[Album] SADAT X x DIAMOND D - "Sum Of Man"

Now I know damn well that three weeks is a lifetime on the world wide web but considering I haven't been posting for The Lost Tapes at all I never got around to post about Sadat X's latest album when it dropped. You don't have to worry that I'm going to backtrack and post all sorts of stuff that dropped in that interim but this one is special to me. Called "Sum Of Man" Sadat X teased about it quite some time ago, saying his next album would be entirely produced by super producer Diamond D. Truly a man of his word, the two has been hitting the studio hard to create a solid twelve joints that's nothing short of certified Hip Hop. The Brand Nubian emcee and the D.I.T.C. production maestro has been working together for a large chunk of their respective career, ever since Diamond laced the classic Nubian single "Punks Jump Up to Get Beat Down" (in three equally sick versions) and X and Lord Jamar returned the favor by appearing on "Stunts, Blunts & Hip-Hop". 

Just like he did with Southern hardcore spitter BIGREC a while back the sound and atmosphere is perfectly catered to Sadat X smooth style, intelligent lyrics and unmistakable voice, at the same time as it's unquestionably carries signature of Diamond D. The record is all about these two, a celebration of their 25 year long musical relationship, but guests turn up in extended family like Jawz Of Life (seen and heard on the first single, above) Kurupt and Tha Liks, former Terror Squad crooner Tony Sunshine and the always impressive Raheem Devaughn. I've only heard the singles so far but I'll definitely be listening to the entire LP later today. The release of this album hasn't exactly been big news so hopefully this post might shine a light on the project for some other heads who's been sleeping. The album is released independetly through Dyamond Mine Records and can be purchased in both digital format via iTunes and on vinyl @ Fat Beats or Amazon so pick your choice but do support this!

01. "The Devil is Near" (Ft. Jawz Of Life)
02. "Neva" (Ft. Timmy Hunter)
03. "Good Inside"
04."Out of Bonds" (Ft. Diamod D)
05. "Always Be My Lady" (Ft. Raheem Devaughn)
06. "Yawl Can't Drink With Us" (Ft. Kurupt & Tha Alkaholiks)
07. "Celebrate"
08. "Who's Judging" (Ft. Tony Sunshine)
09. "Bang Bang"
10. "Get Away"
11. "The Five Boroughs"
12. "Reflections"

Stream @ Spotify

[Out Now] D.I.T.C. - "Sessions"

You all know that D.I.T.C. released a brand new album, their first in 16 years not counting compilations, EPs and mixtapes. Although it was credited to D.I.T.C. Studios it was obviously a real crew album as it featured all new material from mainly Fat Joe, AG, OC, Diamond D with even Lord Finesse came out of retirement for a brand new verse. The Studios album was released as a joint venture by Slice-Of-Spice and the groups own album. Now the group is releasing their own version of the LP, entitled "Sessions" which drops today (October 28) on iTunes with hopefully physical copies to follow. The project features many of the same songs from the "D.I.T.C. Studios" album, either as-is or in remixed form, along with a few brand new cuts. Interestingly enough, the crews original classic "Worldwide" was met with a similiar fate. Due to members not being able to being on the same page the album was released in three different incarnations - "Worldwide" (CD), "The Official Version" (LP) and "All Love" (Japan). Either way I'm always down for some new D.I.T.C.!

Check out the video for the Diamond D, Lord Finesse and Fat Joe reunion on "Rock Shyt" (which also appeared on the Studios version) as well as the Showbiz remix of "It's Cold Outside" below. Cop the digital 12-track LP @ iTunes now.

D-TENSION Ft. DIAMOND D & AG - "Godly"

D-Tension is an up-and-coming producer from Massachussets who's been working on his new project "The Violence Of Zen" for quite some time. The album will be entirely produced by D-Tension with the vocals coming from both esteemed legends such as Diamond D, AG and Tash as well as lesser known names. The first single is strapped with verses from D.I.T.C. alumni Diamond and AG and is a sureshot banger while the B-side features someone called Ghosts Of Jupiter. Check out and purchase music from D-Tension @ Bandcamp.

