Viral Videos Legends

I'm sure this has been out for a while now, not sure if it's the same as the best of youtube video or not, whatever:


Viral Video Legends Compilation - Watch more Funny Videos

Fantasy Football Update

Well fantasy football season is over. Unfortunately no championships, I came in 3rd in my Drexel league and 6th in my Ithaca league. I think I learned a lot this year though, and hopefully it will help me for next year. If I were Jing I'd talk about how I finished the season in 1st place in the Drexel league, but I know that doesn't matter. Every mention of the Patriots perfect regular season is followed by the reminder that they lost the Super Bowl to the G-Men. I have plenty of seasons in fantasy hockey where I finished #1 in the regular season, but I also have plenty of 2nd place finishes overall, and those don't keep me warm at night.

Now for the season awards (D=Drexel league, I=Ithaca league)

MVP: Wes Welker (D), Brent Celek (I)

Best Waiver Wire: Steve Smith (D), Jason Snelling (I)......?

Worst Draft Pick: Derrick Ward (D-5th Rd), TIE Roy Williams (I-4th Rd) and Darren McFadden (I-5th Rd)

Best Draft Pick: Julius Jones (D-10th Rd), Brent Celek (I-12th Rd)

It was a fun year, but it's always nice to be able to sit back and enjoy the playoffs without having to think about roster pickups and the like.

Philly fans

They always complain that they have a bad rap, and then they do shit like this. I can understand a a snowball or two, a friendly thing. But for it to go on that long and have security at the Linc do nothing is ridiculous. By that time they were probably killing the 49ers, so just let the fans watch the game...

Rachel Ray Gettin the Biz!!!

Happy Holidays to her!

Why Alex Doesn't Understand Weather

He's ignorant. (Quick post preview, more to come later!)

**Update**

Here's the thing about weather, the precipitation forecast varies depending on the time of year. During the summer the chance of precipitation refers to the probability that precipitation will occur in ANY area in the broadcast area. So it could be 100% chance of precipitation and if Ithaca had no rain, but Horseheads had rain, then the forecast was correct. HOWEVAH, (AK doing Stephen A.) during the winter the precipitation percentage refers to the chance that the whole area will have precipitation. So if it's 100% chance of snow, and Ithaca doesn't get snow, then someone done screwed up.


Source: a meteorology class my parents took in the 70s

Best. Flowchart. Ever

Commentary deemed unnecessary.

Fantasy Football Round Up

I said I would give a fantasy football wrap up, so here it is! Both of my teams made the playoffs this year, but comparing the two is like comparing a model to Boone, wildly different. On one hand you have the Harlem Dipsetters of my Drexel league which are at the top of the league and totally killin it; on the other hand is Oh Mike Jones who used to be at the top of the league and has now slid to 6th place because of questionable (?) trades and injuries. I now present to you a full roster rundown:

Harlem Dipsetters:

QB: Matt Schaub—6th round pick, very happy with how that worked out, I feel good going into the playoffs with him

WR: Larry Fitzgerald—1st round pick, he has really picked up recently with a healthy Boldin, feeling great going into the playoffs

WR: Wes Welker—4th round pick, has been epic since we’re in a PPR league, monster games these last few weeks

WR: Steve Smith—Waiver Wire, benefit of starting slow, I got a high priority waiver pick and grabbed Smith, excellent

RB: Ricky Williams—Waiver Wire, I guess no one wanted him (someone had him and dropped him earlier) and I think I got him the week before Ronnie Brown went out, excellent pick up

RB: Rashard Mendenhall— Trade for Calvin Johnson, good player that I’ve been rotating in and out, I have high hopes for him as the weather gets colder and windier in Pittsburgh

TE: Vernon Davis—Waiver Wire, dude has been an absolute monster. Started the year with John Carlson so I got his great opening numbers and then picked up Davis who has been great for me

D: Saints—Waiver Wire, have lost some of their luster recently, but put up a lot of games in the teens.

K: Ryan Longwell—Waiver Wire, I pick up and drop kickers as needed.

BENCH

RB: Pierre Thomas—3rd Round, he’s been hit or miss, especially with the emergence of Mike Bell, but he’s still be decent considering it’s a 3 back committee

RB: Cedric Benson—Waiver Wire, how this guy was on waivers when I picked him up is beyond me, but he’s been a stud.

RB: Julius Jones—10th round, I’m ok with this pick, he gave me some good games early, but I’m not sure why he’s still on my team…haha

WR: Percy Harvin—Trade for Calvin Johnson, I’m happy with this trade (Megatron for Percy and Rashard) I think it was a week before he hurt his knee and since then he hasn’t put up great numbers, it gave me a lot of good depth.

WR: Nate Burleson—Waiver Wire, another good pickup, he’s been a solid flex starter.

WR: Chris Chambers—Waiver Wire, would have been a great pickup if I could have traded him after his 2 big games in 3 weeks, but it was past the deadline at that point. Now he’s just kinda chillin on my bench.

As you may have noticed, I don’t believe in keeping extra TE, K, or D on my bench. No need really.

Hopefully most of you can see why I feel so good about this team going into the playoffs. I think I have a ton of flexibility with my roster and lots of good matchups to take advantage of. Hopefully the Dipsetters will lead me to my first fantasy sports championship. I’m getting tired of all my 2nd place hockey finishes.

And now, on to a team that is more sketchy than K is being right now (didn’t return my call, haven’t heard ish from him).

Oh Mike Jones

Wow, how did this team become so bad? I started off 5-1 and have since gone 2-5. I’ll tell you how it went bad, questionable trades and injuries. You’ll see them outlined below but I probably shouldn’t have gotten rid of MJD… I think I went into panic mode and just made things worse. Here’s my lineup with comments:

QB: The one, the only, Brett Favre—Waiver Wire, he’s a gunslinger who loves the game and is just having fun out there, but he’s actually been putting up good numbers this year. He had a stinker last game, but hopefully he got it out of his sytem.

WR: Mike Sims-Walker—Trade, he has been very shaky, some good games, some bad games. And now it looks like he might be injured. Great.

