- published: 26 Feb 2015
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Diamond D (born Joseph Kirkland, 1969) is a hip hop producer and MC from the Bronx, New York City, and one of the founding members of the legendary D.I.T.C. crew.
He started out as a DJ for Jazzy Jay back in the late 1980s and was at the same time perfecting his skills in beat making and turntablism, and, together with rhyme partner Master Rob, he was one half of the group Ultimate Force. The group signed with Jazzy Jay's Strong City Records, and Diamond and Rob started recording their debut album, I'm Not Playin', in 1988 and released the 12-inch single with the same title, which spawned a buzz in the underground. The album was completed in 1990, but it got caught up in label politics, such as the shutdown of Strong City distributor Uni Records, and was shelved until 2007 when it was released through Traffic Entertainment. One of the last songs recorded for the album was a Diamond D solo song in which he actually picked up the mike for the first time. The song was called "The Best-Kept Secret." As Ultimate Force dissolved, record executives got their eyes on the Bronx phenomenon, which eventually resulted in the release of Diamond's debut album, Stunts, Blunts and Hip Hop (released under the moniker Diamond & the Psychotic Neurotics), in 1992. The album is considered to be one of the finest D.I.T.C. solo LPs and features early appearances from Big L and Fat Joe, the latter of whose 1993 debut album, Represent, was mainly produced by Diamond D.
Peter Phillips (born June 21, 1970), better known by his stage name Pete Rock, is an American record producer, DJ and rapper. He rose to prominence in the early 1990s as one half of the critically acclaimed group Pete Rock & CL Smooth. After the duo went their separate ways, Rock continued with a solo career that has garnered him worldwide respect, though little in the way of mainstream success. Along with groups such as Stetsasonic, A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots and Gang Starr, Rock played a major role in the merging of elements from jazz into hip hop music (also known as jazz rap). He is widely recognized as one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time, and is often mentioned alongside DJ Premier, the RZA, and J Dilla as one of the mainstays of 1990s East Coast hip hop production. Pete Rock is also the older brother and younger cousin, respectively, of rappers Grap Luva and the late Heavy D.
Pete Rock was born in The Bronx, New York, the sixth of seven children of Jamaican immigrant parents. His family moved to Mount Vernon, New York when he was seven years old. During high school, he met his future recording partner CL Smooth. According to Rock, his father was also a part-time DJ who had an impressive record collection. Rock would often accompany his father to a cricket club called Wembley in The Bronx and watch as he spun records for the guests. His first job was as a paperboy, in his neighborhood.
Duval Clear (born December 4, 1966), known better by his stage name Masta Ace, is a rapper from Brownsville, Brooklyn. He appeared on the classic 1988 Juice Crew posse cut "The Symphony". He is noted for his high level of rapping skill and for influencing other MCs, including Eminem.
Clear graduated from the University of Rhode Island in 1988, after meeting Marley Marl in 1987 during his summer break. Ace made his recording debut as Master Layze on the hip hop posse-cut "The Symphony", along with fellow Juice Crew members Craig G, Kool G Rap and Big Daddy Kane, released on Marley Marl's In Control album. The album also featured two additional Ace tracks, "Keep Your Eyes on the Prize" and "Simon Says". In 1989, he released his first solo single, "Together" b/w "Letter to the Better". His debut album, Take a Look Around, was released through Marl's Cold Chillin' label in 1990, featuring production from Marl and DJ Mister Cee. The album featured two minor hit singles in "Music Man" and "Me & The Biz", the latter being a track with Ace's impersonation of Biz Markie, rather than a duet as previously thought the song would be.
[K. Terroribul]
I get Alzheimer's listen to your biblical writers
and biters to fibbers like your motion picture script writers
Should I be pausin for a moment over lost sinners
Or givin chase toward the invisible tormentor
Who - permitted more false allegations than a forfeiter
Don't get it wrong, cause existin manuscripts differ
Ghostly disappeared into the mountainside
Then reappeared to heap fear to keep the average rapper circumcised
How could this deal even commence nice
When my rhymes just to keep a cent, higher than yo' list price
A proefficient, most extravagant rapper imaginable and different
Still A&R;'s haven't listened and they're slow pokes
With audacity to be rhymin with these grown folks?
Y'all newcomes got jokes
Be polite, I was, I'm representin Bronx niggaz that's inspirers
Now competition seems quieter
Forget the clues, I got critics sayin who's you?
Even rappers singin the blues if they ain't on they P's and Q's
I be the uhh. lyrical lord almighty
Top emperor want a demonstration BLAOW there you were