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by
19 October, 2014@7:09 pm
16 comments
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The curse of the classic album many times leaves artists always looking back on their greatest work, sometimes shunning it in fear of being labeled a one-trick pony, other times trying to recreate it over and over again. In either case, rarely does lightning strike twice and many are forced to face reality that their best work is behind them.


Diamond D’s 1992 classic debut, Stunts, Blunts, and Hip-hop is a timeless, perfect album that still sounds great to this day. He followed up with a second LP for Elektra in 1997, Hatred, Passions, and Infidelity, which was a worthy sequel despite it not receiving the same amount of critical praise from its audience. With a few smaller side projects here and there, Diamond has more or less disappeared, likely still cashing checks from his work on The Fugees The Score, which has sold 17 million (!) copies worldwide.


With The Diam Piece, Diamond D makes a proper return to the game, producing a Pete Rock-esque compilation album, featuring many of your favorite emcees from over the years. This is a different approach for Diamond, who early on designated “by far I’m the best producer on the mic,” leaving the mic duties largely to himself.


Upon the opening of the album’s first track, “Rap Life,” it feels like Diamond never left, with his booming voice echoing over vintage samples, yet now with Pharoahe Monch taking center stage. This vibe continues throughout the first half of the album, with strong tracks like “Where’s the Love” featuring Talib Kweli, Elzhi, and Skyzoo and “Its Nothin” with Fat Joe, Chi Ali, and Freddie Foxxx. The Diggin In The Crates sound stays strong on on many of the album’s tracks, with songs like “Only Way 2 Go” (feat. Pete Rock), “Vanity” (feat. Nottz) and “Pain” with A.G. and Chino XL.


For as many strong moments that the album carries, there is a fair amount of filler that doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the record. “I Aint The One To Fuc Wit” with Scram Jones and “Ace Of Diamonds” with Masta Ace are hardly up to par with the rest of Diamond’s catalog. In other places, we find Diamond adapting to more modern styles of production, such as on the Black Rob hosted “Take Em Off Da Map” or The Alkaholiks’ featured “We Are The People Of The World,” also featuring Kurupt. While it’s understandable that Diamond wants to keep up with the trends to stay in business as a producer, it also goes against why we love his music in the first place.


Recorded over a period of three years it’s clear why this album has a bit of a disjointed sound, as The Diam Piece has moments we like, and moments we don’t. While it’s not necessarily the triumphant return to the game we were hoping for, we still welcome him with open arms.

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16 Responses to "Diamond D – “The Diam Piece” – @@@1/2 (Review)"
  • Rich says:

    If there were uncleared samples, then why did the label allow the song(s) to go on the album? Not supposed to happen. Besides, Clef and them know how to play piano, guitar, etc. so the need for samples wasn’t necessary.

  • Comments (16)

    Tom

    October 19th, 2014 at 8:07 pm