Album Review: Diamond District – In The Ruff (2009)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 Potholes

Diamond District’s highly anticipated debut album In The Ruff, is a force – an elaborate, creative, tightly composed album sure to pop up on the majority of “Best of ‘09” lists. Diamond District consists of Oddisee, Y.U., and X.O., a Washington D.C. trio each of whom has been known for work with other top artists in the past.

However, coming together on In The Ruff, it almost becomes easy to forget that you are in fact listening to a group, because all three mesh together so well. This is not to say that they don’t each have personal touches on the album. They trade verses about various topics, all in all, crafting a ode to their hometown and homage to the hustle and grind.

Lyrically they depict stories about the nature of life on the streets – the good, the bad, and the ugly. Women, materialism, and money, elements often found in mainstream rap are present here, but not to a fault. There is a maturity with which these topics are approached, and ultimately Diamond District proves that their minds stretch far deeper. Even when the topics turn to the dark and bleak, there is a gleam of hope and inspiration to be taken from their messages. On “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill” the daily grind of the ghetto is examined almost as thoughtfully as certain tracks on Illmatic, and then the glory that can be found in the streets is found on the redemption track “In The Ruff.”

From a production standpoint, Oddisee weaves in a variety of instruments and often experiments with complex rhythms that engage the listener without venturing into left-field hip-hop. The samples are also very well chosen. Some old (Gang Starr – Mass Appeal), some more recent (Jay-Z –Izzo (H.O.V.A.)) The production even seems to touch on electronica/trip-hop influences (note the groovy baseline and synths in “Who I Be” [sounds like DJ Shadow – Organ Donor]). On the whole, In The Ruff is well paced with hardly a dull moment. It’s lyrically top-notch and a superior example of what hip-hop can be. D.C.: be proud.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 18th, 2009 at 4:52 pm and is filed under Album Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.