Brand Nubian “Foundation” (1998)

Producer: Diamond D

Album: Foundation

Label: Arista/BMG

Diamond D: “I was on their list of producers to work with from my previous work with Brand Nubian and also Sadat X’s solo album. I did two tracks for Foundation. On one of them, I sampled some sounds from an old Clint Eastwood movie about a ski resort, and we couldn’t clear it. It was hot. But the other one, ‘Foundation,’ we were able to clear that, so we ended up using that [for the album’s title track].

“There was a good [vibe in the studio]. Lots of positive energy, everybody feeding off each other. Everyone was genuinely happy to be together working, especially with a new situation on Arista Records. They had a decent budget to work with, and a lot to prove. After the album dropped, they started doing shows again as a unit. That was a good thing that came out of [the project].”