Big Brother Konan presents - High Rolla Records Compilation Volume 1 (High Rolla Records)

DJ Diamond K's history with Baltimore club music goes way back over a decade, when he was making tracks for Frank Ski and Miss Tony, and he's still doing it now with his own label, High Rolla Records. I interviewed Diamond K last month for my Bmore club column, The Club Beat, and talked about this CD, his club music mp3 store, and his upcoming documentary Club Music Is The Future. This compilation is a showcase for his group Da Horsemen and all the other artists on his label, so it's got bits of R&B and hip hop in there, and I think I'd probably like it better if it was straight up club music. Plus there's weird stuff, like "B-More Snap" kinda biting on Atlanta snap music, and there's a song called "Rider Boy" that's kind of a response song to D.O.G.'s "Ryda Gyrl," but instead of using the Blaq Starr instrumental they got someone to do a kinda crappy-sounding remake of the beat. It's got some good original club music joints on there, though.

Diamond K - "Do Dat Footwork" (mp3)
The sample on this track is of a mainstream dance hit, "It Just Won't Do," and K.W. Griff was the first producer to flip it as a Baltimore club track, "Fiddle" aka "Flute," and it was one of my favorites when it came out a few years ago. Diamond K adds some vocals on this one to put his own twist on it.

Labels: Baltimore club, mixtape/album review, mp3