WR: Mario Manningham—Trade, dude is slumpin real bad and I think I traded for him before Eli was injured, who knows

WR: Jason Avant—Waiver Wire, he’s actually been alright since I picked him up, decent 3rd wide receiver, but nothing special

RB: Adrian Peterson—Trade, no here’s where my team shines. It’s AP what else is there to say

RB: Michael Turner—Trade, boom baby, best running back corp in the league…if everyone was healthy

TE: Brent Celek— 12th Round, Surprise player of the year, he’s tailed off a little, but that could be due to injury. Hopefully he gets used to the hand and picks it up

K: Nate Kaeding—15th Round, kicker, whatever

D: Green Bay—14th Round, they’ve been alright, haven’t tried to pick up anyone better

BENCH

RB: Justin Forsett—Waiver Wire, I started him for his 25 point game I think, maybe his worth a start again…

RB: Justin Snelling—Waiver Wire, Turner back up, had a good game against the Giants, I didn’t start him, at least the G-Men beat the Falcons

RB: LeSean McCoy—Trade, fill in until Turner is healthy but he hasn’t been spectacular

RB: Cadillac Williams—Trade, might give me 10 points in a week, nothing special

RB: Darren McFadden—5th Round, I dropped this dude and then picked him back up. He still sucks

As an FYI, this was my draft:
1. MJD
2. Roddy White
3. Tom Brady
4. Roy Williams
5. Darren McFadden
6. Jamal Lewis
7. Bernard Berrian
8. Domenik Hixon
9. Fred Jackson
10. Chris Chambers
11. Rashard Mendenhall (why did I drop him?)
12. Brent Celek (Best pick I made)
13. Jarett Dillard (who?)
14. Green Bay
15. Nate Kaeding

Here are the trades I made:

Give: Tom Brady, Roddy White, Barnard Berrian
Get: Adrian Peterson, LeSean McCoy, Mario Manningham

Give: MJD, Fred Jackson
Get: Michael Turner, Cadillac Williams, Mike Sims-Walker


So you can probably tell why I’m so down on Oh Mike Jones, and not down in the good way, like how I’m down with the set. I need to step my waiver wire game up, and I had a really bad draft in retrospect. As a Giants fan I feel like I should have known that Steve Smith would be better than Hixon, whatever. Basically all of my sleeper picks were wrong though I give myself credit that I was aiming for players like Percy Harvin, but I just waited too long. Gotta re-evaluate that next year.

Anyways, I think I have a legit shot to win a championship with the Harlem Dipsetters, but I think I’m one and done with Oh Mike Jones. Hope this has been entertaining!

Another reason for AK to be excited.

Winter Classic, coming up!!!!

One reason for AK to like hockey

This guy:



References to Kanye, that weird clown in AK's room, and a Hawks player! And that's only part 3!

Vevo

Since I know my readers aren't always up on the latest in internet goings on, I'm gonna hit you with some fresh ish. A new site is up called Vevo (vevo.com) that is a partnership of youtube and some of the major record labels. It does music videos, and only music videos. The goal was to eliminate all the clutter and duplicates you find when searching for music videos on youtube and it should be pretty succesful since these are no longer user submitted videos, they come straight from the record company. It doesn't have HD capability yet, but they're saying that it will be coming sometime in 2010. To celebrate the launch they have are premiering a few new videos including one from the terrible 50 Cent (I don't remember who else). The only problem with Vevo that I can see, it doesn't have any Dipset yet (but it does have Killa)! And it's also running slow as hell.

http://www.vevo.com

Shout Out To Dave

Since people need posts, I'm linking to my boy Dave's website from high school, specifically his 100 observations he has made about life (they are essential). I bet AK is pissed that I beat him to this even though he linked me to it.

The gems: (italics are my comments)

The Mets are good, but Mike Piazza...well... How times have changes

Golden Eye for n64 is the best video game ever. I think Call of Duty has it beat

Weird Al Yankovic is hilarious. This observation will never change

The Jet will happen. Oh yes. Keep that hope alive Dave!

Tie Domi kicks ass, literally Absolutely

Hockey kicks ass. And he got a real Ivy league degree so you know it's true

Every single male older than 12 would pork Britney Spears. No exceptions. Okay maybe 13. I believe this answers the question AK posed to him a few days ago...


Thanks for the insight Dave!

Movie Review: The Blind Side

Overall, a pretty enjoyable movie experience. It was a feel good, kid rises from poverty story and that’s what I expected it to be. All the reviews focused on how well Sandra Bullock did in the movie and I’d have to agree with them, she fit the role of a driven, tough southern woman pretty well. It was a fun movie to watch, and a great movie if you’re trying to appeal a wide range of people (parents, guys, girls, etc.). Quinton Aaron who played the character of Michael Oher did a good job, but didn’t seem convincing in the most “dramatic” part of the movie. There weren’t many highs and lows in his character’s emotions, but maybe that’s what he’s like in real life, I don’t know. Jae Head who plays the little kid in the movie was great. He came off exactly how I would imagine a kid in his position would, and he played the role of coach/pseudo-agent perfectly. I’d recommend seeing it, especially if you’re looking for a holiday movie for the whole family.

On a side note, if their house looks like that from owning Taco Bells, I’m gonna start buying some franchises! Dayumn.

Calling all College Football Enthusiasts

Can someone explain how one team can have two players wearing #3?

The Double Cheas Gave It Away

For those of you who know Bashir, I don't think there was any question who that text was from. sTuNNa!

Drexel v. Cornell, and what the Giants should do.

As my one reader knows I had a bet on the DU v. CU game for a chinese buffet dinner. I lost. I wish I could have made it to the game or at least watched it online, but alas I was on my way from Toronto to Buffalo so I couldn't do either. According to AK Cornell didn't play great and according to my Drexel peeps our play averaged to mediocre. It sounds like we were pretty awful in the first half and came out gunning in the second, but had already dug ourselves into too much of a hole to recover from. It would be nice to play Cornell again and I think in a 10 game series it would probably be pretty even.

On to the Giants: I don't see any reason to keep playing Eli the rest of the season. With the Plantar Fascitis in one foot and a stress reaction in the other the Giants are asking for trouble. I also think that Brandon Jacobs should go under some sort of full medical evaluation. He has yet to be on his game this season, and with how good the passing game was earlier in the year it doesn't seem like it's just defenses keying on him. I wouldn't be surpised if they announce that he has a leg injury at the end of the season. Put in Carr, rest anyone who is at risk of aggravating an injury, test some of the rookies, and start planning for next year. I don't advocate giving up on a season and if Eli wasn't hurt I wouldn't say pull him just in case but given the scenario, I don't see why he should still be playing.

