Diamond D

Diamond D
Diamond D at A3C in Atlanta
Background information
Birth name	Joseph Kirkland
Also known as	Diamond D
Born	(1968-04-05) April 5, 1968 (age 56) The Bronx, New York, U.S.^[1]
Genres	Hip hop
Occupation(s)	Record producer, rapper
Years active	1987–present
Labels	Chemistry/Mercury/PolyGram Records Diamond Mine Records Babygrande Records

Joseph Kirkland (born April 5, 1968), better known by his stage name Diamond D (or simply Diamond), is an American hip hop MC and record producer from The Bronx, New York City,^[1] and one of the founding members of the Diggin' in the Crates Crew, abbreviated as D.I.T.C.^[2]

YouTube Encyclopedic

1/1
Views:
1 446

Transcription

Early years

Growing up in Forest Houses in The Bronx, Diamond D was influenced by local DJs, DJ Hutch and DJ Supreme. During his youth the two DJs would let him perform on their turntables.^[3] At the beginning of his career as a producer, Diamond spent many hours at Jazzy Jay's studio on Allerton Avenue in The Bronx. He credits Jay for inspiring him to buy a sampler and teaching him various production techniques.^[3] In a 2017 interview he said, "I learned about 95% of my production skills from him. And he was ahead of his time."^[4]

Career

In addition to Jazzy Jay's teachings, Diamond credited Brand Nubian member Grand Puba as his inspiration to start rapping.^[5] An early guest appearance on A Tribe Called Quest's The Low End Theory track "Show Business" helped make people more aware of him as an artist.^[3]

The following year he released his debut record Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop. In a 2017 interview Diamond described the album as, "just a collection of beats and records I was just setting aside. It was more about, 'One day I want to do something with this' ideas. And about 80% of that album I got from those records."

Diamond's favorite experience from making Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop was recording the vocals for the song "Check One, Two."^[4] He credits producer The 45 King with clearing the samples for that beat.^[4] It took him 30 minutes to construct the beat for one of the album's best-known tracks, "Sally Got A One Track Mind".

In 1996 Diamond won a Grammy Award for his production on the title track from The Fugees' The Score album. He later described the experience as "just a bad memory" and declined to talk about it in an interview.^[6]

To promote his 1997 sophomore record Hatred, Passions and Infidelity, Mercury Records compiled a promotional vinyl called Diamond Jewels that included the Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop songs "Best Kept Secret', "*!*! What U Heard", and "Sally Got A One Track Mind".^[7]

Discography

Albums

Album information
Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop Released: September 22, 1992 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #47 Singles: "Best Kept Secret"/"Freestyle (Yo, That's That Shit)," "Sally Got a One Track Mind"/"Check One, Two," "Fuck What U Heard"/"I'm Outta Here"
Hatred, Passions and Infidelity Released: August 26, 1997 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: #40 Singles: "The Hiatus"/"No Wonduh (The Projects)," "J.D.'s Revenge"/"This One"
Grown Man Talk Released: March 1, 2003 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
The Diamond Mine Released: September 15, 2005 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
I'm Not Playin' (with Master Rob as Ultimate Force) Released: June 2007 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles: "I'm Not Playing", "Girls/I'm in Effect/Supreme Diamond D"
The Huge Hefner Chronicles Released: October 14, 2008 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
The Diam Piece Released: September 30, 2014 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles: "Rap Life"
The Diam Piece 2 Released: May 10, 2019 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:
Gotham (with Talib Kweli) Released: April 16, 2021 Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles: "On Mamas", "The Quiet One", "Attention Span"
The Rear View Released: August 19, 2022^[8] Billboard 200 chart position: - R&B/Hip-Hop chart position: - Singles:

As featured artist

List of singles, with selected chart positions, showing year released and album name
Title	Year	Peak chart positions			Album
Title	Year	US	US R&B	US Rap	Album
"One for the Money" (Royce da 5'9" featuring Skillz and Diamond D)	2012	—	—	—	Non-album single

References

^ ^a ^b Colin Larkin, ed. (2000). The Virgin Encyclopedia of Nineties Music (First ed.). Virgin Books. pp. 121/2. ISBN 0-7535-0427-8.
^ John Bush. "Diamond D | Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved May 22, 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c Isenberg, Daniel (July 14, 2011). "Diamond D Tells All: The Stories Behind His Classic Records". Complex Networks. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^ ^a ^b ^c Ducker, Jesse (December 29, 2017). "INTERVIEW: The Enduring Duality & Dynamism of Hip-Hop Legend Diamond D". Albumism. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^ Garcia, Bobbito (June–July 1995). "Sound Check: Bobbito Garcia plays the tracks; Diamond D states the facts". Vibe: 35 – via Google Books.^{[permanent dead link]}
^ Ettelson, Robbie (February 12, 2014). "Diamond D – The Unkut Interview". Unkut. Retrieved August 14, 2020.
^ Nelson, Havelock (August 2, 1997). "Diamond D's Hip-Hop 'Hiatus' Ends with 'Hatred' on Mercury". Billboard. pp. 27 and 32 – via Google Books.
^ "Diamond D - The Rear View". Apple Music. Retrieved August 19, 2022.

v t e Diamond D
Studio albums	Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop (1992) Hatred, Passions and Infidelity (1997) Grown Man Talk (2003) I'm Not Playin' (2007) The Huge Hefner Chronicles (2008) The Diam Piece (2014)
Mixtapes	The Diamond Mine (2005)
Related articles	Production discography

This page was last edited on 30 May 2024, at 04:51

v t e D.I.T.C.
A.G. Big L Buckwild Diamond D Fat Joe Lord Finesse O.C. Showbiz
Albums	D.I.T.C. The Movement

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF
National	Germany Israel United States
Artists	Grammy Awards MusicBrainz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia