Reminding everyone that he's "one of the few producers who writes his own shit," he says The Rear View is 14-tracks, adding that many of them are slow to mid-temp with a laid back feel.

"The slower tempo of the songs was not intentional," Diamond shared. "I actually recorded more songs than those that made the final cut, but I wanted my vocals to shine through and be heard clearly. In hindsight, that may have been a premise for the laid back feel of some of the songs."

The new album, which features Posdnous of De la Soul, Westside Gunn of Griselda, Ashtin Martin, Stacy Epps and KP, took about two months to record between New York, L.A., and Atlanta, with engineers Believe and Amond Jackson.

The Rear View shows a growth in the the production of Diamond D, which we have seen take place over his last few releases.

"I'm still sample based, but I use live musicianship to give the songs a BIG feel," the "Sally Got A One Track Mind" producer revealed. "I picked up that technique from producers like Nottz, Dr. Dre, and Battlecat. Though I'm still sample based, I have to compete with what is on the radio, so it all ties in."

It's easy to forget the influence of Diamond D, but for anyone who needs a reminder, the interlude titled "Joe Crack" features Fat Joe explaining how Diamond convinced him to rap, and that if not for Diamond D, there would be no Fat Joe, Remy, Big Pun, Scott Storch, DJ Khaled, Pitbull or Cool & Dre.

The Rear View is available for pre order at FatBeats. Check out tracks from the new album above and below.