At least this season provided two highlights: beating the Cowboys in their stadium grand opening, and beating AK's Falcons and the Jammed Toe Experience.

Better Late than Never

Another shot at Kanye from a webcomic I read. It's a pretty funny comic, click on the image to enlarge it, and I'll also provide a link to comic's site. It's a fun read if you like childish humor, which I do.

Strange Encounters... of the NFL Kind

Turns out that Bruce Smith, Buffalo Bills Hall of Fame Defensive End was on my flight from Buffalo to Philadelphia yesterday. I didn't know who he was other than a large, well-dressed, black man but eventually I heard from other people on the plane that he was in fact a former Bills player. He certainly looked like a former football player, but he must have waited too long to buy his tickets because his family and he were relegated to coach like the rest of us, haha.

Dear Santa

Can I pleeeeeeaaaaassssse get this for Christmas? Hahaha.

Factually Correct

I actually don't download much music anymore, but I always pay for music from artists I really like or have some sort of a connection to (Gym Class Heroes).

An assortment of thoughts

• Does anyone do work the day before Thanksgiving? I'm doing a little, but with no one around it's hard to get anything significant done...works for me.
• How do the Maple Leafs outshoot the Islanders 61-21 and lose 4-3 in OT. Terrible goaltending I guess.
• What's the best show on television right now? I think Dexter, it's been really good this season.
• Thanksgiving is pretty trill, but having the Giants game on NFL network is not. Though it might be on network TV in Canada....
• Best Thanksgiving food: probably stuffing or mashed potatoes. Turkey is overrated.
• Is it really worth standing in line at a store at 4AM for a TV, when you can probably find it online for the same price or very close to it? Nah.
• I'm looking forward to watching Transformers 2 on my flight today. It probably won't be a good movie, but a lot of it was shot in Philly and part of it at Drexel, so that will be trill.
• Is Jim (The Office) a good manager? Not really, but he might be on his way to getting better. I like that he put his foot down to Ryan. Clutch
• If I buy a blu-ray movie, what should I get? It has to be an action flick and something recent so the HD is really trill. I'm thinking Iron Man, it was a solid movie all around.
• If Cam'ron needs some money he should partner with Zip-loc to make his own line of bags: Dip-loc, "lock that food up...so it can't snitch"
• 1080P Youtube looks great, but it was really choppy on my work computer. Picture quality is still really good.

I think that's it. I'll try to provide some more updates over the break. Have a good holiday everyone!

Greatest Trip to Target, Ever.

On Saturday I ended up in a Target not planning to buy a single thing, I was there with my girlfriend who wanted to make a few purchases for her apartment. Anyway, I started walking around and stumbled across the automotive section where what caught my eye, but an extending ice scraper/snow brush! I think it was like $8 and it was something that I had been planning to get for a while but never got around to, score!

I think this might be the exact one...

After that I remembered that I had to get some ink for my printer, so I headed over to electronics. While browsing the wonderful selection of HP ink, I noticed that they had an all-in-one printer, scanner, copier for $40, the same price as the ink I was about to buy. Now I had been jonesing for one of these suckers for a long time, so I copped that real quick. I also got some photo paper and another color ink for only $10 thanks to an on the box coupon.

Boom baby!

After grabbing that, what did I stumble upon next? A set of inner ear headphones with a mic for $18, double score! I had also been looking for these for a long time since the ones that come with the iPhone suck, and most cost around $80. The sound quality isn't great for music, but it's fine for talking and that's all i want it for since the iPhones speakerphone is kinda whack. It's not worth finding a picture of these, I don't remember what brand they are.

And finally, the piece de resistance. I decided to purchase Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I played COD:MW on my computer back in the day (2008) and it was a sick game. I bought World at War for PS3 but wasn't too impressed. However, I had heard great things about MW2 since it was back with Infinity Ward (game developers). I decided to buy it on the spot, and now after playing it for a few hours these past couple days, I'll give brief review.

Overall the game is sick. It's pulled me in a lot more than World at War ever did. Maybe it's because modern weapons are cooler, I'm not sure, but I've had tons of fun playing it. The game features some cool new features like a gun with a heartbeat sensor so you can see when enemies are approaching (not all guns have this). It also has really great cut scenes, which MW1 also had. Overall the game play is pretty good. I like that there is some slight auto aim if you get close enough to an enemy and then look down your sight, it helps when transitioning from the PC. I also think that it does pretty well at realism, at certain times I've felt like I have no idea what's going on and I'm just shooting everywhere as my jeep tears through a city which probably happens more often than we think. Not everything is perfect though, you die when getting runover by a snowmobile, however when you're driving the snowmobile and hit a tree it just slows you down, you don't even get knocked off. I might update as I play more, and I haven't played online yet, but I've heard it's pretty good.

One other thing, maybe I'm giving Infinity Ward too much credit, but one of the storylines is that Russia attacks the US on our own soil, so you end up fighting in Northern Virginia, and maybe other places. I just think it's really outside of the box thinking to not use the same old world hot spots (Middle East, Afghanistan, Kosovo) for all the missions to occur. It's weird trying to fight your way over to Burger Town and Nate's Diner to get ground to air missles.

So It's More Posts You Desire...Eh?

Here you go AK, a new post to soothe your soul. You'll inevitably complain that it was about hockey and that it contained a fight (pointless in your opinion), but a post is a post. Plus, you can't deny that the check was pretty sick.





On a side note, I am now the proud owner of the best RB group in the Ithaca fantasy football league (thanks AK). We'll see whether it pays off since I am probably now the proud owner of the worst WR group....

I think I'll be doing a post about fantasy football soon, just my thoughts on it and my experience as a commish.

Bill Belichick is an Asshole

Not news to most people, but I had to post it because I couldn't believe what I saw last night after the Pats-Colts game. As Belichick is sprinting out of the stadium one of his thugs throws one camera guy to the ground and pushes another out of the way. This isn't paparazzi in Hollywood, part of being a coach in the NFL is knowing that you will be put on camera whether you win or lose. The guy needs to grow up, he made a bad call and lost the game, deal with it. It doesn't give him the right to be tossing camera men around. I'm not sure whether that's a fineable offence for the NFL, but it should be. It's a lot worse than Ochocinco's dollar bill gag, or wearing the wrong color chin strap...

Video below.

