Coming out of D.C. in the hip hop game is definitely an uphill battle. With the only relevant things in Washington occurring now being Obama, Wale, Go-Go, and the Washington Wizards( in the rare occurrence that Gilbert Arenas is healthy), the hip hop scene is a difficult road to travel down. However, The Diamond District, composed of Oddisee, X.O., and YU, cruise down the avenue in their LP In The Ruff. Good rhymes, better beats, no features, the Diamond District pack the sound of their city in under an hour, and makes for a good listen.
The hip hop that is released in D.C. has a distinct sound that separates itself from the genre (i.e. Wale-Attention Deficit, producer Best Kept Secret). The production is a standout in this city’s music; the percussion, the samples and sounds, all mesh together in sometimes perfect harmony. Oddisee, the main producer of the album, showcases this in his production in key spots on the album. The first song, “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill” acts as a sort of microcosm to the album: it’s a great example of the D.C. production game. With banging percussion as the backbone, horns on the side, and the “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill” sample pumping, the song is an instant head nodder. This quality transitions to the next track, “Who I Be” which is highlighted by an ODB sample and bass heavy drum pattern. “I Mean Business” also follows the dope drum pattern theme, as its quick hitting drum strokes, organ, and “Mass Appeal” sample make for a standout moment in the album.
Just as you think you have the album sound down, The Diamond District change the tempo with “Off The Late Night”. Its’ a soulful transition in the album, as The Diamond District tell of a one night love affair that has the listener calmed and soothed. It acts as a nice contrast from the rest of the album. There are times where you are subconsciously listening to the album; ignoring the lyrics and just listening to the instrumentals (Like 9th Wonder’s work with Buckshot, picked up solely for the production).
Lyrically, the album deals with political and social issues in society today. It parallels the Dead Prez album, Let’s Get Free, with a correlation between the tone and topics. There are times where the lyrics hit home and have the listener rewinding the track, trying to figure out what he said. For example, in “The District” they discuss the lifestyle in D.C and America under the current economic state, “But I guess we all we got/ if they keep cutting jobs im’a sell me some rock/ can’t trust the market no more to invest in stock/ and is it jail population arresting cops/ so I regret this not/ I mean what I say flick the ashes on the constitution…”. The same can be said for the album titled track “In The Ruff”, “With my economy on a seesaw/ down size and rising wolf in disguise to eat more /so me I take the Shorewood forest route and rob corporate and floss ‘em out/ now hear me out”. The album is aimed at the middle class,hard- working demographic and the lyrics reflect that; those who have been effected by the recession can relate to the topics covered by the Diamond District; and while we ALL may have been effected in some way by the economic crisis, some have more than others and there is no flashy, flossin’ track on this album. This LP is aimed at the working class, blue-collar population and is meant to be played out of pick-up trucks instead of Bentleys.
With all this being said, it’s far from a perfect project. The main problem with this album is the rhymes, and beats, grow stale and predictable at times. To a new listener to the Diamond District, it may be hard to decipher between X.O. and YU. They don’t grab you as a listener and it has you skipping through some songs halfway through. This isn’t a symptom that is apparent throughout the entire album. If you were to listen to each song individually there would be no problem. But once song after song keep accumulating, it becomes very boring and a challenge sometimes to listen to the whole album. Even production falls victim to this, but to a much smaller extent. Production isn’t a problem on this album, and lyrics aren’t horrible either. But they are lagging behind the production and do weigh down the album at times.
The Diamond District have a coherent album with In The Ruff, and have the internet buzzing with positive reviews and acclaim. While the album is not without its flaws; as the listener sometimes yearns for more energy from the MC’s over the stellar production, and you may not know the difference between the members, all of this is overshadowed by the overall quality of the music. The album doesn’t really fit in a certain category of rap. And who cares? Its dope. So even if you have a Bentley, In The Ruff won’t be a bad look, as The Diamond District has put out one of the most solid projects of the year.
84/100
Streets Won’t Let Me Chill
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I Mean Business
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The District
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{ 47 comments… read them below or add one }
Excellent review Jon Garcia
Oddisee did NOT produce the whole album. Dunc and Slimkat78 produced one cut each and Kev Brown produced one of the 2 bonus cuts at the end of the album
Good review on a good album.
