Diamond District – I Mean Business

Without a doubt one of our favourite LPs of the year here at Rhythm Inc, Diamond District’s ‘In The Ruff’ was not only a surprise when it popped on our internet radar sometime in spring, it was also a breath of fresh air – a hip hop album that could be listened from end to end without tiring or wanting to skip, production that felt fresh while still tipping its hat in the direction of a more classic era of rap and rhymes that were equally refreshing and captivating. Best of all the album was released for free (by the way for those that missed it it looks like the free version is now gone – read below for more). The trio of Oddisee, XO and YU had as far as I was concerned scored a hit – and done it on their own terms without any ‘help’ as such.

Fast forward six months or so and ‘In The Ruff’ is about to get a proper release via the Mello Music Group, further proving that talent speaks for itself but also that there can be commercial sense in releasing music ‘for free’. The official version of the album will come with proper mastering (something lacking on the original free version), as well as explicit versions of all the tracks (again the original free version was all clean). What’s more there are also two additional tracks, including one produced by Kev Brown.

To celebrate this forthcoming release we’ve got a free download of the first single from the album, ‘I Mean Business’ – a track we aired around the time we first heard the album and which is still my favourite on there. This single is now available to buy on iTunes here (iTunes link). Earlier this week the group also released another single, ‘Who I Be’ (iTunes link), another stand out track that now comes in full mastered and explicit glory.

Check the download link below to get your hands on ‘I Mean Business’ and if you like what you hear than I can only recommend you purchase the album when it drops at the end of October – you won’t regret it. Anyone looking for good hip hop should also look no further. And to top all this off, below is a documentary on the group and album’s history.

Download Diamond District – I Mean Business (right click and save as)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

Related content:

1. Anti Pop Consortium release new single for free
2. Mayer Hawthorne – Maybe So, Maybe No [download]
3. Fulgeance – Ann Arbor
4. Finale – Issues
5. Dam Funk – On and On

Never miss a show

Subscribe via our iTunes channel, RSS feed or newsletter and never miss a show. Simply click below:

This entry was posted on Monday, October 12th, 2009 at 1:56 pm. It is filed under Downloads, News and tagged with Diamond District, Oddisee, XO, YU. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.