Free Download: Diego Bernal's Low-Riding Hip-Hop Album, "For Corners"

Proving that it is possible to hold down a day job while creating dope beats by night: Diego Bernal, a San Antonio-based civil rights attorney who today is releasing his debut hip-hop instrumental album, For Corners. The record, a dense mélange of breakbeat, soul and hip-hop culled together from obscure samples and fresh Latin influences (marimbas, flutes, etc.), is Bernal's effort to bring back what he calls "dignified" hip-hop as opposed to what's dominating the airwaves: "The beats are the part that's really developing and heading in the
right direction, but lyrically, there's a premium on being ignorant. It
really disappoints me, because that's when people start saying that
hip-hop's on life support."

Bernal, who counts DJs J Dilla, Pete Rock and DJ Muggs among his many influences and is of Mexican and Argentinean descent, dabbled in beat-making while attending college in Detroit, Michigan and created a few tracks for his friends to freestyle over. Now 32 years old and litigating for a national advocacy group, Bernal recently got back in touch with his love of creating music and made the album in his bedroom, then mix-mastered it with the help of indie label Exponential Records (which has a roster of likeminded artists and DJs that just happen to also be Texicans).

So how is Bernal handling life as a lawyer-cum-artist? Easily, he says. ""Everyone has more than one passion. You may like basketweaving and
reading, or writing and cycling...so for me, it was civil rights,
social justice and music. My mom is an educator and activist and she's
a big music fan. My house was full of music and conversation and
politics."

Click below to hear or download Diego Bernal's music for free—or better yet, show your support by buying the complete For Corners on iTunes for $1.99.

DOWNLOAD: Diego Bernal, For Corners (Complete Album via Antipop.net)