Dope album!
Ok so Oddisee did MOST of the production=he did the album production. An interesting review however. I didn’t find it hard to listen to any of the emcees nor did I find them boring after a certain length of time. There were a few times where I did indeed find it hard to distinguish yU & XO, but that did not deter me from noddin my head to the track. This album, in my opinion, deserves to be hip-hop album of the year. It is consistent and the production is clean, but somewhat nostalgic. Very well put together.
yeah, this isn’t my favorite album of the year but I def. think it deserves to get some looks at A.O.Y…the whole thing just knocks from start to finish…great album.
I definitely agree that this is right up there for one of the year’s best along with Boy Meets World and a couple others.
better than a 84/100 imo
too many idiosyncrasy’s in the review, i aint listened to it yet, but i will ‘cos Oddisee is a heavy producer!
Even money between this and The Salvation for my album of the year.
84 isn’t right in my opinion …i honestly can’t say this album isn’t as dope as l.e.g.a.c.y’s and i agree whole-heartedly with suicide music’s 88.
not being able to tell XO and yU isn’t a fault on the album (listen to before taxes and monumental and you’ll see they have very distinct styles and bring different things to the group). Oddisee’s beats sometimes outshine the group (because the beats are that good) and that’s the only (real?) problem with the album. seriously, all three artists are dope give or take maybe one or two verses on the entire cd.
boy meets world seemed more from the heart and skyzoo’s writing puts him in his own class (he and torae need to give us a tape together) but as far as passion for their music goes these guys are unparalleled and use it to make a statement. if not a.o.t.y, then tied with your candidate.
There are so many things wrong with this review that i dont have enough time to post them all. this guy contridicts himself thoughout the whole review, dissing it one minute for to repetitive, then giving it praise for the “overall quality of the music” the next. this is the same reviewer who thought Sene – A Day Late & A Dollar Short was a better album then this. HOW?!? THAT IS MIND-BLOWING! He thought Sha Stimuli’s wack offering My Soul To Keep was pretty much equal to Diamond District. WHAT?? next thing i know this herb is gonna review the new snoop album and rate that higher. Diamond District – In The Ruff is album of the year, if not in the top 3. there is not a bad beat or bad rap on the entire album. here is another interesting quote from john garcia.
“as the listener sometimes yearns for more energy from the MC’s over the stellar production, and you may not know the difference between the members…”
More energy? what the fuck does that mean. people were saying the same shit about Raekwon on the new Cuban Linx. what do you want them to do, yell? scream? rap really fast just to show how amped they are? And you may not know the difference between members??!! any time you hear a first release from a group it will prolly be pretty hard to know who is who. give me a fucking break. how is that reason to knock the album?
how can you possibly agrue that either of those two albums are even close to being equal or better?
i co-sign keith n’ dem in regards to this album, i was just too tired to say more or less what he wrote!!! key word = contradiction
Completely unrelated to this post, im gonna see Slum Village in Camden, London next monday!! anyone else going? ill be rocking a black tee with gold shimmering Dilla silhouette on the front, smoking 2 strains of pepe le pew stinky skunk! anyone sees me, quote “kevin nottingham .com and i will blaze it up with u!
peace and good nite
Never satisfied.
This is one of my favourite albums of the year. Hard beats, dope rhymes… proof that the best formula is to keep it simple and genuine. This is much better than Fashawn’s album, which was far too hyped up.
I like this album and spent way to much to cop it off the internet to make it a part of my collection. Production wise this album is better than Fashawn’s. Lyrically Fashawn blows this out the water…since we are comparing things. Both albums are dope.
Too bad no one supported these albums at retail (online or otherwise).
this album is DOPE..nuff said
@Thomas…i bought my copy of both of them…I haven’t downloaded an album that wasn’t offered free by the artist in over 2 years…it seriously isn’t that hard to go drop 12 dollars on this type of music people…trust me, it makes the music sooooooo much more enjoyable when you actually PAY for it…there is no attachment to the music if you downloaded it for free…
“it makes the music sooooooo much more enjoyable when you actually PAY for it…there is no attachment to the music if you downloaded it for free…”
^^
Yep
I really enjoyed this album – was a good idea putting out the clean version so early, I just wanted the actual version to drop so I could actually listen!
why do you guys only look at the score?
that shit is just a number
im seriously considering not putting numbers and letting you guys attribute your own scores.
