Show/D.I.T.C.

A compilation featuring the initials D.I.T.C. is sure to get knowledgeable hip-hop heads running to pick it up. After all, the Diggin’ in the Crates crew were influential, if not unheralded purveyors of the gritty sound of ’90s hip-hop in New York. Show, the producer behind the bulk of this compilation’s tracks obviously knows this and is trying to reposition the crew in a new era, an admittedly difficult task. Listening to Street Talk, it’s evident that there is some cutting room floor material here, grafted on to new or existing tracks, yet Show has done an admirable job of overseeing the proceedings. After being absent from the scene for years, Show (formerly known as Showbiz), shows he’s still got the skills that helped him craft the seminal Runaway Slave album with his MC partner A.G. back in 1992. However, his understated approach works to the album’s detriment as the MC appearances from newer members Milano and Party Arty beg for a strong unifying force apart from the beats and struggle to emerge from the crew’s peerless legacy. While D.I.T.C. fiends may want to slow their run to a brisk walk there are some great performances here from Fat Joe and the late Big L and Pun, eerily teamed together here on "Where You At?”