| · Chicago-based rapper’s sophomore disc features production by RJD2 and Prefuse 73
By the time listeners reach "Explosive," the sixth track on One A.M., there will likely be a lot of people shaking their heads and wondering how the hell they haven’t heard of Diverse before. The Chicagoan has attracted a small amount of attention in the past few years – his 2001 jazz-influenced debut Move, and his collaboration with Mos Def being the most notable – but none of these ripples indicated the crashing waves of talent Diverse shows on this record.
He’ll never be a huge mainstream success, at least not as long as he keeps using the production tandem of abstract beat makers RJD2 and Prefuse 73, although for the most part the two offer up restrained, funky tracks in comparison to their respective signature sounds. And using other underground stars such as Lyrics Born (on "Explosive," a dark, meaty piece of dance floor hip-hop) and Jean Grae (on "Under The Hammer," a slice of social commentary that, while directed at Chicago, could just as easily speak to any North American city) as collaborators won’t help him break through to mainstream either, although their individual guest appearances are near flawless. If urban radio got even remotely adventurous, Diverse would be huge. Instead he will have to settle for making one of the best albums of underground hip-hop so far this year.
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