Diz Gibran
Soon You'll Understand
On the recent posse cut “We Made It 09″–featured on L.A.U.S.D. Presents … Curly Tops & Nautica Jackets, a booming mixtape of SoCalians–rapper Diz Gibran spits: “West Coast shit, the gangs all here/ This the day ya’ll feared/ Bet we rain all year.” Pouring is more like it, but the reference is well noted. Diz Gibran, who was referring to the recent crop of emcees around Los Angeles showering the streets with wide-ranging releases (most recently TiRon’s Ketchup mixtape and U-N-I’s A Love Supreme album), is just the latest in this long lineage of West Coast rap to bless the masses with his own interpretation of L.A. But Soon You’ll Understand isn’t typical West Coast rap. And to be fair, neither is Diz. Teaming up with Queens, NY beat virtuoso Moonshine–who produced the entire album–Diz creates a work of art not easily denied–careful, calculated rhymes over shimmering soundscapes. “Peace to the crooks” shouts Gibran throughout the 18-track mixtape that features BJ The Chicago Kid, Pac Div, Bleu Collar and Kartwright. Diz raps with such finesse and with such grit he dares to reinvent what it means to be a West Coast artist. The silky production augments his laid-back flow on tracks like “New Religion” and “The Hardest Word.” Other infectious cuts like the chilly “Impossible” and the glossy “Truly Yours” further cement the young rapper’s legend. Diz is a real rap rarity–New York gutter flow with L.A. sensibilities–but don’t expect him to vanish come morning time. Perhaps this should’ve been expected. Perhaps we didn’t think a rapper-producer team could work again–and so well–since Pete Rock & CL Smooth. Perhaps we were wrong. Get your umbrellas ready.
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