Digging in the Crates with Diamond D
You can’t talk about hip-hop and particularly the nineties without acknowledging the Diggin in the Crates crew from the Bronx. The pioneering crew began in 1992 with two friends, the legendary, Lord Finesse and the equally pioneering Diamond D. A career that spans more than thirty years, Diamond D. has maintained his relevance in the culture, through constant work, and evolving with the culture while staying true to his roots, and the sound he and his crew created that helped revolutionize rap. While Diamond is an elder statesman, and OG of the culture, those labels don’t fully appreciate or acknowledge what the “best producer on the mic” continues to contribute musically to Hip Hop. Him and I spoke via zoom with of course him live from his studio, and even for him, it’s complex how he feels about fifty years of the culture.
“I really don’t know how to feel, of course we were all told that Hip Hop, a lot of the labels had the stance that this was a passing fad. And obviously they misjudged that. It’s crazy that it’s here, and it turned fifty. As far as music genres are concerned Hip Hop is still a baby, but Hip Hop is now the number one leading genre of music being sold. Its selling more than rock n roll, so for somebody like me who grew up in the South Bronx specifically to see how far it’s come, from the lamp posts to the stadiums to the arenas, it’s a testament to what these young Black and Brown kids did in the seventies. It’s just mindblowing that it’s still here.”
Few artists of any genre get the opportunity to have the longevity that someone such as Diamond D has, and I wanted to tap into some of the earlier memories he had even before he became the man that would win grammys and produce classic albums.
“Imma tell you something, there’s a DJ, called Rockin Rob. Rockin Rob was from the South Bronx, he was kinda on the level of Grandmaster Flash (skillswise) but not as popular. To make a long story short in the early eighties I got my hands on a cassette tape that Rockin Rob made and shit kinda changed my life. I was already a DJ in my bedroom. I wasn't outside or nothing, growing up I was more focused on breakbeats. I lived, slept, and ate breakbeats. Something about finding records with the little parts of drums on them, sent me on a beat mission, that I’m kinda still on but, when I got my hands on this tape by Rockin Rob he had some joints on there I had never heard! And back then he was mad nice on the turntables! That one cassette influenced myself and ShowBiz (from Showbiz and A.G.). We both loved that cassette tape. This is like 83, if I had to name one thing that still stands out in 2023 it would be that cassette tape that I got from Rockin Rob. They weren’t called mixtapes back then, it was just a cassette tape with music on it. The term mixtape hadn’t come about yet.”
Diamond was more than game to look back, but just like his career, he was just as excited to look at and talk about what he’s working on and where he’s at now. The now, currently is his most recent project, “The Rearview”.
“The drive behind the rearview, the premise of it, why I named it (The Rearview) because I’m deeply proud of my past. Everybody’s past makes them the person they are. The mistakes we learn from, your ups and downs, your achievements. I honor my past but I choose not to live in the past. I don’t live in the past, so I called my album “The Rearview” because it’s a metaphor for staying straight and always moving forward. And whatever you did in the past should be in the rearview. Always move forward. Be proud of your past, but don’t live in the past.“
The album features individuals such as Westside Gunn, Fat Joe, Ashton Martin and Cool n Dre and really is a current record but also has the Bronx flavor and style bringing Diamond full circle, I wanted him to get into more of how this street sound has evolved and come back again,
“I never deviated from that, so it was easy for me, I’ve been in the game for awhile. When I rhyme on a track it’s all real and I speak from experience. I’m an OG in the game so I drop jewels here and there, but mainly with this album, again I just wanted to show Hip Hop, the culture as a whole what I stand for. Yes I’m a producer first, but I’m also one of the best producers who spit, if not the best. If I’m not the best I’m definitely in the top three or top five, I write all my rhymes, no one can ever say the ghost wrote anything. I wrote all my joints, it still matters to me and I had a lot of fun making the Rear View.”
Diamond also is the featured DJ alongside Farrah Flosset and hometown hero DJ R.B.I. for the Words Beats & LIfe festival’s “93 til Infinity'' party. A celebration of the culture, Diamond talks about the importance of celebrating in particular the nineties era.
“My showcase is called 93 til infinity. I'm going to celebrate the nineties for my set. And just play my best of, R&B, Hip Hop, soul, Funk whatever it is, I’m going to pay tribute to the nineties. Everybody come out, we are going to have good vibes there. My man RBI is going to do what he does. So I’m going to take everybody back with my set and relive some of these classic moments.”
I knew that I couldn’t leave the interview without getting some insight from Diamond on how he became a producer on the mic, something that he’s iconically known for.
“I was a DJ first, then a producer, then I started spitting. I was already writing rhymes. Working on lord finesse first album me Premier and Showbiz on the Funky Technician, being around Finesse, being around The Brand Nubians when they recording their first album, being around people like Lord Finesse and Grand Pubah the shit just rubs off on you (rhyming). I knew I could do it, but my first love back then and even to this day is producing first. When I got a break to make an album, I was actually doing demos for somebody else who the label that signed me asked me to do a demo deal with them. They (the label) paid me some money and I went into the studio and on one of his demos I did a verse. A week or two later, the label called me and said, ‘we want you to come down here’. I was like ‘cool, they want me to come down there and cut me a check for this beat’! I’m all amped up and I get down there and the A&R’s name is Brian Ching, Brian said we kinda like what you're doing (rhyming), we want to give you a little bit of money to go in the studio and bring us back some joints with you rhyming! So I did that, and one of the songs I came back with was “Best Kept Secret”. Then they offered me a deal and I took it.”
Diamond is a true legend, a master of the craft and was incredibly gracious with his time and his answers. With so much experience, and being responsible for so much history, I wanted to see if he had some final gems to give to the current and future generations of producers and artists.
“Try to be original, try to be creative, listen to the radio, see what’s going on musically and sonically and try and incorporate that in whatever you do. If you’re sample based, you definitely want try to clear the samples before you put it out. Some producers may not have the means to clear any samples but there is a company, DMG and they clear samples. I want to drop that jewel. Those are the basics if you’re a producer. Just be open to new ideas.”
Diggin in the crates…
