Diamond D And The Psychotic Neurotics – Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop 2xLP

Get On Down (2014, Reissue)

Every Wednesday, in honor of Ed Lover Dance Day from Yo! MTV Raps, I take a break from rock and roll to write a little bit about hip hop. In the late 80s and early 90s hip hop ruled my musical life. During this often called 'Golden Era' I discovered so much incredible music. As I am slowly replacing the CDs I've had for thirty plus years with vinyl copies, I'm going to talk about some albums that had a really important impact on me during some very formative years.

Diamond D (Or Diamond as he's billed on this particular album cover for whatever reason) is part of the Diggin' In The Crates (DITC) crew and has hand on the production side of classics throughout the 90s.  He also can step up to the mic with the best of them as he proves on his debut album from 1992: Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop.  I've written before about my never ending love for 1992 as far as being one of the most under appreciated years in hip hop, but I haven't written about this album before.

Part of the reason is that for whatever reason, l I didn't hear this album back when it was released.  I was neck deep in hip hop at the time, but whether it was from lack of funds or lack of awareness I didn't check this album out until quite a few years later.  I've also had this on vinyl for absolute AGES, but kept passing it over to write about something different over and over.  The funny thing is it's because I love this record and don't want to inadvertently give the impression that I don't.

How could that happen? It's mostly because of one track, "Sally Got A One Track Mind."  I just don't like this song.  It's slow, it's kind of a downer and it's sitting there at track three, just grinding the album to a halt before it even begins.  I know it's a song that people point to as being one of the great cuts here, and I will never try to convince someone not to like anything, but this is one of those songs that has never clicked for me personally.  Once I get past that, this is a record that just dishes out classic after classic, but "Sally" is a buzz kill for me every time.  Now that that's out of the way, let's talk about Diamond D as the double threat that he is.  

Diamond D produced almost every track on this in addition to handling the vocal duties.  On the production side, you can almost hear Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop forcing its way out of the 80s sound and laying the blueprint for what the 90s would become.  The sound is perhaps a little more sparse than what was to follow, but you can hear the progressing as new ideas and samples take hold as you move through the track list.  When it comes to rhyming, Diamond can hold his own there as well.  He has a smoother flow that I find similarities with Lord Finesse in.  When you combine the vocals and the beats, it's just another bonafide 1992 classic.  I have no idea why it took me so long to write about it, but it's essential, both as a standalone album and a crucial building block on 1990s golden era hip hop.

Diamond D And The Psychotic Neurotics – Stunts, Blunts, & Hip Hop:

https://music.youtube.com/channel/UCymQzV2rUMuXj7jd3Dnww2g