Legendary Diggin’ In The Crates crew member Diamond D is back on the mic in heavyweight new effort Nowhere To Run To on a beat courtesy of another hip-hop veteran – the UK’s very own Dan Greenpeace. But what can we expect of this collab? Well, the beat weighs in at an extremely 90s underground hip-hop 85 bpm so it’s head-nod rather than up-rock but that muted guitar loop gives it some grit and the drums bang. In short it’s not unlike classic DITC material – especially with DD handing out lyrical advice about watching your back – “Keep your grass cut low so you can see the snakes/ Below the surface, like dandruff, you can see the flakes.” What about a video though? Maybe some live footage of the track being produced or maybe of D and D listening to the mixdown, yeah? Have the pair of them bumping fists and nodding along, DD on the decks – oohh hello – who’s this young joker on the wheels of steel at 2:07? Go on – sling your hook you cheeky monkey! This is grown folks’ business! Got any final words of advice Mr D? What’s that? “Some lessons are hard learned and some are taught/ Some flows are authentic and some are bought.” Damn straight! Also comes with radio edit, instrumental and instrumental with hook which sounds like the classic 12″ package to me. A bit of detective work suggests the only wax format is 45 with fewer versions on it though – and not only does that not appear to have dropped yet but it’s on a different label (Kay Dee) to the one listed on the PR. The other mystery is why promo for this is only coming out now when the release date is listed as 23 April. Curiouser and curiouser…
(Out now on All City)