producers: dj premier, show, buckwild, diamond, lord finesse, rockwilder, ahmed

Let a Diggin' In The Crates fan tell you that this album sucks. And because I am a fan, and because this is such a disappointment, I will allow myself to write this review on a personal level, throwing journalistic rules (as if I'd follow them anyways, laugh) over board and just sit down with you, and tell you why.

The reason why I always loved the D.I.T.C. was, because they had dope beats. You could chill with them at home and they'd be musical enough to entertain you for an hour and more. The D.I.T.C. was street and rugged without promoting violence. Oftentimes they were just bragging and they were darn good at it. And if you check their track record, you'll see how dope their catalogue is: O.C.'s visionary "Times Up", "You And Yours", Big L's "Put It On" or "Ebonics", Lord Finesse "Brainstorm / P.S.K. (No Gimmicks Remix)", "Stop Sweating The Next Man" and "Keep It Flowing", Show & A.G.'s "Spit", "Next Level (Nyte Time Mix)" or "Soul Clap", Diamonds "I'm Outta Here" or "Best Kept Secret", to just name a few. But I guess real artists need to eat too, hence this album.

The jiggyness started to set in with O.C.'s "Jewelz" album climaxing with the very disappointing "Still Diggin' Composition" EP by Buckwild and this album. Let's hope the label is to blame for this.

First of all, many of the tracks on here have been previously released: "Thick", "Time To Get This Money", "Get Yours", "The Enemy" and Big L's "Ebonics" (that gets a remix treatment), while the weak beat having "Internationally Known", "Themes, Dreams & Schemes", "All Luv" and "Where You At?" are left out. On "Drop It Heavy", KRS-One kicks a rhyme that's taken from the Show & A.G. EP, the already released "Dignified Soldiers" gets the name "Stand Strong" and a softer beat (check O.C.'s last line for confirmation), and on "Hey Luv", not one D.I.T.C. member kicks a rhyme, but only affiliates Milano and Cuban Linx do. This should have all the left out tracks on it too, and should be pushed as a 'best of vinyl releases' compilation, and not an album, and no one would complain.

However, the jiggyness is dominant on previously unreleased tracks: "Champagne Thoughts", "Hey Luv", the wack club effort "Foundation" or the unnecessary Rockwilder remix of "Thick". And while these beats are not necessarily pop, they are by far not the boom bap of D.I.T.C. past. So the remaining dope tracks on here are "Day One", "Da Enemy", "Stand Strong" and "Tribute" (a touching Big L tribute track), while "Thick", "Get Yours", "Way Of Life", "Drop It Heavy" (also on A.G.'s solo album), "Weekend Nights" and "Time To Get This Money" are alright, but even the Premo remix of "Ebonics" is slacking. And that is by far not a D.I.T.C. worthy track record.

However, on the lyrical side, they still got it on many tracks. Like on what has to be one of the best tracks of the last few years "Day One": Diamond goes "now its the mad magician with the ill deposition / no repetition, holding down Bronx tradition / my composition simply squash the competition / step up and get beat into submission / cause this musician with the street intuition / 7-35 fuel-injected transmission". A.G. goes "bang 'em and hang 'em like they did our relatives / thought he was the best on the mic that ever lived? negative" and finally Lord Finesse kickstarts with "check the referral, man my whole squad's thorough / we worldwide niggas is nice in one borough / we all gleam, plus we fiend for more cream / you got some nice players they just on the wrong team...nahmean". But even in the lyric department they allow themselves crap like the flossing "Foundation", that must have been done to please that kind of audience rather than the fans, that brought up the D.I.T.C. to their prominence.

On "Day One" the chorus goes "yo, most these rap cats don't know / where it started, where it came from / we been repping this shit since Day One / Diggin' In The Crates originators / why niggas playa hater us / knowing damn well you can't fade us". And up until we got this album, we agreed. But this is the final confirmation, that even the mighty D.I.T.C. can fall off.