In a year that's seen no shortage of attempts to revive the golden era East Coast hip-hop sound, Washington D.C.'s Diamond District has their work cut out for them. As revivalists go, they don't make any secrets of their affinities: In the Ruff even opens with producer/MC Oddissee admitting to being envious of all the NYC-representing greatness he grew up listening to. So it's no surprise that the album is essentially an hour-long love letter to the early-mid '90s. Nods to the titans of that era abound, to the point where "I Mean Business" actually extends its Gang Starr namedrops to a beat that lifts the fusion-jazz organ loop from "Mass Appeal" itself.

But if Diamond District are retro-minded, they do it with a raw sonic verisimilitude and drums that flat-out knock, and Oddissee's pulled off the admirable feat of being able to approach the choicest moments of Diamond D, Pete Rock and DJ Premier's production alchemy without sounding like a faded imitation. And the group's lyrics are throwbacks in a similar sense — Oddissee, XO and yU drop everyman street knowledge with more emphasis on survival than swagger, staying approachable without sounding vulnerable.