Starting next year, we will no longer “score” albums. It’s just a number people.
Word up juicebox!
I understand the frustration when folks are so focused on a “score,” myself included, however not scoring an album is like playing a game without a winner or loser. There is always a winner or loser…always a final score regardless. No one is going to be completely happy with the score or words in a review (myself included).
Just a thought…..I’m ridin with whatever tho.
I agree w/thomas …we all have are favorites..like I like Queen Latifah and Kev is like WTF, that’s the beauty of opinons.. lol
Hey Kev, its all good man
i like scoring, so whatever you want im down
well to start off the score is my opinion, its how i feel about the album
i knew i was gonna catch heat for it because ive seen the other reviews for this album
but everyones has thier opinion so thats cool, there some good points in here
however, @ keith n’ dem, daaaaaaaaaamn haha
good to see homies on the come up with a dope product. DMV stand up!
download this album here http://hiphopfashionlatest.blogspot.com/
@ jon garcia: you thought sene – a day late and a dollar short was a better album than diamond district. fuck your personal opinion, for someone who writes for an established hip hop site, that is just stupid and unacceptable.
keith n’ dem goes in hard on a nigga dayum! lmao!!!
oh and i agree completely. sene’s last couple of projects imo were rightfully slept on. haha!
Yeah, it might best to remove the scores, because I do agree with Keith n’ dem that in no way, shape, or form is Sene’s album better than this, and Sha Stimuli’s album was horrendously dissapointing and somehow got an 82.
@Keith n’ Dem
I thought A Day Late and a Dollar short was a better album than Diamond District.. and I can probably name a handful more albums I liked better this year than Diamond District (Fashawn, Tanya Morgan, Brother Ali… I won’t give away my whole year end Top 10 list). Does that make In The Ruff any less dope of an album? No.
If we’re debating scores, anything in the 80s is a score given to a really solid album, whereas 90s are rarely touched. Opinions vary and in this case, you’re debating great to greater. It’s like someone biting into a Big Mac for the first time and saying it’s a damn good sandwich. Would you go off on them for not saying it’s the best sandwich in the world? lol
Sorry, I just had to chime in. I respect and love the fact that we have really smart readers with valued opinions, but blasting one of my writers for his own opinion is just nonsense. Reviews are nothing more than an opinion, and as the old saying goes, “opinions are like assholes.” Maybe once you start writing for “an established hip hop site” we’ll value your opinion a little more.
so we should only leave positive comments on this site? only politely disagree? are you gonna ban swearing now kevin? message board time-outs? come on. if i strongly disagree with something, i am gonna strongly voice my opinion. why even have a comment section? so you can see all these little blow-me compliments and not hear any disagreement? so many of you writers get all fucking emotional over someone telling you your review sucked. that’s part of it. not everyone is gonna like your shit.
now: to kevin, jon garcia, any other writer on this site who is gonna agree with kevin because they are scared to voice their opinion, how can any of you honestly think sene -a day late and a dollar short was better than diamond district. how can anyone? i even bet sene & blu think in the ruff was better. this is one of the first projects where blu is at the helm as producer (not counting his instro albums), and hes OK at it. OK. decent. but his production isn’t even in the same planet as oddisee’s. we are talking ODDISEE. right now, one of the top 5 producers in ALL of hip hop. more than a decade of producing. you’re eccentially telling me that blu out-produced oddisee. which is insane. i mean, just typing that sentence makes me uncomfortable. and then we get to the rhyming. sene vs. y.u, x.o., & oddisee. or, did you all think it was just two guys rapping in diamond district? i know jon garcia did. seriously though, how is there even a sliver of an arguement on this one? sometimes just admitting you fucked up is the way to go.
arguement & disagreement is good for the site, hell it’s good in life. i mean, come on, you usually get 2 comments, if that, on most other posts. but when there is some strong debating going on, like so, 33 comments. not bad. regardless of the comments, scores, who out produced who, it’s all for our love of hip hop. why else would we take time out of our days to type paragraphs of this shit? i bet we can at least agree on that. but probably not.
