albums.
I know KRS-One holds it in high regard too, he came up to Show & A at a party in '92 and talked about how much he liked the record. (Which of course led to Sound of Da Police the next year and the start of KRS as a D.I.T.C. affiliate.)grass wrote:Runaway Slave, my favorite album of all time.
I'm not sure where I rank it overall, but it's up there for me.claaa7 wrote:All fantastic albums that should be in any hip hop head's record collection. For me, it's a pretty easy choice though, Runaway Slave; all three albums are close to 5/5, but Show & A's debut LP is one of the five to ten favorite albums of all time for me.
Well said. Diamond definitely earned his title as co-founder of Diggin' in the Crates with this one and probably had been diggin' the longest out of everyone by that point. When I was younger I always paid more attention to the words than the music behind it, that was something I grew to appreciate later. Diamond's is easily the best produced (and a few years ago it seems would've been enough to make it the top choice here overall). However, something has always stuck with me about the rapping on Runaway. It's definitely a trade off. If I had to vote strictly on beats though...fatboybrandon wrote:I like all three almost equally and couldn't imagine not having bought either one of them in '92 but as one choice I'm going with Stunts, Blunts & Hip Hop. For me it has a slight edge above the other two for the musical journey provided by Diamond's diverse sample selection. To this day I'm introduced to new worlds of music by following the discographies of obscure rock, blues, jazz, '80s boogie, funk and soul artists used throughout that album.
While Runaway is mostly jazz based and Whut is mostly P-Funk and James Brown soul, Stunts is one of those albums that broke the mold by incorporating more genres in one album by a producer that dug further in the crates. Even before I knew any of the original samples from either of these three albums I could tell this was one aspect that really stood out to me about Stunts.
Diamond choices of straight loops like Check One Two, That's That Shit or Best Kept Secret were just as good if not better than Runaway or Whut but as a producer I think he takes the edge out of the three albums by showing the best skills in sample layering. Songs like What You Seek, Feel the Vibe and Step to Me stand out to me 'til this day from how good the progression of each song flows based on how Diamond combined different instruments from three or four records to tell a story.
I can see good points on why one would choose Runaway based on rhymes. To me there is a stronger degree of power behind AG's delivery through that album as he speaks on society, Diamond sounds more laid back with his delivery and covers a few more aspects of life. I think the rhymes on SBAHH are just as good as Runaway in terms of being memorable, meaningful, varied in expression of life and technically outstanding. I think the fact that Diamond held it down so well lyrically to match his effort on production is another impressive thing to note about that album within the scope of Hip Hop history. I believe it's also a matter of personal preference though when choosing between the rhymes on Runaway and SBAHH in terms of style, delivery, mic presence, subject matter, etc.TheBigSleep wrote: Well said. Diamond definitely earned his title as co-founder of Diggin' in the Crates with this one and probably had been diggin' the longest out of everyone by that point. When I was younger I always paid more attention to the words than the music behind it, that was something I grew to appreciate later. Diamond's is easily the best produced (and a few years ago it seems would've been enough to make it the top choice here overall). However, something has always stuck with me about the rapping on Runaway. It's definitely a trade off. If I had to vote strictly on beats though...
Yeah, it's definitely nostalgia and a preference for the statement made by Runaway Slave for me. I could have just as easily voted for Diamond just for his one man band achievements and technical prowess. Might be another issue of favorite vs. best. They are definitely well matched, two sides of the same coin as far as I'm concerned.fatboybrandon wrote:I can see good points on why one would choose Runaway based on rhymes. To me there is a stronger degree of power behind A.G.'s delivery through that album as he speaks on society, Diamond sounds more laid back with his delivery and covers a few more aspects of life. I think the rhymes on Stunts are just as good as Runaway in terms of being memorable, meaningful, varied in expression of life and technically outstanding. I think the fact that Diamond held it down so well lyrically to match his effort on production is another impressive thing to note about that album within the scope of hip hop history. I believe it's also a matter of personal preference though when choosing between the rhymes on Runaway and Stunts in terms of style, delivery, mic presence, subject matter, etc.
I think everybody has albums like that, where you kind of missed the window. And with that, Diamond takes the lead for the first time.PopsUK wrote:For some reason, I didn't cop Runaway Slave until years after, I'm talking like two years ago and I really have no idea why. I was living in the UK at the time it came out so maybe it's because they were imports and less readily available...and expensive. It's funny though, it's an album I always wanted to listen to, but for some reason just never got around to it. Then, when I finally did, it kinda felt like the time had passed and I couldn't really get into it, although back then I know I would have loved it. Diamond D wins for me.
More Gravy Please wrote:Played the hell out of Redman when it first dropped but I voted Stunts, Blunts... probably one of the most solid Hip Hop albums of all time. No stinkers on there..shit, I even like 'Confused'!
