Posted on 11/06/2008
There’s not much that Diamond D hasn’t done over the course of his 20+ year career. As a founding member of legendary New York crew Diggin’ In The Crates (D.I.T.C.), the producer/emcee’s name garners instant respect; he’s worked behind the boards for classics by fellow DITC members Showbiz and A.G., Lord Finesse, and Fat Joe, and he’s lent his talents to a slew of hip-hop heavyweights including Mos Def, Busta Rhymes, Rass Kass, and Pharoahe Monch.

And on the commercial end of the spectrum, the Bronx-based legend contributed to the Fugees’ 20-million copy-selling The Score and was nominated for a Grammy last year for his work with Natalie Cole. With such a lengthy list of accomplishments to his name, it’d be safe to assume that the man must be pretty content with his career, right?

Well, not quite. “One of my major regrets was giving more attention to the production side of my career,” Diamond says. “I never really went that hard on the emceeing aspect.”

That’s a situation that he’s aiming to fix with the release of his latest solo album The Huge Hefner Chronicles on Babygrande Records. And while the notion of Diamond D on the mic shouldn’t necessarily come as a surprise to those who’ve been tuned in for a minute (his 1992 solo debut Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop is a veritable boom-bap classic), this latest record provides a new twist to the Diamond D legacy. In addition to producing some of the tracks himself, Diamond also reached out to producers such as Nottz, Illmind, and DJ Scratch to lace the beats.

“I was trying to do what J. Dilla attempted in the early 2000s with his MCA album,” Diamond explains, referring to the late producer’s shelved emcee endeavor that featured an array of producers providing the music for the record. “I just wanted to fall back into artist mode in that same way. I’m friends with all of the producers on the album, so it was relatively easy. All the tracks that I picked sounded like something that I would have done anyway. It was definitely a no-brainer.”

“Musically, it’s still that boom bap sound, but lyrically, it’s not like I’m stuck in the ‘90s or nothing,” he continues. “I didn’t want anyone to buy the album and be like, ‘Damn, this ain’t the Diamond D we all know and love!’ I still got that gritty raw sound, and I still fuck with the samples. Everything is still the same.”

But staying true to his roots doesn’t necessarily mean that Diamond D is stuck in the past, either. In an age where many producers can be found diggin’ in the blogs, Diamond brings to the table a sensibility that balances both old and new school vantage points.

“I still dig. You know, there’s still that something about holding vinyl in your hands. But on the other side of the coin, I see how it’s a lot easier for people to go on the blogs to look for whatever they’re looking for,” he says. “I think it’s cool, but I’m a record collector. It’s just always going to be that way with me - we had to go out there and find them records and spend a lot of money on them.”

“It’s just like making beats now. Somebody can just go out and get a program like Fruity Loops and call themselves a producer. I guess some older heads are a little mad about that, but what can you do? It’s just technology,” Diamond says. “I don’t use the MPC anymore; I’m on the Yamaha Motif. It just sounds bigger. If you can use technology to upgrade your shit, by all means, do it. You don’t want to shoot yourself in the foot and stay in one place.”

With plans to tour to promote Huge Hefner, continue expanding his catalog as a producer for other artists, and contribute to a new D.I.T.C. album due in 2009, Diamond isn’t looking to slow down anytime soon.

“The whole time I’ve been away I was basically being a father to my daughters. It’s a lot of wackness out here now,” he laughs. “But I’m still a fan of hip-hop; I can sit down with somebody who has a vast knowledge about this music, and I can sit down with a teenager. I listen to the radio to see what’s hot, and I’m all over the internet, reading the blogs, listening to new songs.”

For this hip-hop legend, it’s that excitement for the music that has given him longevity in his career, something of a rarity in his genre of choice. “You just can’t close yourself off,” he says. “You’ve definitely got to keep your ear to the street and see musically where hip-hop is going. That’s really helped me a lot.”

- Sean Kantrowitz