Chances are you've been hearing a lot of Dibiase over the past two years, but it was on some other rapper's shit and possibly you didn't take notice. Or maybe you did take notice, like when Intuition shouts out Dibiase for lacing him at the beginning of “Al Bundy” and are aware he's responsible for U-N-I's MTV Buzzworthy hit “Beautiful Day”.
A integral craftsman of flavorful beats in the L.A. scene, Dibiase show n' proved at the Project Blowed, battled with beats at Kutmah's Sketchbook night and elevated his profile a step higher with sets at the Low End Theory. If you're not up on your L.A. hustle criteria, Dibiase has run one of the toughest of gauntlets. The Good Life nights of Project Blowed are ruthless in critique, while the Sketchbook nights were frequented by producers like Ras G, Ta'Raach, Flying Lotus, Georgia Ann Muldrow and Gas Lamp Killer – essentially the cream of the L.A. beat crop.
With dues paid, Dibiase is prepping the release of his solo debut on Alpha Pup called Machines Hate Me (what's with Alpha Pup dudes being anti-mankind, first Free The Robots, now this?). “Lumberjack” was premiered this week on LA Times' Pop & Hiss blog and although it instantly made me think of that Madlib beat that used to be in rotation during commercial breaks on Adult Swim, I hardly consider that a problem.
Dibiase is truly a lumberjack with the breaks, as the snappy echoes on the snare will have necks collapsing from the steady sway. Despite the stuttery and drowned chop of crooning beauties, “Lumberjack” is a soul song, especially when he flips the script into a futuristic funk outro.