It's Hot Fiyah!

These new Sony commercials are excellent. Their TV commercials aren't just chock full of celebrities, they're full of celebrities that can act. I don't think I'll ever get tired of the Peyton/Justin/Erin commercial where they're playing ping pong. Peyton has always been clutch in commercials (cut that meat, anyone..) but Justin brought that commercial to the next level. The PS3 commercials have also been really good. No one knows who that spokesman is, but he does those commercials really well.

On a side note, I thought I bought lentil soup at the store, and it turned out to be split pea soup...GROSS!





My career goal is to be a VP of Epic Footage.

****UPDATE****

Awesome new commercial:

Lil Jon

What is the deal with Lil' Jon? My man disappeared off the map a couple of years ago, and all of the sudden he's teamed up with Jay Sean and Sean "Da" Paul... I'd really like to know how that all came about. I don't see why anyone in Jay Sean or Sean Paul's team would be lying awake in bed one night and all of the sudden bolt up and say "I know what [their artist] needs, a song featuring Lil' Jon!!!!" So I'm assuming it's Jon that got connected with them (does he have a team anymore). Which leads me to my next question: what does Lil Jon have on these two artists that would cause them to accept the deal?! I love Lil Jon, but at this point in his career I don't see what he brings to the table. He didn't produce the track, so it wasn't an obligatory feature and he [INTERRUPTION] HAHAHAHA, I JUST LOOKED IT UP ON YOUTUBE AND THEY HAVE AN OPTION FOR THE VERSION WITHOUT LIL JON [END INTERRUPTION] doesn't actually contribute anything except shout outs and ad libs. If anyone has more info on how LJ ended up on this track I'd like to hear it.

I'm sure when Lil Jon heard that he was going to be featured he said:

eBay

Honestly, eBay is, as Dave would say, the shiz. Trying to pick up a Leafs jersey for Dave right now, and looking at $10.49 which would be a deal so sick it should be called H1N1. I'll update once the auction is done (30 minutes).

**Update**

15 minutes left and still in the lead. I've gotten some ill things off of ebay for cheap. Osi Umenyiora jersey for $40 (legit, sewn nameplate, etc.) Air mattress for like $20, it's come in handy many a time (ask the sTuNNa ChEA!) Maple Leafs tickets from a dude in Delaware. I used to be wary of eBay, but so far I've had nothing but good experiences (knock on wood).

**Update II**

COUNT IT. Won that ish for a grand total of $21 with shipping. Now we'll be looking fresh to death walking into Wachovia Center this winter. CHEA!

Clutch Mugshot

Katt Williams accused of burglary...except he had been staying in the house for the past month. Sounds innocent to me, but way to stay Pimpin in the mugshot Katt!

Windows 7

Originally this post was going to be about Apple TV ads, but it got depressing real fast so I deleted it. Instead I'm going to do my quick review of Windows 7 (I'm a PC guy, I despise Mac fanboys).

Overall, I've been really happy with W7. I got a new computer a couple of years ago and it came with Vista, which honestly, I never really had any problems with, but it definitely wasn't the greatest operating system. I think W7 has brought a lot of great tweaks and improvements. I'm not someone who goes nuts tweaking his computer, so most of my comments will focus on top level stuff.

Taskbar: The taskbar is sick. The preview functionality allows you to move your mouse over a tab (Firefox for example) and see mini previews of all your open windows and as you roll over those it shows the full size version. Makes it really easy to switch windows, and is really useful when you just need to quickly look at a window and then switch back to your original one.

Media Center: In Vista Pro they didn't give you Media Center, so I really have no comparison, but W7 Media Center is awesome. The best part is definitely the built in streaming Netflix capability, absolutely clutch if you're a Netflix subscriber. You can download a patch that links it directly to Hulu desktop, and hopefully MS will work out a deal with Hulu so it can be fully integrated.

File Storage: W7 has added a feature called Libraries which compiles all your files of the same extension. For example if you have 20 different files with music in them, all of your music will be in the music library so you don't need to switch between all of the folders.

Appearance: W7 has the best desktop/theme feature of Windows OS I've seen. Automatic desktop background switching, a TON of different built in and downloadable themes and overall a really nice aesthetic appeal. I'd say this puts Windows in a very good position to compete with Mac's well publicized looks.

Overall I'd say if you have a PC, the upgrade to W7 is worth it. I went for a clean install because my computer was starting to slow down anyways, and I wanted to get the feeling of a fresh computer again. Speaking of speed, so far it's booted really fast and programs have loaded really well. If you're a student, rock the $30 student deal.

Quick screenshot, plus a good look at the libraries feature:

Long Time, No See

Alright, so there hasn't been much Dipset news recently, unfortunately. So I've decided that in the interim I'm going to use this as a personal blog to see whether I can pull of an interesting blog without the help of Killa Cam. Judging by this introduction, I can't. But I'll try. Basically, expect a lot of posts relating to sports (football, hockey, college bball, and occasionally baseball), some TV and movie stuff, maybe a little music, and probably a lot of random. Will this feature the cleverly crafted iPhone videos featured on everydayisadipsetxmas.blogspot.com, probably not. Will it be easier to read than the in depth album reviews of david-albumoftheweek.blogspot.com... absolutely.

ANYWAYS, let's get to blogging and start with AK's favorite topic: hockey.

The Maple Leafs beat the Red Wings to get their first win streak of the season, two games! Can they keep it up? I hope so!

In Gustavsonn I trust!


And now, I'll leave you with this:

Juelz on his break from Cam

Does anyone else feel like you're listening to a track on repeat?

Since it's been a while

No Dipset news recently, so here's a throwback

Interview with Juelz

Talks about Dipset a little before the 4 minute mark.

Another brief Cam interview

Not much to add, Crime Pays-May 12

Zeke Hints at a Dipset Reunion

Could the Dip be onstage together at Summer Jam this year? Jim and Juelz are already listed as performing...

New Clip From "This Is Jim Jones"

Jim talking about the separation between him and Cam'ron and the development of Byrd Gang.

Cam'ron Interview with Angie Martinez

I think the word "Dipset" makes Cam and Jim make no sense...though Cam does drop a "terry cloth" for us. I think Cam has watched the Bourne Ultimatum a few too many times...