[Album] SADAT X - "Agua"

When the world first heard The Brand Nubians 1990 debut album "One For All", notorious for being praised with the much hyped five mics rating in The Source, few would think that Derreck X would be the artist out of that trio to have the highest profile and largest catalouge in a few years. In fact "One For All" treated Lord Jamar and Derreck X as Grand Puba's back up band, and didn't even appear on half of the album. But sometimes the tables turn, through hard work and dedication Sadat X (as he soon after changed his name to) crafted a unique style with an unmistakable voice with lyrics that often dealt with personal feelings and surviving in a world where friends and lovers often turn out to be willing to stab you in the back when you least expect it. The only problem was that he might have started to put quantity over quality a little too much in the last ten years or so.

It's been a long time since I've been really excited about an X album, though I did like his "Love, Hell or Right" album from 2013. Now the New York artist is back with "Agua" sporting a pretty damn impressive cast list of guest producers and emcee partners. How about Pete Rock, Diamond D, Da Beatminerz, Nick Wiz, DJ Scratch, Easy Mo Bee, Fokis, Dub Sonata and Will Tell? What about Lord Jamar, Dres, Edo G, A-F-R-O, Rahzel, Cella Dwellas' UG, Milano, Shabaam Sahdeeq, RA The Rugged Man, and Wordsmith? That's a lot of features and producers and as I haven't had the time to listen yet I'm not sure how cohessive the X-Man has managed to make it sound but one thing's for sure, there's bound to be several real bangers on here to cherish. Probably more than any Sadat X albums in ten years or so. Released on Tommy Boy, the album is available for purchase in both physical and digital form now, and can also be streamed and purchased (both digital and on CD) in full via X's official Bandcamp. One thing though, the last I heard from Sadat X was that he's working on a full-length album entirely produced by Diamond D, and as usual we get one track to show for it. Well, I for one hope it's still coming. But what the hell, with Pete Rock, Da Beatminerz and Nick Wiz I sure as hell can complain. I also wasn't a fan of Will Tell on some earlier X albums, but the single/video "Murder Soundtrack" (above) with AFRO and Rahzel has convinced me has stepped his game up big time. You can also cop the physical from UGHH where you can also see the credits for each track. TURN IT UP!

[Freestyle] OC & DIAMOND D - "Toca Tuesday Promo Freestyle"

OC and Diamond D hit up Tony Touch and his Toca Tuesdays this past week to drop some bars and build hype for the upcoming brand new D.I.T.C. album - something fans have been fiending to hear for 15 years by now. Sure we have gotten group compilations ("Unreleased Production", "The Movement") and solid remix LP:s ("The Remix Album") not to mention the countless ill solo and duo outings from the team (e.g. "Natural High", "The Diamond Mine", "DoomsDay", "Oasis", the "MugshotMusic" trlogy and "Trophies"). But although billed as a D.I.T.C: Studios album there's not a single track that doesn't feature either OC, AG (the obvious stars of the show as they are literally on almost everything), Fat Joe (six joints), Diamond D (four tracks) and Lord Finesse who although he only rocks one verse he has basically retired from emceeing so I'll gladly take that as a treat. Production are handled by Showbiz, Diamond D, Buckwild, Lord Finesse and DJ Premier as well as newcomers such as the incredibly talented Motif Alumni, DJ Manipulator, Supa Ugly and Vinny Idol (the latter is a hit-or-miss cat to me but I'm not counting out his contribution by any means). The album is labeled as a D.I.T.C. Studios Record since this is the first album to drop past the closing of D&D/HeadCQuarterz - you can order the 2xCD @ DITCEnt Shop. Vinyl coming soon through Slice-Of-Spice.

D.I.T.C. Studios - Bangers Upon Bangers

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog as I'm sure you know- The thing is that I don't have the passion to continue do daily updates for a few reasons. No. 1 I barely listen to hip-hop at the moment (it's all about jazz like the Mwandishi sextet, all Miles Davis, Eric Dolphy, Coltrane and so on); No. 2 I still check for new hip-hop but i don't feel that there's been much music up to par recently; No. 3 I have been employed as a full-time librarian so the time is quite precious. But besides that I'm letting the site be up throwing some ill updates every once in a while.