I have no problem with you voicing your opinion in the comment, in fact I welcome it. Like I said, everyone has an opinion and that;s essentially all a review is.
Now when you started cursing at Jon, saying “fuck your opinion,” you took it to another level. It’s just flat our disrespectful and as the site owner, I took offense to it. Am I gonna lose sleep over it? No. I’ll just say my peace and move on to the next one.
All of the points you made comparing Blu to Oddisee are valid, there’s no argument there. You make a strong argument as to why In The Ruff should be a better album. But is that going to change an opinion? Oh yeah, you’re right, Oddisee is more experienced as a producer and yeah the rhymes are better on In The Ruff.
To me (and this is my personal opinion) when I say I like an album better than another, it’s usually because I just like it better. There doesn’t have to be a reason. If I find myself wanting to listen to Sene & Blu’s album more than Diamond District, that tells me I like it more. Realistically, no one can tell anyone that an album is better than another. All they can say it that they like one over the other.
This is craziness. Anyway…..I didn’t like the Sene album http://kevinnottingham.com/2009/11/24/sene-a-day-late-a-dollar-short-composed-by-blu/ still think its boring so this agreeing with Kev (or site reviews) just because is wrong. I didn’t agree with Deez on this review http://kevinnottingham.com/2008/07/23/nas-untitled/ thought this one was generous http://kevinnottingham.com/2009/03/17/capone-n-noreaga-channel-10/ or this one http://kevinnottingham.com/2009/10/19/apathy-wanna-snuggle/#more-22898 , etc. So the comment of “now: to kevin, jon garcia, any other writer on this site who is gonna agree with kevin because they are scared to voice their opinion” goes out the window.
Don’t get me wrong In the Ruff is a good album. Oddisee is the only one that is intriguing to me as far as rapping. The production is top notch from front to back. However, I think there are some other albums that lyrically are better than this (Fashawn, Sha’s, Sky’s, SH, Rae, etc). People may not agree with that, however my opinion.
Anyway….we’re a team here and we have to stick up for our teammates. That’s the point guard in me.
ok look
in no way shape or form am i SCARED to voice my opinion, because if i was, i would have given this album a higher rating, like the other websites and reviews. but i didnt, i didnt like it to that extent. and i think Kev makes a great point i cant really analyze or breakdown why i like Sene’s album better i just do. it sounds better to me. and no ones emotional over the criticism, i like it, gonna make me a better writer, so thanks
Happy Holidays
I guess I’ll throw my 2 cents in on all this. First, I don’t think getting rid of the scores is right. It serves as a certain barometer for how you rated the album, it’s been a part of reviews for awhile whether it be a number or stars. The thing is with our style (the 100 point scale), there is more intricate scores which can lead to some unhappiness w/ scores. I don’t know if that means we should change to a five star or 10 point scale or just hope the readers understand it is each reviewer’s independent view.
Opinions & comments are something I personally appreciate a lot from the readers on a review. It’s great to hear how others interpreted the album no matter if they agree or disagree with you. I think the problem is when disagreement becomes hostility. You don’t have to attack someone to dismiss their opinions. The best debaters understand both sides. Just point out where you disagree with a review and why you do.
And to the album, too me 84 is good range score for it. And to be honest, no I did not agree with Jon’s Sene review w/ the 88 score. I’ve found Sene to be boring for the most part & it was no different. But that doesn’t mean his review is wrong. An opinion can’t be wrong, reviews are not an objective fact. If this was a review slamming the album & scored it in the 60s or low 70s, I could understand some extreme displeasure but it wasn’t that. 80+ is an extremely postivie score, to quote Jon’s last line “The Diamond District has put out one of the most solid projects of the year.” Not an indictment of an album to me.
good to see the rook is getting worked in though
I think instead of putting the blame on writers for asserting scores, put blame on the self for not being able to contain the self for scrolling down and reading the score, then doing and commenting as you please.