***It's worth listening to Cam's craziness at the beginning. I think Angie ripped him a new one during the break for giving a shitty interview, so once they come back the real conversation starts***

Excerpt from Jim Jones Documentary

Really interesting clip about the rise of Dipset and the tension at Def Jam

Meet The Diplomats-Juelz Santana

It's been a while, so I know people are craving to find out more about their favorite Diplomats! I present to you the next installment of "Meet The Diplomats!" As always, written by Alex K.





Real Name: LaRon Louis James
Aliases: Human Crack, Mr. HD, Young Splashy Splash
Position: Vice President
Age: 26
Height: 5’7”
Biggest Solo Hits: “There It Go (The Whistle Song)”, “Oh Yes”, “Dipset (Santana’s Town)”, “Mic Check”, “Clockwork”
Last Album: What the Game’s Been Missing! (November 22, 2005)
Signature Ad Lib: “AY!”
Last Spotted: In a Skull Gang video - http://www.worldstarhiphop.com/videos/video.php?v=wshhFnHp18lNOt4bvcM3 -

Signature Verse:
Now this here is that bomb diggy (diggy)
Diggy dang, the dons with me
Killa, he'll kill a nigga you thinkin' bout harming me
Capo's corrupted (yop), he's wrong vato to fuck wit (yop)
Labeled and known as a young Pac to the public
And me, Human Crack in the flesh (flesh)
I'm the last of the best (best)
One word to describe me (what), spectacular, YES!
So stay calm shorty, when you see that palmed .40 (.40?)
I'll pop it slow, you'll rock and roll, like Bon Jovi
So don't fool with the click (Ay!)
Don't fool with the Dips (Ay!)
You will die, you will lie in a pool full of shit (Ay!)
When that gun with the clip in (what)
Start dumpin' and rippin', (yop)
At ya'll head, ya'll some dead summamabitches (Ay!)
You give a chick hard dick and bubblegum (Ay!)
(ay!)I give a chick a hard brick and bubble-yum (Ay!)
Like here, take that, shake that, break that (Ay!)
in half and please bring my cake back

-Juelz Santana “Crunk Muzik” (Off Diplomatic Immunity Vol. 2)

Sample Video:

Watch more Yahoo! Music videos on AOL Video

Jim Jones Interview with HipHopDX

Who is Jim Jones? That’s a question this week’s release of Jones’ fourth solo effort, Pray IV Reign, next week’s five-day run of the theatrical production based on the album, Hip Hop Monologues, and next month’s unveiling of a new documentary film detailing Joseph Guillermo Jones’ rise to rap stardom, This Is Jim Jones, all seem to be working in coordination to answer for fans who are still getting to know Jim Jones after a few short years as a solo artist, and for those still scratching their head trying to figure out how Cam’ron’s onetime Lieutenant became the Captain of their now fractured Diplomats crew.

Much like his forthcoming bio-doc can show to some a sympathetic figure - someone who survived growing up in the projects in a family plagued by drug addiction and AIDs to reach the heights of Hip Hop success – and to others the very walking, talking definition of what is wrong with contemporary get-money-at-all-costs Hip Hop, the "Dipset Capo’s" recent discussion with HipHopDX seemed to simultaneously reveal the good and bad sides of Jim Jones.

An emcee who to some possesses one of the most uninspired flows in the history of Hip Hop (who openly acknowledged during his discussion with DX that he believes business acumen should supersede skill on the mic) is to others an authentic, simple-and-to-the-point street narrator inspiring those that are struggling like he once struggled to grind towards the good life that has been shamelessly showcased in Jones’ two biggest hits, “We Fly High” (a.k.a. “Ballin’!!!!”) and “Pop Champagne.”

But whether revered or reviled, Jones is clearly an impressive hustler to anybody with eyes to see. In addition to albums, movies and books, he even has a workout DVD on his ’09 itinerary [“I been a fan of getting in shape for some time now,” Jim told DX].
But sometimes the Harlem hustler’s incessant drive to achieve more has created unintended consequences.

And while speaking with DX, Jones candidly conceded that his “52 fake out” strategy to make he and Cam’ron both bigger and richer stars backfired.

Jimmy also addressed recent allegations of bad business on both he and Cam’s parts, explained why he pulled Rick Rubin crafted tracks from his new album, what role Dame Dash has in Capo’s business endeavors, and most importantly who the real Jim Jones is.

Interview Here

I Keep Them Dreamers Dreamin'

Well sounds like Cam isn't quite ready for a reunion...ever

Jim Jones Interview with Funk Flex

This interview brings me more hope than Obama! This interview caused Funk Flex to drop more bombs than Bush! This interview could be maaaaaajjjjjooooorrrrr!




Also, my ears on the street have reported that Jim did a taping of 106&Park and also mentioned wanting to reconnect with Cam there, good news people, good news.

Jenny Boom Boom Interviews Jim Jones

Talks about his new album and Dipset here and there. Cam is brought up at the end.

NEW CAM VIDEO!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I present to you "I Got It For Cheap"

Cam's my boy, but I think what he got for cheap was the stuff to make this video, just kidding.

Dipset Reunion?!.....no.....

Looks like any hopes of a reunion in the near future have been squashed. Probably a good thing since Jim seems like he gets caught flipping out on people every other day.

Jim Jones on DJ Drama's Radio Show

Sometimes I think Jim doesn't understand the concept of promotion....it's like he's trying to make drama without really making drama. Weird.

New Viral Vid from Cam

Cam'ron "I Got It For Cheap" Prelude (The Bakery Pt2) from Miss Info on Vimeo.

Cam'ron Interview

Killa's interview with The Smoking Section

TSS: So it seems you can’t do an interview without being asked about Jim Jones and vice versa. Does the fact that people rather see ya’ll together motivate you to bridge the gap? No homo…

Cam’ron: (Laughs!!!) That’s actually funny.

TSS: (Laughs) I’m saying is there anything you can do on your end for reconciliation.

Cam’ron: Well you know it’s not in my near future. I don’t never wanna say never but I got a lot going on this year. With two movies, two soundtracks and two albums, my year’s pretty filled up so it’s definitely not gonna happen this year. Never say never though!

TSS: So you guys had whatever riff in the relationship but there’s no bad blood between you guys right? I just want to get that ironed out for everybody to see.

Cam’ron: Yeah, none at all. If I see him, it’s all good, ain’t no problem, we see each other, we talk and that’s that. Yeah, like I’ve been saying and telling people, I spoke to him 2-3 weeks ago, it’s all good.