My first thought was to make a D.I.T.C. blog/website and since the start of The Lost Tapes I don't think I missed any new shit from the Diggin' crew as well as posted interviews by Diamond D, Buckwild and E-Blaze. 2014 and 2015 brought us plenthy of dope new releases from Lord Finesse, Showbiz & AG, OC (with Apollo Brown) and most importantly the Slice-Of-Spice sponosred "The D.I.T.C. Remix Project" which featured incredible modern takes on some of the D.I. classics updated by some of the finest proudcers around (it even included a previously never before heard Big L verse on Finesse's "Thick" mix - is this the original?). A while back D.I.TC. dropped the news about an upcoming brand new album and dropped some ill snippets and a single or two on their Soundcloud.

Since then they have posted a brand new track each and every week, featuring all living members of the crew - including a slamming Fat Joe verse on the guitar heavy boom bap monster "Rock Shyt", also featuring Lord Finesse (first verse in a decade) and Diamond D. You got a short AG banger produced by Buckwild, several heavy OC joints, D.I.T.C. fam member M. Gage getting busy over Showbiz productions, the soulful O & A collabo "16 & Out" which Lord Finesse truly blessed with that boom bap we all love., If you open the Soundcloud page and press play on the first song you'll be able to hear all uplaoded tracks in chronological order - creating somehwat of a new D.I.T.C. mixtape so don't fucking SLEEP!

D.I.T.C. STUDIOS - THE SOUNDCLOUD TAPE

D.I.T.C. - "Diggin' Number" / "Brolic"

As you, my loyal readers, noticed in the last half of 2015 I really became somewhat disillusioned with hip-hop (and still am to a degree) and I will expand on this theme on an article I intend to write called "Hip Hop and the celebration of mediocricity" which I feel is a huge problem with the musical aspect of this culture right now. But as you notice by many updates today I feel that several artists are coming back out with that real shit that I've been longing to hear and provides a much needed counterbalance to the extreme wackness of the mainstream artists like Young Thug, Slim Jesus, Stitches, all that drill music bullshit and so on as well as the so called "underground movement" which I feel rehash old tried and tested formulas that have been done so much better in the past, without saying nothing new.

But upcoming projects from favorite artists like D.I.T.C., K-Def, Ghostface/Killah Priest, KRS-One, Scarface, Erykah Badu and younger talents like Kamasi Washington, Kendrick Lamar, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, and even Kanye West is restoring some of my faith for 2016. Especially Diggin' in the Crates has long been a favorte and as I've written previously the original intent for a website of mine was one exclusively designed around that group. Though I've been somewhat dissapointed in the rehashing of old material over and over again as well as hastily put together projects like "The Movement" and "Unreleased Production '94", stellar projects like Finesse's "The SP1200 Project(s)", OCs "Trophies" and "Ray's Café", AG's EP with DJ Koss, Show & A's "Mughsot" trilogy and Diamond's "The Diam Piece" (and his excellent and ridiciously overlooked BIGREC collaboration "DoomsDay") is ample proof that this collective is still at the top of their game. However a new group album has been at the top of the list of many hip-hop fans wish list for over a decade by now and the excellent "The Remix Project" has turned out to be a appetizer for an upcoming full-length by the entire crew. 

The album which is to be titled "D.I.T.C. Studios" is set to be released via Slice-Of-Spice (the same label who handled the remix album and all recent Lord Finesse releases) definitely seems to be an official follow up to 1999's excellent, yet somewhat underrated "Worldwide" LP on Tommy Boy. All active emcees is participating again (AG, Fat Joe, Diamond D, OC) with at least one apperance by Milano promised. Judging by the four singles released thus far the main difference seems to be that the crew has turned to more outside producers this time around which might be a wise move since interviews throughout the years have revealed that the main problem the members had with the direction of the debut was that the four D.I. producers wanted to stray in somewhat different directions. Following the soulful "Make 'Em So Proud" and my personal favorite "My City", the last week has seen two more singles from the album being unleashed on the highly anticipating public. "Diggin' Number" features AG, OC and Fat Joe and is produced by J. Clyde while Diamond D handles beats and production on "Brolic" which sports verses from AG, OC and Diamond himself. This ish is shaping up lovely so be sure to check out the joints below and be sure to support the real once this album drops - I know I will, and I barely bought a single hip-hop album in 2015.

