Diamond in the Ruff

Diamond in the Ruff
Studio album by Freeway
Released	November 27, 2012
Recorded	2010–12
Genre	Hip hop
Length	57:40
Label	Team Early, Babygrande Records[1]
Producer	Freeway (exec.), Chuck Wilson (exec.), Jake One, Incredible Stro, Mike Jerz, Bink!, Just Blaze, Needlz, Sunny Dukes, DJ Khalil
Freeway chronology
The Stimulus Package (2010) Diamond in the Ruff (2012)
Singles from Diamond in the Ruff
"Jungle" Released: October 12, 2012 "Numbers" Released: November 13, 2012

Diamond in the Ruff is the fourth studio album by American hip hop recording artist Freeway, released worldwide by Babygrande Records on November 27, 2012.^[2]

Conception

Background

As the ex-Roc-A-Fella artist signed one-album deal with Babygrande Records in July 2012,^[1][2] Diamond In the Ruff represents his first full-length project since 2010's critically acclaimed The Stimulus Package, a collaborative album with Seattleite producer Jake One.^[3][4] The album includes features from Wale, Marsha Ambrosius, Vivian Green, Suzann Christine, Nikki Jean, Miss Daja Thomas, Alonda Rich, and fellow Philadelphian artists Neef Buck and Musiq Soulchild. The production is handled by the likes of Jake One, Needlz, as well as Bink! and Just Blaze, who have both worked on his debut album.^[5][6] Gimel "Young Guru" Keaton, the sound engineer behind 10 of Jay-Z’s 11 albums, was slated to mix the entirety of the project.^[7] In 2010, Freeway told SLAM Magazine "the whole album is soulful and real. It's [him], and it's different than what everyone else is doing".^[8] In a video interview with KarmaLoop TV, he expressed that the album should have come after Philadelphia Freeway (2003).^[9]

Title significance

During an interview with Canada's The Come Up Show, the Philadelphia native provided some insight into the project's title, revealing that his music career has been a lot like a diamond in the rough.^[10] "The diamond goes through [many stages before shining]. [Firstly], you [need to] go [into] the cave and dig the diamond out, then you [have to] polish it. And you [have to] go through a lot of things to make a diamond shine, but once the diamond [begins to shine] it never stops shining. And I feel [that this is symbolic in relation] to my career. I'm a diamond in the rough. I'm still shining [despite] all the things [I experienced]. [The breakup of] Roc, personal things, losing family members. Life is [a daily] struggle. Even just being famous and maintaining, staying on top of your game. It takes a lot. And through all that [I have lived, I always shine], so we chose Diamond In the Ruff."^[11]

Promotion

In anticipation of the album's release, a mixtape sponsored by KarmaLoop Music and Rocksmith clothing, entitled Freedom of Speech, was released on October 16, 2012.^[12] The Philadelphian artist offered another mixtape entirely mixed by Statik Selektah on November 23, 2012. Entitled The History Of Freeway, it contains thirty-four pieces that were selected from the rapper's discography.^[13]

A tour has been planned in support of the album; the first half began on October 12 in Atlanta and concluded on November 13 in New York.^[14]

Promotional singles

In 2010, two songs, produced by Jake One, were released under Rhymesayers Entertainment to promote the album, both of which have had videos made for them by Jimmy Giambrone. The first one was entitled "Beautiful Music". The single was made available on October 4, 2011 as digital download on iTunes.^[15] It was first leaked on September 28, 2010 as an exclusive over at Nahright.com^[16][17] and had the music video premiered the same date at OnSMASH.com.^[18] The second song was "Escalators". It contains a vocal sample of The Notorious B.I.G.'s "You're Nobody (Til Somebody Kills You)" on the hook. The song and its accompanying music video premiered on October 19, 2010 at RapRadar.com^[19] and was also made available on iTunes on October 11, 2011.^[20]

Singles

The lead single, "Jungle", produced by Incredible Stro, premiered on October 12, 2012 at Babygrande Records' SoundCloud page^[21][22] and was made available on iTunes on October 15, 2012.^[23] Its music video, directed by Jimmy Giambrone, premiered on November 19, 2012 at the label's YouTube channel.^[24]

The second single is "Numbers", featuring longtime collaborator Neef Buck and produced by Sunny Dukes. It was premiered at the label's Soundcloud page on November 13, 2012.^[25]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	65/100[26]
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[27]
AllHipHop	8/10[28]
HipHopDX	[29]
Pitchfork Media	5.3/10[30]
PopMatters	[31]
RapReviews	7.5/10[32]
XXL	(XL)[33]

