Three years after
the Dayton Family entered their unofficial prison-related sabbatical,
Bootleg appeared with his first solo album,
Death Before Dishonesty. In those three years since
the Dayton Family's
F.B.I. album, a lot had happened. Thankfully, despite all the personal drama,
Bootleg and his producer,
Steve Pitts, had managed to hone their craft, resulting in the most polished
Dayton Family-related release of the 1990s. The inclusion of female vocalists on some of the song's hooks was a major change from the nothing-but-hardcore rap sound of
F.B.I.; furthermore, a wide range of guest rappers appear here, with the most notable exception being
Bootleg's longtime partner, fellow
Dayton Family founder
Shoestring. So the album ends up sounding like quite a departure from the
Dayton Family albums, thanks mostly to the revolving ensemble of guests and
Shoestring's absence.