TSS: You’ve been tracking Pray Iv Reign and hoping that it’s successful?

Cam’ron: Definitely. I hope it’s successful.

TSS: And the selling of Juelz’s contract, strictly business, no getback right?

Cam’ron: Yeah, he wanted to get out of his deal and I worked out a deal to where I was comfortable and got him out his deal. He asked for that! I gave him what he asked for, so I sold his contract to Def Jam. As long as he’s on Def Jam, I still got business with Def Jam. I don’t care if you do, six-seven albums over there, me and Def Jam still got business together. I just don’t deal with him directly.

TSS: So the you’re back in full swing and most of the situations have been addressed, but naturally people are curious about the music. Tell me about your album Crime Pays.

Cam’ron: No doubt. There’s 24 songs on the album…

TSS: 24? A double album?

Cam’ron: Nah, it’s all on one disc. It’s a real street album! There’s a couple of songs that may crossover, if so, whatever, but I kept it real gully, real gritty and there’s not a lot of features on there. My man Arab Music produced a lot and so did my man Schizo.

TSS: Is that Keema from “What Means The World To You” on “Cookies & Apple Juice?”

Cam’ron: (Laughs) Nah, I haven’t seen her since that (Laughs). That’s this female called The Bird Lady out of Harlem. I’ve been working with her the last two months and she got a lot of heat and it’s been a good look so far.

TSS: Is “I Hate My Job” going to be on the album?

Cam’ron: Yeah, definitely.

TSS: So what’s up with that rapper Nova saying you stole his song?

Cam’ron: He’s buggin’; he called me the other day to squash it or whatever. I understand where he’s coming from though. This is what happened: I did the song; I got it from a female or whatever whatever. Schizo did the beat and I gave it back to him to do the chorus. He tells me that he couldn’t do it because his friend did a song just like that. He played the video for me after I did song. I’m like “Wow, that song is similar to the one I just did,” but I already did the song. So I was like “Oh, well. I’ll do the chorus myself.” I understand him not doing it because that’s your friend or whatever but it ain’t like I bit his shit. So I put it out.

And at the end of day, I was telling him when he called me apologizing or whatever: If I wanted to steal your song, that would be stupid for me to name it the same thing that you named it, it was coincidental. Names would’ve got flipped to “I Hate My Life,” “Dumb Ass Job,” “Job Is Stupid.” (Laughs) Something along those lines. It just happened to be a coincidence. I wouldn’t steal your song and name it the same thing. That would be totally stupid.

TSS: So Crime Pays, would you consider it a Dipset release?

Cam’ron: Yeah, of course! Everything I do is Dipset! I’m the founder of the company!

TSS: Yeah, I was reading what they were saying and it was more along the lines of they were still keeping the movement going strong without you.

Cam’ron: Who is “they?”

TSS: It was Juelz who was saying…

Cam’ron: Alright, let me tell you this TC so it makes sense to everybody. Let’s do the math: if somebody is telling me that I couldn’t be Dipset all the way, don’t you think it’s mighty peculiar that Juelz sets up Skull Gang or Jimmy got Byrd Gang? If they could tell me what’s good with Dipset, why would they need to do that? Freeky Zeeky got 730, that’s my man. So I’m just saying, why would they need all these companies if they could tell me what to do with Dipset? Don’t you think it would just be Dipset and Cam’s not a part of that? You can’t do that! I understand what Zeek is doing, he’s getting his company off the ground but the other ones, they can’t dictate what goes on in Dipset. I’m not dissing ‘em, I just telling you how it actually is.

But why would you have Skull Gang if you could tell me what to do with Dipset? It don’t make sense.

TSS: Understandable, but do you think Dipset is weakened by running in all these different lanes?

Cam’ron: Ya know, that’s a good question. I don’t know, tell you the truth. There was a time when it was like the South was running everything…and there was Dipset. Ya know what I’m saying? I don’t know right now, I’m back and I gotta test the waters and see how everybody’s feeling, but Dipset is a lifestyle, it’s just not a group. People wear what we wear, drink what we drink, smoke what we smoke — it’s not just a label. So when I get back out there, we’ll see.

TSS: I’m telling you firsthand, they took it and ran wild with it.

Cam’ron: (Laughs) Alright.

TSS: So how excited are you feeling about your return. I know that your mother’s doing much better, are you generally motivated to getting back out there or was it a feeling of obligation?

Cam’ron: Nah, I wanted to come back. It’s been long enough; three years since my last project. Everywhere I go, people were missing me so I knew it was time. And you know, I’m not saying what’s out is wack right now, but I seen a wide open lane and it don’t look like there’s nothing on the runway (Laughs). It looks like the runway is stupid clear, so it don’t make no sense not to take the jet on the runway and take off!

TSS: So are you back completely by yourself? No [Hell] Rell or 40 [Cal]?

Cam’ron: Yeah, 40’s on the album, Rell and J.R. [Writer] they always reach out. I just haven’t gotten back to them yet. They stay in contact through my cousin Duke Da God. Matter fact, Duke called me last night telling me Rell and J.R. both called ready — just last night, funny that you asked that.

But right now, I just had to get in “Cam’ron mode.” It’s not that I wasn’t messing with them; I’ve been helping everybody out for the last six years. This time, I gotta get my shit right and then I’ll get everybody else in motion but I gotta do me this year.

TSS: And you even made the point to Miss Info that they’re all well off, it’s not like it’s a Jaz-O situation!

Cam’ron: Yeah! Exactly. It’s not like I left niggas for dead, so everybody’s got their own thing going.

TSS: You mentioned you have a couple of films dropping this year. You did your comedy bit but are we finally getting Killa Season 2?

Cam’ron: Yeah, that’s coming towards October but first up is this movie we got called The Bakery coming out in the middle of July. It’s a feed off the “I Get In Ohio” Prelude that we did so I’m working on that this week.

TSS: And the Internet has changed even more drastically since you last dropped. Are you having any trouble keeping up?

Cam’ron: Nah, I just think it’s great. We don’t have to wait for a radio DJ to play it or song or edits or people to approve it. With the Internet out there, it gets hot. The people will want to come directly to you after that and I think it’s a great tool.

TSS: Did you master your Twitter yet?

Cam’ron: (Laughs) I’m Twittering every other day right now. My man Joie put me up on that.

