Charlotte sensation Ray Diamond will definitely get much respect this fall with the release of his underground album "The Unknown Legend". On this musical autobiography, the 23-year-old rapper narrates his life from poverty to falling prey to dead-end recording deals to obtaining his dreams of becoming an accomplished emcee.But even though the Southern shot caller has grown accustomed to popping tags, riding big and getting money, Diamond hasnt always been the flashy, fly rapper that he is today.Born Terez' Hubbard in the nefarious Piney Grove housing project, Diamond grew up the second oldest of his mothers five boys. Although his mother did the best that she could to keep a roof over their heads, Ray Diamond spent much of his childhood drifting from one housing complex to the next.Im from everywhere bruh, and that's my good word, he remembers. I'm talkin' bout Piney Grove, Creekridge, Camp Sutton, Marsh-ville, New-Town, East Charlotte, Sugar Creek. You can drop me off in all the spots barefoot, and Im at home. My homeboys always joke about when I go national it's gone be such a dispute about where Im from, cause I'm good where ever I go, I can get money anywhere. I probably the only emcee that when people hear my name they like, Oh he from Charlotte, nah nigga he from V.A Beach, nah I know that nigga he from Long Island, and the list goes on, but the funny thing is that they're all right.It was during these many moves in his teen years that he befriended his partners in the buisness, brothers Bristol (Gus P aka Thuggin) and Gabriel (Phenominal) Williams. "I remember the first track we dropped together, and the funny thang about this shit is they didn't even rap. But they blazed the fuckin track." I remember it was over Master P's make em say uhh beat, and I knew from then on they were not some guys that were just passing thru ya know."I always loved hip hop, Ray Diamond confesses. I would just stand on the corner in school rapping and everybody telling me Boy, that was tight. But after I did my first show with Thuggin, Phen, and Tz (a member that later joined the trio), thats what really made me want to start doing music.To make this dream a reality, we got on our grind, Diamond remembers. We didn't have money for studio time so we would record tracks live with a tape player. Then we would dub the tapes and sell them five dollars a pop. I remember at around age 13 we relized if we wanted tracks on the radio we needed better equipment. That's when me and Thug started hustlin, nothing really big at the time we would go in on Q.P's and shit, just to get better equipment. By the time we got in high school we were known all over our city for hit's like "Ima Hustla", and "Gangstaz make the world go Round" off of our independent album Strictly Streetz.Around the same time, another local act from our city was getting a major buzz, Da commission is a label started by two brothers (Joe Nitti and Blas4me) that were born and raised on the EASTSIDE of DETROIT they moved to North Carolina in the late 90's. Da Commission drop the group Rarebreed. Man like I knew them dudes, I remember the exact day they came to N.C. They came to my house with there cousin and I remember thinking damn that nigga Joe big as hell. Because of our connection we already had with each other we just decided to join forces and wreck shit.THE UNKNOWN LEGEND also features Thuggin, Lady Lisa. Productions by Phenom, T-Ferg and Gorgie Bono who produced the street smash Money ain't a Thang, where Ray Diamond pops his collar over laid-back production, breezy guitar strums and Sunday morning organs. He spits: Just know that/my whole pack got mo stacks/ and since it's hot in Cacalack we give em the blow black/ Ya know I gotta get that shit/ cause I used to be broke till I grabed the tool and fixed that shitThere's a lot of songs on the album that'll let a person know who I am, says Diamond.Go get it!!!
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