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, Freeway provided some insight into the project's title.^[10] "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]. 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]

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 leaked on September 28, 2010 as an exclusive at Nahright.com^[16][17] and 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)" in the hook. The song and its accompanying music video premiered on October 19, 2010 at RapRadar.com^[19] and became 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]