Today brings us the first ever FRSHCLSV full-length album, courtesy of DC veteran MC/producer (and currently best known as one third of the Diamond District), yU. The album, Before Taxes was first released as a 7 track promo EP a few months back, but available here for the first time anywhere is the full 16 song version of album. The majority of the project was produced by the 1978ers (yU & Slimkat78), but it also features some guest production from Kev Brown, Oddisee & Bilal Salaam. yU is also joined by appearances from Finale, Grap Luva, OP Swamp 81 (Bilal Salaam & Da’Nedra), his fellow members in the Remainz crew, and more throughout the album.

Both yU and Slimkat78 are two extremely talented artists who have been making moves for years now. If you like what you hear, leave a comment and let me know and I’ll be sure to bring you guys much more from both of them in the near future.

2011 UPDATE: Over a year after this post – Before Taxes was released on CD. The album had already received widespread critical acclaim – including being highlighted in XXL‘s Chairman’s Choice column, as well the song “Fine” being licensed to both Gilles Peterson‘s Brownswood label & as a sample to dubstep producer Subskrpt – all from this original, free version. The label/retail version is a new master & mix that, in my opinion, takes away some of the grit & original appeal of the album. But, at the label’s request, we had to take down the free download of the original version of the album – so hopefully you got it while you still could.

TRACKLISTING:
1. Before Taxes Intro (feat. the1978ers) (prod. Slimkat78)
2. Beats&Rhymes From March 25 (Kick Styles) (prod. yU)
3. Almost Time (prod. Kev Brown)
4. Thought About It (prod. yU)
5. BreakDown (feat. & prod. Bilal Salaam)
6. Corners (feat. EyeQ) (prod. yU)
7. The Up & Up (feat. the1978ers) (prod. Slimkat78)
8. Close (feat. Isabella Banneker & the1978ers) (prod. Slimkat78)
9. Fine (prod. yU)
10. Lunchin’ (prod. Oddisee)
11. Native (feat. & prod. the1978ers)
12. Memory (feat. ERK) (prod. yU)
13. The Rock (feat. the1978ers) (prod. Slimkat78)
14. InTheReign (feat. EyeQ & Omun) (prod. yU)
15. MmHmm (instr) (prod. yU)
16. Brainwash (feat. Grap Luva, Finale & OP Swamp 81) (prod. Slimkat78)

Swiped from the Diamond District blog:

“In The Ruff is the highly anticipated debut album from new DC hip hop group The Diamond District, created by state veterans Oddisee, X.O. & yU. In The Ruff is the answer for any lover of hip hop who asks the question – ‘Where did that grimy East coast sound go?’

The group was founded by rapper/producer Oddisee, who has a long list of production & collaboration credits with the likes of Freeway, Talib Kweli, Saigon, Little Brother, Trek Life, Charles Hamilton, Jazzy Jeff, Buckshot, Royce The 5’9″, Nikki Jean, Muhsinah, J-Live, Lil Fame of M.O.P. , Skyzoo and many more. Oddisee’s soulful, haunting samples over bass-heavy beat breaks create the perfect instrumentals for him, XO & yU to match with their street savvy, politically conscious lyrics.

In The Ruff is a raw mid-90′s Boom-Bap themed album for the DC state of mind, destined to appeal to all lovers of hip hop’s golden era, managing to travel back in time and push the boundaries of DC Hip-Hop simultaneously.”

This is a limited edition, free download of the clean version of the album. Mello Music Group & Oddisee Music will be partnering up for the official, un-edited retail release of the album with added bonus tracks, so look out for that coming soon. I’ve also got some dope exclusives from the different members of Diamond District coming to the site in the next week, so as always, stay tuned.

Just in case you missed it – the latest leak from the forthcoming Diamond District project dropped today. The song, “I Mean Business,” is the second track to be released from the forthcoming Diamond In The Ruff album.

The song sticks to the album’s theme of having that distinct “mid-90′s boom-bap” feel to it, and even flips the classic break that was most famously used for Gang Starr’s “Mass Appeal.” For more on the Diamond District project, including the first leaked song and a short documentary about its members, be sure to check out this previous post.

To go along with that, I’ve also included another recent Oddisee leak – “Hip Hop’s Cool Again,” which originally premiered on Rosenberg Radio. The self-explanatory anthem is the lead single from Oddisee’s upcoming production album, Mental Liberation, dropping May 5th on Mello Music Group. The song is also available on iTunes now as the lead track on the pre-album EP which also features tracks with Hassaan Mackey, Bilal Salaam and Motion Man. I’ll have much more from the Mental Liberation album soon, so stay tuned for that.

In case you missed it – the very first leak from the DMV all-star project, Diamond District, dropped today. The trio is compromised of MC/producer, Oddisee, and MC’s X.O. and yU. With all three members already being established solo artists with seperate styles of their own – they’ve all come together to cement the DC/Maryland/Virginia area’s place on the hip-hop map.

Diamond District’s debut album as a group, In The Ruff, will be available as a free download for a limited time on their new website starting April 14th. Plans are also in the works to give the project an official retail release with exclusive bonuses through Mello Music Group in the coming months (more info on that coming soon). But before all of that, we have the first leaked single, “Here I Be,” – an anthemic track with a raw feel but yet still has a polished knock to it, combined with a simply stated ODB-sampled hook and all three members catchin wreck in their respective styles.

As an added sneak preview of the project, they’ve also released a mini-documentary about the group. It highlights the Diamond District group as a whole, and also has individual segments with all members giving a tour of their cities, homes and studios – plus an on-the-spot, acapella verse from each. The video was shot by T. Purcell and edited by Humble Monarch (which is run by Oddisee’s fellow Low Budget crew member, DJ Roddy Rod).

You can watch the documentary and get your free download of “Here I Be” below. Also be on the look out for much more from Diamond District and its members before the album drops.