Chicago Rocks! At least the music that comes out of that town does. No matter what genre you’re into, the Windy City has contributed the some of the best music in any style of music. Diverse has just reaffirmed this fact with his first full length, One AM.
A couple of songs into the CD you start asking yourself, “Does this guy EVER take a breath?” As far as I could tell, he does breathe between tracks or when a guest MC takes a verse, spitting furious metaphors with a dizzying sense of rhythm – Diverse’s blatant forte. He not only explores the limits of a song but utterly destroys those boundaries.
It is definitely hard to pinpoint any highlights on One AM because it all is so damn good, filled with b-boy nostalgia; insightful social commentary and calls to take the culture back from the industry. The first track, “Certified”, is a bouncing beat with a black rock guitar loop and ripping rhymes. “Under the Hammer” featuring Jean Grae and produced by RJD2 is one of the strongest tracks. This three-pronged attack on the ears levels the competition with Grae and Diverse trading images of urban life over a gritty beat.
RJD2’s fingerprint is all over this full length, producing close to half the songs for Diverse, whose musical style matches that of RJD2’s style of production. Other guest producers are Madlib (“Ain’t Right”), Prefuse-73 (“Just Biz”, “Leaving”), and Overflo (“747”) and they all contribute amazing beats for Diverse to do his damage.
Front to back, top to bottom this record is amazing. When you buy it (and you will, trust me) your head won’t stop bouncing and your mind won’t stop moving. This album is going to jump start an amazing career for Diverse. I can’t wait for what comes next.