D.I.T.C. - "My City" / "Make 'Em Proud"

Now this right here is a true treat that I know a lot of real hip-hop heads like myself have been awaiting for years upon years by now... and that is the official reunion of D.I.T.C. as an actual group rather than a loose crew. There's been talk of a new album in interviews for a long time by now but I remember OC somewhere saying that for it to happen everybody would need to be on board and on the same page - meaning that without Fat Joe the chances of a new Diggin' in the Crates LP were slim to none. I had my doubts as if Joe would ever return to the fold as I haven't heard him claim D.I.T.C. since 1999 or somewhere around that time. The great news is that the whole group have been back in the studio recording brand new material that will be unleashed on the world sometime during 2016.

Not much information has been made available at this point but I've seen it mentioned as both an upcoming album and an upcoming compilation so we'll see were we will eventualy land. The one thing I do know is that the release will be a Co-Op between D.I.T.C. (the label) and Slice-Of-Spice, much like the excellent remix project that dropped back in 2014. This means that it will be available on both vinyl and CD which of course is fantastic news. So far one full track has been made available to the public - "Make 'Em Proud (Hold Up)", a collaboration between Fat Joe, AG and Diamond D over a Lord Finesse production (speaking of 'Ness it will be interesting to see whether or not he will be rhyming again). Just as I was writing this and going on to get the links for the music I noticed that a second single has just been released - a joint called "My City", produced by a to me unknown cat by the name of Motif Alumni (peep his Soundcloud - SKILLS!). In addition to the two singles the group's official Soundcloud page also holds 90 seconds snippets for an additional three songs. Most exciting news in quite some time, don't you think?!

CYPRESS HILL - "When The Shit Goes Down" [Diamond D Alternative/Original Remix]

Followers of this site knows that I'm a huge fan of the work of Diamond D, a producer who I consider to be one of the five best hip hop producer in the business. Considering the massive popularity of Cypress Hill, perhaps one of D's most well-known remixes is his stripped down, hypnotic take on their single "When The Shit Goes Down" since it appeared on the West Coast trio's classic EP "Unreleased & Revamped" in 1996. Personally I never much cared for this particular Diamond mix which to my ears always sounded kind of hollow, like it certainly was missing some element(s). Well, it turns out I was right! When discussing rare and unreleased Cypress Hill material with huge Cypress collector Sickdog he told me about an alternative version of the Diamond D remix which he had only heard on a 1992 CD single edition of "I Ain't Goin' Out Like That". As he shot it over I was pleasantly suprised to find out that this Diamond D remix fleshed out the beat with all the elements that I felt had been missing. The drums are fatter with some additional percussion added, and most importantly an explosive saxophone blast fades in and out of the mix. This mix definitely sounds much more in line with Diamond's vintage early '90s remix catalouge, which really makes me wonder why someone (the mix engineer?, Muggs?, Diamond?) decided to strip down the beat to its bare skeleton for its wider release. Again thanks to Sickdog for the rip and upload!

[Video] DIAMOND D - "Jose Feliciano"

Diamond D is as I'm sure you know by now one of my absolute favorite producers, and his first two albums is either a hip-hop classic or very close to at least a personal classic. Since then his outside productions have continued to bang hard for the most part, but his solo albums and mixtapes have left a lot to be desired. 2014s "The Diam Piece" was a very pleasant suprise as Diamond left most of the rhyming to his A-list guests which gave him to cook up marvelous shit in the ktichen to get our mouths watering. His marketing campaign has been terrific too, with his new single "Jose Feliciano" being like the seventh video from the project. Check it out above, and if you haven't supported the LP yet be sure to do so ASAP. You know where to find it!

DIAMOND D Ft. MASTA ACE - "Ace Of Diamonds"

Two of my favorite hip-hop artists of all time collide on the beautiful "Ace Of Diamonds", another stand out cut from Diamond D's excellent return to form (when talking long players), "The Diam Piece". This joint was unfortunately cut from the vinyl release of the album along with "187" featuring Guilty Simpson and Ras Kass. I love how many visual Diamond is dropping from this though, "Ace Of Diamonds" marks the 7th video from the project. Directed and edited by Varras Tower.