Read the review and see what kinda score that transpires. The words are a lot more powerful than the numbers.
Definitely gotta get myself a copy of this genuine boom bapper, co-sign keith’ n dem’s one man army
I find it funny that it’s foul to say “fuck your opinion”, but that’s keith’s own personal opinion of jon’s review. It kinda negates everything this site is about. And then on top of that Kev says that there were a handful of albums better than this? Maybe so… but it really all comes down to his taste in music. I think yall should keep the scores. I like to see some form of rating system in a critic’s review. Sometimes a critic can leave you in limbo when writing about an album and w/o a “5 stars” or an “86/100″ you think “well is this album any good???
Overall, I believe everybody that commented on this issue has made some valid points. Some I disagree w/ strongly, but fuck it, that’s life. There’s been some reviews where I wanted to bap the shit outta sean deez, but then he might turn around and write some ish that i can completely connect wit. I will say though, that In the Ruff deserves to be in ppl’s top 10 at least, that is if you’ve been keepin’ track of hip-hop albums this year. But that’s my take on it.
@JOHN GARCIA – I believe the score you gave the Diamond District review is pretty damn accurate (its a 87 or 88 IMO), and that’s coming from a partial, Northeast DC reppin Diamond District Lover like myself!!! The problem is your wording and tone my man…You gotta do a better edit job before clicking submit…You have way too many contradictory statements (which I’ll spare the time to point out – my man Keith tackled that)…But even my partial DC ass (who thinks this is the Album of the Year) knows it was far from perfection…I agree there are monotonous spots in the middle of the album (i.e. Make it Clear, the Title Track, & Off the Late night for me). The problem with this review is you go and bash things you stated were strengths in the first paragraph like the beats and how they keep changing up, then you say the beats are monotonous. It’s like you were about to write the same review everyone else has done, then halfway through it you said “fuck that, I’m not gonna jump on these guys sacks like everyone else on the internet has!” and tried to come a little more harsh, but it was just badly translated. And if everyone is making to same critique of the review the problem isn’t the scoring system or the score (hear that Kevin Nottingham), but the end result. You made a solid 4 mic review sound like you gave it a 3. If it wasn’t album of the year it’s in the top five with Tanya Morgan, Fashawn (which I was sleeping on criminally untill a few weeks ago listening to Diamond District), Raekwon, and that Skyzoo. Those are the only ones you can even argue are as good or better than this.
Well this review was well done!! I liked how he shows his unappreciation for the album and it shows us another point of view. He is a great reviewer i loved his BLU review so @Jon keep it up man!! And keep the rating it gives us a number at where it stans and who ever dont like it write your own review.
Personally, I like ADayLateAndADollarShort better than In The Ruff.
And saying that Blu’s productions isn’t as good as Oddisee, because Oddisee is more experienced, is probably the craziest nonsense I’ve heard in a while! DJ Premier is a better producer than Exile, but that doesn’t change the fact that Exile has put out a masterpiece this year, where Premo has been hiding in the shadow.
I just came across this randomly, trying to find a link for the physical copies to adaylate&adollarshort. And wow..Keith N Dem you are bugging. So is the Fake Dj Premier.
Songs are songs. Albums are albums..I love the songs on the album for oddisee and family…but as far as cohesiveness and overall album…adaylate blows the in the ruff out of the water. One is a collection of dope songs. in the ruff…..the other one is an album maintaining a vibe and soundscape throughout the whole project. telling a story and not rapping about rapping. ADayLate which I see there was a review for here and am going to read next is one of the few albums in the last few years where i feel like i just listened to a whole story. Like referring to a movie or something. It sounds like someone here is PERSONALLY connected to this review..tisk tisk. Don’t comment on your own releases.
@Crazy… Blud u gotta be kiddin me. I’m sorry but A day Late isn’t even on the same level as In the Ruff. U sayin it blows In the Ruff outta the water??? WTF crack do u smoke? Sure erryone is entitled to their opinion, but realistically that’s damn near like sayin Illmatic was dope but Positive K’s Skills to Pay the Bills blows it out the water! lol… Right.
Sene’s flow=bleh.