Rating:
  Release Date: November 22, 2006
  Website: Diction & Serge Website
  Label: Metro League Records

Diction and Serge “Our Purpose” Album Review
“Diction and Serge, homie …” I found myself saying those exact words a lot this week. Next to the Internet, word of mouth is arguably the best tool for underground hip-hop, and I try to utilize that tool in all possible situations. Therefore, visiting family and friends for Thanksgiving is a somewhat of a yearly hip-hop word of mouth campaign for me. I try to promote what I’m bumping to the people I don’t see often.  

Word of Mouth
I guess it all started the Sunday before Thanksgiving. I was driving around giving a first listen to “Our Purpose, ” a brand new album created by one of my favorite underground MCs Serge Severe, his “partner in rhyme” Diction, and a handful of their talented crewmembers. I was enjoying the album, it’s laid back and often eclectic production, and the wide range of styles represented by the featured MCs. Then I hit track ten, which introduced a ridiculously funky and catchy piano beat that grabbed my attention. “Damn! That shit is HOT!” I exclaimed before rewinding the track a couple times to hear it through. I bumped the album all day and later that night at the crib.

The next day, I told my man DJ Father Time about it. He had been looking for a good underground track to put in his new mixtape, and I thought the piano on the Diction & Serge track might fit the direction in which his compilation was headed. We took off for lunch in my Chevy Prism, which is a pimp ride regardless of what y’all haters say, and I watched my man’s eyes light up as I played track ten. “Who is that?” he asked. “Diction and Serge, homie.”

Turntablism and the Underground
I’ve gained a new sense of appreciation for the art of turntablism over the past couple of years. Watching a roommate practice three hours a day for four years will give a person a better understanding of the art form’s possibilities, depth and, most of all, it’s high level of difficulty, especially since every drunken attempt I’ve made to even do a simple beat match has been a proverbial train wreck. But even more, I have gained a sense of how turtablism can promote underground hip-hop using somewhat of a word of mouth technique.

I’ve been to a couple of deejayed parties recently, and the same thing has happened at each one. The DJ has been playing some popular or mainstream hip-hop, and then mixes in a hot underground track. All of a sudden, I see a bunch of people looking around like, “Who is that?” It seems to amaze mainstream listeners, because all of a sudden the DJ throws in some real shit unlike what they’re used to hearing. I like to think that those listeners will then go out and investigate, maybe getting hip to a piece of the underground.

Anyway, after hearing Diction & Serge in my car, DJ Father Time almost immediately worked track ten into his mixtape, which is currently available for free download on his MySpace page. I guess it turned out to be the piece he was missing. And I managed to get a dubbed copy the morning before I left for Thanksgiving. All week, I found myself throwing in DJ Father Time’s mixtape for friends and relatives. And every time the underground track was mixed in, I found myself saying the same thing: “Diction and Serge, homie . Diction and Serge.”

So check out Diction & Serge’s “Our Purpose.” If you like it, tell your friends. If you’re a turntablist, work it into your routine. If you love underground hip-hop, promote it. We may be the difference between what’s popular and what’s not, and we can help control that with a little word of mouth. Peace.