TSS: So after everything we’ve covered, is there anything else you need the people to know?

Cam’ron: I just want everybody to check out the “I Get It In Ohio” video and look out for all the future videos coming up in the next couple of weeks and good lookin’ for all the love.

Jadakiss Brings Out Cam at the Apollo Theater

Cam Speaks to True Magazine

Talking about why he disappeared, beef with...everyone, and a bunch of other stuff.

Jim Denies Speaking to Cam

Looks like a reunion might not be as close as we thought...

New Jim Jones Video

Guess what groups name he yells out at the beginning...

BREAKING NEWS!!

Cam speaks to Jim over phone, discusses call with MTV. Sound like things might be falling into place for a Dipset reunion, could it be that Diplomatic Immunity 3 is our future?

MTV Shows

I Used To Get It In Ohio Video

You know what it is!

Jim Jones and Zeke Remenicing About The Old Days

Hopefully those times will be coming back soon!

New Cam Song!!!

Radio rip of "Cookies and Applejuice"

ZShare link

On a side not, could this be one of the best names for a rap song ever? Also, leave it to Cam to say F you to milk/cream.

I Used To Get It In Ohio

Cam's new song "I Used To Get It In Ohio"

I Used To Get It In Ohio

I Used To Get It In Ohio Prelude

Cam'ron "I Used to Get It In Ohio" video prelude from Miss Info on Vimeo.

Outtakes from Juelz Santana XXL Interview

Outakes from the March 2009 interview.

XXLMag.com: There’s still such an open lane for you. You got the label, the affiliation, the look, the skill. If that’s all there, what’s happening?

Juelz Santana: Definitely the stagnation what happened with my business with Cam. Cause I felt like going from the last album I put out, seeing the process, there’s definitely a bigger turn around. I was certified platinum, which means even not on SoundScan, which means I probably fell about 200 short… But that meant well over gold and still, I don’t think nobody from New York has sold more than me but Jay-Z and 50 since the last time I came out and it’s crazy, I came out three years ago so if you really do the logistics of it, of New York artists… Without my stagnation, I would have definitely dropped an album.

XXL: We knew that there was tension between Cam and Jim early on, but you, management, whoever was involved, managed to keep tension between Jim and Cam quiet. And what the phone call between 50 and Cam on Hot 97 did was expose what was brewing. And then you and Jim go on stage with 50…

Juelz: It wasn’t so much that. Jim is a smart person so Jim looks at it as like a lot of things is promotion, like, Cam would have did it too… And that’s the type of person Cam would be, like, he would make it seem to us like, Why shouldn’t we do something if you would have done it too just ’cause you didn’t get the opportunity to do it? So don’t mess up nobody else’s opportunity. That was big for New York City. It wasn’t about egos or them back stabbing going on that was about nothing. And to me, I was just asked by Jim to go, at the same time I wasn’t playing no sides, I was just like a child caught in the middle of a damn…I love Cam. If he would have asked me to go do something, even if I didn’t agree with it, I would have went and did it ’cause I’m a loyal player. I’ve done it mad times and he knows that. The same way with Jim. He said, “Yo Juelz, I’m doing a show, I’m coming out with 50 and ’em.” Say no more. It didn’t even matter who he was coming out with, you coming out in New York City, I’m coming out with you.

XXL: It was that timing. And the decision he made…

Juelz: That made everything seem like…I don’t think everything was crazy. Like I said, I think anybody would have did the same thing. So I don’t think his decision was crazy, I think it more less seemed crazy because of the timing. A lot of things seem what it’s really not.

XXL: Did you expect 50 and Cam to get into it like that? The “pool in the back,” Tru Life, “Curtis.” It got kinda crazy and you guys weren’t involved.

Juelz: Um, yeah, it definitely started getting hectic. I don’t know if that was bad karma on Cam’s part from the past, I don’t know what it was. It did seem like there was a lot of things bad happening for Cam at the time. Maybe it was…I wish Cam the best because that’s my brother still, but at the end of the day I still look at it like, “Damn, how could you do that to me?”

XXL: But beyond holding you, contractually, what is your beef besides that or is it that? How did that happen?

Juelz: It ain’t no beef besides that. Like, that’s my whole thing. And that was a fucked up contract.

XXL: How are you not totally mad at this point?

Juelz: ’Cause I’m just not that type of person at the end of the day. I learned so much and I’m still 25 years old. Like I paid for Phantoms, Bentley cars, so as much as I feel he took advantage, he’s done a lot. I can say that. That’s why I never badmouth him, ’cause there’s a lot more things I can say. Like I did a lot of things, ain’t got paid for. Like I had the studio for five years, albums recorded here, stuff I ain’t got no proceeds for. Everything I earned I got it, from paying for my own “Mic Check” video, doing shows grinding…spinning, spinning what I got for what I believed in. Sacrificing what I had for what I believed in.

XXL: So bringing it to the Lil Wayne, I Can’t Feel My Face collabo, you and Wayne both been around for forever, he blew up. You got contractual issues so what happens to all the projects you guys were doing together? Do we still look forward to that? ’Cause now all of a sudden there’s T-Wayne so what’s up with your project?

Juelz: I know. Like you said there was contractual issues but the good thing is the album is done. I got 30 records in the computer right now. That’s all we gotta wait on is the sign off. The album is done. That’s why I say the good thing because it’s not like we gotta go back in and say, “Oh, well Wayne might not want to do the album no more,” the album is done. It’s gonna go down now, now it’s all about timing. I been talking to L.A. [Reid] and I told L.A. that’s one of the things I kinda want to happen before my album drops.

Juelz: Because you bring Wayne to them?

XXL: So it’s a power move for everybody. Plus it’s good for the industry. At the end of the day I don’t care if I don’t get no proceeds for that album, even though of course that’s what we work for, that’s what the people want. They need to see some shit like that. We got this one song on the album called “After Disaster” where I’m talking about 9/11 and he’s talking about Katrina. And the whole song is just two bars, two bars, two bars, two bars… It’s me and him fit so perfect in our ways and our walks of coming into this game, it’s just that he’s from New Orleans and I’m from Harlem. I’m saying that’s the only real difference in our story, pretty much because as far as our rap history, it’s pretty much the same.

