Diamond District is three man wrecking crew made up of Oddisee, X.O., and yU. The three come from the DMV, a tri-state area of D.C., Maryland and Virginia. The area is becoming or more correctly, becoming recognized as a new hot bed for Hip Hop and depending on what the success of Wale’s Attention Deficit does in terms of opening the door for other DMV artists, could be on the verge of capturing Hip Hop’s full attention. After the physical release of Diamond District’s introduction LP, Diamond In The Ruff, we caught up with Oddisee and X.O. to find out more about the group and the region on the rise. Check it out below in this week’s First Look.
RubyHornet: So you guys call the area that your from, “DMV”, which is DC, Maryland and Virgina. These places are all close to each other but two of them are completely different states. Do subtle differences ever show themselves in each of your guy’s style related to music?
Oddisee: I would say no, I do my best to represent the D, M & the V in our music. To be honest, there’s not much of a visible difference in the people from any part of the metro. The true differences are in the look of the cities and the way they drive. LOL (Va get it together on 395).
X.O.: There’s not too much of a difference in our music…but we are all individuals as artists.
Rubyhornet: I read that DC is home to some of the wealthiest African Americans in the United States and the nation’s largest income gaps with some of the highest crime, murder and STD rates. Those are some serious stats. Why do you feel that DC can be the home of the wealthiest African Americans, but the African American community can be in such turmoil?
Oddisee: It’s our proximity to wealth and prosperity that also leaves us vulnerable to grave failure and despair. Cutthroat politics and capitalism are more prevalent here than anywhere else. Put politics and capitalism in the same pot with minority competition and you get drug dealers, grad students, mechanics & security guards all fighting at any cost to obtain the “American dream” they see through diffusion. We want it all here, to be attractive, to spend in excess and to show wealth. Wanting those things always has a dangerous consequence if attempts fail.
X.O.: I feel that statistics like those are made up to paint a picture for those on the outside looking in. There is no epidemic in D.C., the turmoil is only reported on the news but the pattern is all around the world.
RubyHornet: So your latest album just dropped in hard copy titled, In The Ruff. The obvious connection between the album title and the group name is the saying “diamond in the rough”. How do you guys feel this applies to you both as artists and beyond?
Oddisee: The name of the album means so much to us, we’re all emerging artists from an emerging city in Hip Hop. It’s the perfect analogy to describe us, our potential shines through the coal that is the preconceived opinions the rest of the country has on DC Hip Hop. We’ll break passed it all and shed a new found light on what DC Hip Hop really is… The best s**t America has right now.
X.O.: DC as a whole is a diamond in the ruff because we don’t get the credit we deserve for the music we have brought to the table for the world to hear. A lot of things have been taken from our style and others have had hits using our style, the gogo sound, or the signature pocket beat.
RubyHornet: On the song “Streets Wont Let Me Chill”, you say, “Hoods on the border of the rich so it’s right there”. I hear several people talk about how in DC you can be riding in a rich neighborhood for one block then on the very next block you’re in the hood. What type of tension, or even mind-states do you think this creates for the people who live in the hood and the people who live in the rich neighborhoods?
Oddisee: I wrote that line sitting on the outside steps of my flat on 6th & I NE. Like most neighborhoods in DC, the look, feel and faces are rapidly changing. To go behind my house is to see a DC that hasn’t changed since the 80’s. To go a block in front of my house is to see multi million-dollar renovation and restoration projects at work. To have such progression next to such stagnancy, you witness the phenomenon of “Invisible Borders”. Whites and blacks, rich and poor have these invisible borders up all over the city. Japanese fusion restaurants right next to Popeye’s chicken on H street NE. I’ll never see a white person in Popeye’s and I’ll never see a local black person in Sticky Rice (I know cause I frequent both). Same goes for residential streets. When the two do collide often times well, let’s just say robbery is on an increase.
X.O.: It just lets everybody know that we are all in one melting pot.
RubyHornet: You guy’s being African Americans from DC and the DC area, it’s different for the first black president to actually be in the city. When he first came into office did it create a sort of mood for the city that outsiders would not have felt? And now, how is it several months after his election into office?
Oddisee: I haven’t notice any difference at all. I was in a Paris airport when Obama was elected. I saw it on television as grown African, immigrant, men cried next to me. I came home and noticed no change in the hearts and minds of people.
X.O.: There was no change at all, except he was the first black president…
RubyHornet: So Oddisse, you’ve worked with various artists such as Talib, Little Brother, Jazzy Jeff, and Buckshot to name a few. I read that you said that you were attempting to get back that grimey east coast sound. What production elements do you feel successfully encompasses that sound?
Oddisee: Hands down, beat breaks. Dirty filtered, perfectly compressed beat breaks is what I loved most about the golden era Hip Hop that was coming out of New York in the 90’s. It was honestly both fun and challenging to use beat breaks and make them sound classic and modern at the same time.
X.O.: The drums and samples are where it all starts…that is the key element in that style of Hip Hop.
RubyHornet: Besides a few artists out of the DC area, DC Hip Hop is sort of slept on. What is the current state of Hip Hop out there? Is it becoming more trendy and commercialized like the majority of the game or is it taking a different turn?
Oddisee: From what I’ve seen in my travels, DC is on the same path as every other city. I do feel our MC’s care a bit more about lyricism than most cities. In the near future, I hope the rest of the country recognizes DC as a hot spot for dope production with mass appeal and well versed lyricism.
X.O.: The state of Hip Hop in DC is strong and it always has been, it’s just about getting people to acknowledge that we exist. They’re getting to know that now. I was there from the beginning. It took us 10 years to get this buzz.
RubyHornet: Wale is also from the DC area, and is on the come up as well. Have you guys planned to do any collaborations with him or even the DC band UCB?
Oddisee: Any attempt to work with Wale has been initiated by him and blocked by him. Wale if you ever read this, I never received that track in my Gmail you said you’d sent several times. I wish you all the best with your album, and I hope we do eventually work with one another.
X.O.: No, we have not planned on doing anything but anything can happen…we’re open to work with whoever.
RubyHornet: So what can we be expect from you guys in the near future, mixtapes, tour dates, etc?
Oddisee: The second album titled March On Washington (mixtape coming before that). We’re booking shows now and will be in your city soon.
RubyHornet: This will work as a formal introduction for you guys to many of our readers. Could each of you give our readers 3 reasons why they should follow your music?
Oddisee: Rhyme with reason, classic/progressive and we can “kill a show rocking clothes from Sears”.
X.O.: We have a lot to bring to Hip Hop real raps originality. And the elements of true MC’s.
