Happy 15th Anniversary to Diamond District’s debut album In The Ruff, originally released October 27, 2009.
One of the best love letters to New York hip-hop was made by a trio of artists located about 250 miles away. Members of Diamond District may have been from the DMV region of the East Coast (for those uninitiated, that’s the DC/Maryland/Virginia area), but they grew up on rugged boom-bap originating from the Rotten Apple. In The Ruff, their debut album, is an expertly made, completely sincere dedication to the greater NYC zone. Released 15 years ago, it honors the place where the crew members were born and raised.
That a crew from the DMV was able capture the raw sound of New York hip-hop’s golden era shouldn’t be that surprising. As Amir “Oddisee” Mohamed el Khalifa, who both raps and serves as the primary producer for the project, explains in the album’s intro, “growing up listening to all that hip-hop, I was envious. I knew all the projects in Brooklyn, bridges, streets, slang, accents.” He, along with Jamaal “Uptown XO” Walton-Youngs and Michael “yU” Willingham, take the inspiration from the music that raised them to create an album that spotlights their region of origin.
The DMV has one of the more underappreciated hip-hop scenes in the country. In might not receive the attention of Atlanta, New Orleans or Houston, but it’s an area that is fertile with talent. All three artists have been mainstays in the DMV hip-hop scene for years. Uptown XO is a DC native, while Oddisee and yU grew up in the Maryland suburbs located near the nation’s capital.
Of the trio, Oddisee had the most exposure prior to In The Ruff, releasing a few solo projects and working steadily as a producer. Prior to In The Ruff, he worked with artists like Jazzy Jeff, The Foreign Exchange, J-Live, and Marco Polo. All three are also members of the Low Budget All-Stars crew, a collective of like-minded emcees and producers, many of whom are also from the same region.
In The Ruff is one of the best-known hip-hop albums to come out of the DMV, and it’s a fitting monument to the talent of the region. Diamond District first released the clean version of the album in the spring of 2009 as a free download through their own website. Later in the year, they formally released the unedited version, with a couple of extra songs, through the Mello Music Group imprint.
Diamond District carry In The Ruff mostly by themselves. There are no guest verses from other emcees, and Oddisee produces the vast majority of the project. Through their music, they position themselves as the heirs to Gang Starr, Pete Rock & C.L. Smooth, the D.I.T.C. crew and “the ’93 version of De La.” The album pays tribute to these roots, while also offering a unique look into the personalities of the trio and the DMV area.
Listen to the Album:
Tracks like “Streets Won’t Let Me Chill” and “Get In Line” evoke the era that shaped all three group members’ musical tastes and lives. Oddisee’s production sets the mood perfectly, leaning hard into its 1990s influences. He blends soulful samples and live instrumentation with hard hitting drum breaks. “Who I Be” sports some Wu-Tang oriented grit, while “Make It Clear” densely packs in organs, horns, backing vocals, and thunderous drums. “Back To Basics” lives up to its title, with the trio dropping rhymes to an appropriately rugged drum track and sprinkles of keyboards. “Being specific, we rhyme's only trinity,” Xo raps. “Divinity, still enough plans to get plenty T’s.”
The production for “I Mean Business” is pretty low-key, as Oddisee blends a subtle organ sample with the same keyboard section Gang Starr used on “Mass Appeal.” The song has the flavor of a 1994-era banger, as all three emcees expound on their work ethic. “I got a plan in my mind, yeah, I’m handling mine,” yU raps. “And it's a habit to grind, so look me dead in my eyes.”
“The District” is the group’s dedication to living in DC, a city built on the contrast that exists as “the murder capital with the White House in the center,” as XO raps. Over commanding organs and horns, all three emcees touch on many issues that impact the city, such as the growing gentrification of the region, creating a place where, as Oddisee states, “many kids who never eat share blocks with wealthy neighbors at the end of streets where they never go.”
The members of Diamond District do well over more reserved production. “First Time” finds the trio reminiscing about formative events in their lives over a smooth flute sample. “Let Me Explain” features similarly jazzy production, as all further detail their commitment to their craft.
Occasionally, the group employs beat-makers other than Oddisee, but those who still have close connections to the crew. Produced by Dunc, “The Shining” has all three emcees celebrating their swag, or rather their unique glow that helps them excel as lyricists. It features a poignant closing verse by Oddisee, who recounts how knowing that he was born a full month premature has helped him take each day as a blessing.
“Something For Y’all,” the Kev Brown-produced bonus track, again takes things back to hip-hop’s essence. All three emcees describe their lyrical prowess to a beat that consists of a thumping drum track and some chopped piano sounds. With a hook that features Brown declaring “I’m slamming!”, it harkens back to hip-hop’s late 1980s hey-day. “Off Late Night,” produced by yU’s collaborator SlimKat 78, takes the album in a different direction, allowing each member to describe different manners of enjoying carnal pleasures during the small hours of the night.
Diamond District were able to translate their love of hip-hop from one area of the country into an album that reflects their own experiences as DMV residents. In The Ruff succeeded in bringing more deserved attention to the DC/Maryland/Virginia hip-hop scene and is one of the better “throwback” albums ever released. Banging beats and dope rhymes will always be a universal language, and its one that this album speaks fluently.
Listen: