Once again, Atlanta-based rapper/DJ, Dillon has teamed up with Grammy award-winning beatsmith and bonafide Hip-Hop legend, Diamond D on production duties; this time for a full-length album. Where their first collaborative effort, Black Tie Affair (2017), had a more polished approach, Uncut Gems offers a deeper glimpse of the Underground – a sound that Diamond D and his crew, D.I.T.C. helped define in the ’90s and an aesthetic that Dillon came to embody in the early 2000’s as a student of the era.

Production-wise, Diamond’s beats run the gamut both sonically and chronologically. Some were composed more recently with Diamond’s current equipment & expertise, fully tracked out and able to be manipulated & mixed. Others range back to the late ’90s, condensed down to chunky 2-tracks exported from the arsenal of beat machines that Diamond had at his dusty fingers.

Armed with a pen as his pickaxe, Dillon is up to the challenge of chiseling this eclectic arrangement of beats into songs worthy of being examined like the uncut gems they are. By simplifying his skill sets down to the basic elements, Dillon digs ever deeper to complement the gritty gems unearthed by Diamond. To add some lustre they enlisted a roster of rap’s finest including Elzhi. Planet Asia, Ras Kass, Stacy Epps & Slimkid3 of The Pharcyde.

Dillon’s blue-collar work ethic and quiet consistency have made him a beloved underdog of the underground and with Diamond D holding him down, he no longer can be overlooked. Behold, Uncut Gems.