Diamond In the Ruff was met with generally favorable reviews from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 65, based on 6 reviews.^[26] Jayson Greene of Pitchfork Media gave the album a 5.3 out of ten, saying "Ever adapable, Freeway has been positioning himself, post-major label fallout as a "real hip-hop," reliable alternative to the mainstream kind of guy. It makes sense as a career move, but Diamond sees him growing a little too comfortable in his out-of-time role: On "Sweet Temptations" he makes fun of rappers with "tight slacks" and ponders "buy[ing] a plane ticket to Africa" and moving back. On "Right Back", he drops the Abe Simpson-worthy "Fab say he the best that ever twitted/ Well, I'm the hottest spitter that ever Googled," which is doubly unforgivable for not even knowing how to pronounce the word "tweet." None of this stuff is deal-breaking on its own. Freeway is still nowhere near close to sucking. But he's well on his way to not mattering."^[30] Jason Lymangrover of Allmusic gave the album three out of five stars, saying "Switching to a smaller label is generally not a sign of good fortune in the rap world, but Freeway continues to be interesting enough with his gruff, dexterous style of storytelling to make a solid impact as an underground artist. Even when the production fails to inspire, he holds up his end of the bargain on the mike."^[27] Eric Diep of XXL gave the album an XL, saying "Through Diamond in the Ruff, Freeway shows how much he has progressed as an artist thus far. It’s packed with the right ingredients for yet another solid appraisal from both fans and critics. For dedicated troupers of Philadelphia Freeway, there’s enough here to satisfy."^[33]

David Amidon of PopMatters gave the album a five out of ten, saying "Diamond in the Ruff, despite its best efforts, can’t help but feel like it just had to exist. It’s one of those rap albums that’s disappointing as often as slightly engaging, and oftentimes is hard to pinpoint exactly what’s letting you down. If I could sum this album up in one line, it’d be Freeway’s “Call us Domino’s Pizza ‘cause we bring it” on outstanding dud “All the Hoods” (the chorus? “I deliver it just like chicken & gravy, just like chicken & gravy, just like chicken & gravy,” for some reason). Domino’s Pizza certainly delivers, that much is infallible – but are you really that excited about getting anything from Domino’s? Or are you just tired of being hungry? Freeway’s proven he can do a lot better than the Domino’s of Philly rappers, but Diamond in the Ruff really isn’t the evidence that proves it, sadly."^[31] Pete T. of RapReviews gave the album a 7.5 out of 10, saying "There's far more good here than bad, but there's definitely a sense of familiarity to "Diamond in the Ruff." While his technique and charisma place him among the greats, his words lack the multiplicity and transcendence of not only a Jay, Pac, or Nas, but even regional favorites such as Jada and AZ. Still, his execution and consistency deserve nothing but the highest praise, and while I'm still awaiting the record where Freeway fulfills his massive potential, "Diamond in the Ruff" is a worthy addition to a catalog that includes a few of my very favorite records of the last decade."^[32]

The Company Man of HipHopDX gave the album four out of five stars, saying "Through the first 11 tracks on Diamond In The Ruff, Freeway is near flawless, showcasing an array of styles and fresh patterns while refusing to peddle shallow perspective. And then, over the course of the final five songs, the album nearly falls off a cliff. The Bink! produced “All The Hoods” is not only redundant following “Dream Big” and “Wonder Tape,” but uncomfortably close to cheesy. Metaphors like “Call us Dominoes Pizza cause we bring it,” feel fatigued, for example. The brooding “Hottest Akhi” sounds lifeless on the same project as “The Thirst.” “Money Is My Medicine” is the only song suffocated by cliche, “Jungle” is supremely skippable, and “Lil Mama” feels like “Show Me What You Got’s” (by Jay-Z) C-team cousin. None are completely awful individually. But together - in a row, and as the closing run - they distract from an otherwise impressive outing. Switching to another obligatory sports metaphor, it’s like watching a pitcher throw a shutout through eight innings, give up five runs in the ninth, and still come away with the win. It’s a victory nonetheless, but it was so close to being so much more."^[29] King Eljay of AllHipHop gave the album an eight out of ten, saying "Freeway’s been consistent, and he’s saved some of his best music of the year for Diamond In The Ruff. With great production from Jake One, Mike Jerz, and more, alongside the cameo appearances cited above, this is a dope play from start to finish. Freeway’s underrated, and he knows it; hopefully that changes soon, since there’s very few that are guaranteed to deliver musically like he is right now."^[28]

Track listing

Personnel

Credits for Diamond In the Ruff adapted from Allmusic.^[36]

References

External links

• Babygrande Records official site
• Freeway on Twitter