In addition to the video the complete "The Diam Piece" instrumental set is now available on vinyl as well, and can be purchased from Fat Beats amongst other retailers.

GORE-TEX - Tracks prod. by DIAMOND D, LARGE PRO & DJ MURO [2004]

Nope this is not Gore-Tex from Non Phixion, but rather a Japanese rapper from the Nitro Microphone Underground crew. In 2004 he released an album on Columbia/Acehigh Records that features a lot of dope producers that any serious boom bap lover knows more than well. Diamond D provides three tracks, including "Mess-Age", Large Professor produced the single "Pyramid" and DJ Muro came through with three joints as well. On top of that it features cuts by the legendary Grand Mixer DXT (of Herbie Hancock "Rockit" fame) on all the Diamond D joints. I've seen it's Discogs page a couple of years ago, but could not find the actual album anywhere. You have to be in Japan to purchase it from iTunes unfortunately, so this was very frustrating for such a huge fan of both Diamond and Large Pro. 

Luckily we can now at least get a taste of what each of the three aforementioned producers brought to the table as kind YouTube users JapaneseHipHopChannel and John Woo, respectively, have uploaded three songs from the album. Up top you hear "Pyramid", produced by Large Professor, while below you'll find "Mess-Age" courtesy of Diamond D plus "Mirror Ball 2004" featuring Microphone Pager and Gore-Tex ripping a Muro beat. As a beat head and fan I thought this was interesting and I imagine a lot of people have missed out on it.. If anyone have the album please contact me!

[Video] Diamond D - "Superman"

Damn, I don't think I even posted the "Superman" video, one of only two Diamond D solo cuts on the best producers on the mic most recent hip-hop heast. This is also the only record on the album not produced by Joseph Kirkland himself, as DJ Scratch stepped in to do the honor. Word is that this was a song made for DJ Scratch album that was instead given to Diamond bcécause he liked it so much. It's never too late  for some "Diam Piece" y'all!

Oh and if you missed the news last week, Sadat X has officially signed a one album deal to Diam's Diamond Mine Records which means that The X-Man's entire next album will be produced by The Best Kept Secret. Stay tuned!

[Video] DIAMOND D Ft. GRAND DADDY I.U. - "The Game"

More DITC for y'all as Diamond D drops the visuals to the Grand Daddy I.U. assisted single "The Game", taken from one of 2014's best albums - "The Diam Piece".

SLIMKID3 & DJ NU-MARK Ft. DIAMOND D & K-NATURAL - "King"

Check out the visuals to what's probably my favorite track off SlimKid3 and DJ Nu-Mark's short but sweet self-titled LP which dropped last year. "King" features guest verses from Diamond D and K-Natural, while the video is directed by Daniel Cordero. Order the album on vinyl, CD or Mp3 from Delicious Vinyl now.

[Video] DIAMOND D Ft. STEP BROTHERS - "It's Magic"

It's definitely magic when Diamond D joins forces with Alchemist and Evidence for the third single from his celebrated "The Diam Piece" album. If you haven't grabbed it yet, head over to iTunes, HHV or UGHH. And for the record I think I never got around to posting the video for the Pete Rock assisted "Only Way 2 Go" from the same album before, so that's what you see below.

[ALBUM] DIAMOND DISTRICT - "March On Washington: Redux"

2014 was finally the year that Diamond District, the Washington trio consisting of XO, yU and producer/emcee Oddisee, Their album "March On Washington" was right on time giving the current status of what the hell is going on with the US (and here in Europe as well).  Welll-received by fans and critics alike, it was great to hear the trio going in again and much needed. And it was only yesterday that they released their remix album titled "Redux" to iTunes. The remix project features big names like Large Professor, Diamond D, Nottz, OhNO, Black Milk, DJ Skizz and more. Sounds very interesting, stream it or purchase it below. TURN IT UP!

[Demo] DIAMOND x SADAT X x KAMARI are The OMEN

Diamond D and Sadat X has an absolutely terrific track record dating back to their early beginnings at Jazzy Jay Studios that has lasted until to today. These guys many collaborations is definitely something I should make one of my Lost Tapes compilation on, but until then I thought I'd dig up this quite interesting demo project for a group called The Omen that was recorded in the early '00s. The trio consisted of Sadat X, female emcee Kamari and Diamond D on beats and rhymes. I remember hearing this some years ago and wasn't all that impressed by the majority of the tracks, but as time has passed I came to realize there's without a doubt some proper heat as well. 

