It’s been almost a
decade since legendary Bronx producer/MC Diamond has released an album on a label.
His debut, Stunts,
Blunts, & Hip-Hop is considered by many as one of the finest records
ever released. Last year, he dropped some
classic unreleased material, as well as new work on Grown Man Talk.
Now, he is preparing a new
album for fall, which will feature a solid lineup of MC’s and producers.
"I didn’t have no distribution
[for Grown Man Talk.] I did a little over 30,000," Diamond told AllHipHop.com.
"Hopefully, once I lock down my distribution, this time it’ll be for higher
stakes. I’m in talks right now with a major. If not, I don’t have no qualms
about doing it myself."
The new album, titled Needful
Things, will be released sometime this fall. Diamond mentioned his guestlist,
which is still being formulated.
""I got Grand
Puba, I got Alchemist. Not production, but I got him to spit," Diamond
said. "I also got a song with Nottz spittin’ on there and Jay Dee. I got
Fat Joe on deck. So far, just the people on my last album too. I sent Slum Village
a beat, they said they liked it. So we just gotta find the time."
In addition, Diamond made
reference to the much talked about D.I.T.C. follow-up.
"Everybody in D.I.T.C.
can come together by the summer and put this album together and do it,"
Diamond said.
As the man who helped put
fellow BX native Fat Joe on the hip-hop map, Diamond commented on Joe’s recent
response record to 50 Cent.
"Me knowing Joe, I
knew he was gonna respond back. I don’t give a f**k who you are, you say something
’bout that man, he gonna respond. I’m glad he stood up and did his thing. I
just heard Jadakiss’s and Joe’s responses back to back the other day. They are
both tight to me."
Diamond has also
recently been featured on and produced tracks for Medaphor and Earatik Statik.