The Omen was a very short lived group; in 2002 they released two double-A side singles on Fat Beats and Up Above Records; "Do It Now" / "Get On Up" and "It's Our World" / "Half Steppin'". "It's Our World" also appeared as an exclusive joint on DJ Rhettmatic's 2004 compilation album "Exclusive Collection". While neither Sadat X or Diamond has been outspoken about the project in interviews, my guess is that they were working on a full-length album that was close to being wrapped but when the 12" singles failed to make any noice, they put the project on the shelf where it has stayed. Luckily, at least this close to 30 minutes long demo tape leaked to the internet, giving fans a taste of what we could have expected from this LP if it had ever materialized. Of course, it's a far cry from the stronger material by the main artists and producer but it's an interesting listen for D.I.T.C. and Brand Nubian conniseours nontheless. At least half the songs bang pretty hard, and the final Godzilla sampling hardthumping banger of a monster really will get heads nodding with its on point lyrics and dark, beautiful production. Same goes for "Put It Down", the funky old school flirt "Just Can't Fuck With It Us", and so on. All songs from the 12":s are included beside the "It's Our World" joint, despite it being one of their strongest collabos if you ask me,

Who Kamari is I have absolutely no clue, since she seemed to completely dissapeared from the recording scene after The Omen failure. Most of the tracks appear in full, while some of the songs cuts off after about three minutes. There's also no track titles given for anything, but interestingly enough the first song (which might very well be the tapes strongest) is an extended version of "Put It Down" that also made it to Diamond's mixtape-type album "Grown Man Talk" in 2003 (that version cuts out Kamari's verse though).Like I said these demo never came with track titles but based that at least three of the single songs appear here, plus the "Put it Down" joint I tried to put down a tracklist below, using the hook for the titles on the remaining songs. Last but not least, thanks to YouTube's Classic Hip-Hop Visuals HD for the upload. Enjoy!

01. "Put It Down"

02. "Get On Up"

03. *unknown*

04. "What's The Fuss?"

05. "What The Fuck You Want?"

06. "Do It Now" 

07, "Half Steppin'"

08. "You Don't Want It"

Kris Flava Ft. Sadat X, Sean Born, Mo The General, Rich Orsborne & Norm Bates - "Podgies Remix"

Kris Flava is a new prodcer represemting the UIKkscene; last month he dropped the '90s flava "Pordgies" and wih it's deep bass ine, jazz vibes, turntables amd polyrhyhm rhyme patterns this could be a beat sraight from Brand Nubian's "In n God We Trust"and " Everything is Everything"especially with the extended Sadat X vocal saple from the Brand Nu masterpiece "Pumks Jump Up to Get Beat Down (Video Remix)¨

[Album] KID TSUNAMI- "The Chase"

Back in June 2013 Australian producer Kid Tsunami released his debut album "The Chase" as a digital download distributed by The Orchard and Fat Beats. CD and vinyl were supposed to follow shortly after but that never came to fruition... until now, as Slice-Of-Spice has gained the rights to release a nice 180 gram 2xLP set. Nostalgic fans of true school boom bap will no doubt love Tsu's sample heavy production and the guest cast which includes some of New York's finest emcees to ever do it. We're talking names like OC, Percee P, Jeru The Damaja, AG, Masta Ace, Kool G Rap, Bahamadia, KRS-One, Pharoahe Monch, and many more. The music is the same as on the original 2013 release (there might be some minor tweaks here and there), but the artwork by Fred Whyte is brand new and is looking a whole lot better, as well as the sequencing which has been switched around to make the LP flow better. The gatefold vinyl of "The Chase" is limited to 500 copies and is available @ Slice Of Spice now.

As nice as the guys at Slice Of Spice are they are also offering up the newly remastered version of the album not only for full streaming but you can also download all of the individual tracks in HQ Mp3 for free. Also check out the "No Guarantees" single which features banging remixes by Diamond D and DJ Bless. TURN IT UP!!