XXL: You’ve got Cam and Jim and Zeke and then Juve and B.G., Turk and Baby…

Juelz: They gotta work it out. Like Baby and Wayne sat together and got to where they can do this…even if it’s something that we don’t know about that’s hidden, it don’t matter ’cause it still looks as if they’re one. So the bottom line is they worked it out some way.

XXL: Do You think you would do a Diplomatic Immunity 3 album?

Juelz: Yeah, I would love to do it. Just know that Juelz ain’t the one holding that one up. So I guess whenever people come to they senses and we all talk like men and do the right business and do the right thing like Spike Lee, I’m with whatever.-Vanessa Satten

Outtakes from Jim Jones XXL Interview

Outtakes from the March 2009 Interview

XXLMag.com: With Juelz, why would Cam not let songs be cleared if it was an opportunity for all of them to make money? If it’s all about the money, then Juelz’s songs and appearances would’ve generated money…

Jim Jones: You missing two things, ego and we were the label and now that we all know Cam was the label and the label doesn’t get paid for appearances. Unless he can negotiate something different, from his point of view that might not have been his best interest because he wasn’t getting a dollar from it. And then you have this thing called ego where, oh, this shit ain’t going right, I still have control over the most powerful entity that we have in this bitch and, I guess I’ll show my ass a little bit. And do it the way that I wanna do it. He might have been feeling like that. Everybody wanna feel like they bigger than me and all that, who knows. That could have been one of his emotions at the time.

XXL: I remember when Nas went off on Summer Jam and dissed Cam’ron and others on Power 105 radio because they wouldn’t let him lynch Jay-Z at Summer Jam. You guys went to the studio that night and did the “Hate Me Now” freestyle, that was like a great hip-hop moment. Just because the response came so immediate, like the next day. We didn’t really get that when Cam dropped “Courtesy Curtis.”

Jones: Because it wasn’t urgent like that. It was more two people snapping on the side of the street like, “Ah, nigga you got on funny shoes,” nah mean? It didn’t feel like that, for nobody in America. It was just like, “Oh, these niggas is fighting, these niggas is fighting, did you see this Youtube?” It didn’t feel aggressive at all. Above all he’s still my brother so if we felt like it was something crazy we would have jumped in head first like, It ain’t going down. If I felt like in any way it would have tainted our brand, we would have jumped in, but I knew that they wasn’t gonna hold that accountable because it was that type of funny. But you see it’s been forgotten, like nobody dwelled on it, you dig? But when we did the Nas thing, we was young and eager and so rebellious for anybody to slip because we wanted to jump in the game, badly. We just needed one opportunity and his stupid ass was the opportunity, you dig? And if you rewind it, we just bullied that opportunity. He didn’t really say nothing crazy like that.

XXL: He was hanging Jay on stage, and you were Roc-A-Fella…

Jones: No, we didn’t care about him hanging Jay on stage. We wasn’t coming to fight Roc-A-Fella battles. That’s not why we jumped in. He slipped up on the radio and said something like he didn’t like the way Cam rhyme, or something he didn’t like.

XXL: Step your rap game up…

Jones: Yeah, so we was gonna put the chokehold on his stupid ass. He should not have said anything. Good lookin’. We gon’ drown him. And that’s what happened, we drowned him for our way in the game. We buried a legend at that point in time, like that was Nas. He was fresh off of “Ether,” he was kicking ass but he had fucked with the wrong young individuals. And that’s what happened. And you chalk that up. That was our real claim to fame to jumping in this game as the Diplomats. We mobbed him, we mobbed on his ass and anybody who tried to jump in the way that was worth it, we just rolled over them and got them out the way real fast.

XXL: So it’s safe to say that your history with Jay-Z has never been a positive one…

Jones: Not the whole stretch of the history. There was some positive moments there when we were signed to Roc-A-Fella and we used to be at Bassline [Studios] and it was always a bit of aggressive competition amongst the artists, but we never really felt no real type of way towards him until it seemed to be a problem for him to jump on one of Cam’s records. He was that obnoxious that he wanted to do it when he wanted to do it and we just came in one day and he was like—Kanye had a beat—”I think you should do it,” and from there it was a battle. Cam was like, “Do it?” And I never seen no shit like…I never to this day. I ain’t never seen no shit like, this is the most historical moment in my life as far as being a rapper in this game. Not Kanye, Just Blaze had the beat like, Let’s do the joint tonight, trying to catch Cam off guard. Cam was like, “Do it?” These niggas went in the booth back to back, no breathing time, none of them. And I wouldn’t discredit none of them, I mean none of them, done. Juelz had the hook on smash, that was done. Bang. And him and Cam went in there like boxers, blow for blow, Jay went in the booth, came out, Cam went in the booth, came out, then Jay went back in and they looking at each other like, “Word?” Like that was some incredible shit. I’ll never forget that. That was down at Bassline.

XXL: So was everything downhill from there?

Jones: It wasn’t downhill from there. It was kinda like after that moment, after that song, it just got sour. It got sour with the vice president thing and we got to see people’s underlying hatred and they started to show it on they face and before it was a cool thing, you know. It was pool going on, it was gambling going on, nah mean? Then we tried to do the tour and they didn’t wanna…the tour was straight and everybody get money and they didn’t wanna do the tour but they end up doing the tour but we weren’t included. So we would be going to the tour and buying all the front row seats and stalking ’em ’cause we was still Diplomats at the time, we was rockin’.

XXL: So what was going on with the vice president thing?

Jones: How crazy is that? There was things going on that they didn’t wanna include us in and we was already so hot that we didn’t give a fuck.

XXL: So you were stepchildren just trying to be accepted.

Jones: We was just trying to make some money. At the end of the day it never went in our favor. It never included us. I don’t know what it was with that.

XXL: With you and Dame being so tight do you have any hard feelings with Jay-Z on behalf of Dame?

Jones: I definitely took it personal but I’m not trying to revolve my whole career around it. It’s been a fun thing for me at this point. I mean, I’ve found some witty ways to get at him, he’s responded to where I’ve never really seen him respond to anybody else, nah mean? So I must have gotten up under his skin in a lot of ways. To the point where, if I got money I don’t think it’s too much that to respond for. I’d think I won at that point in the game but, some people, I don’t know if they glutton for fame or they’re so passionate about doing this. I don’t know what it is but I gotta eat and I aint gon’ be here ’til I’m 47 so niggas got to move the fuck out my way or else you gon’ be the butt of my joke every time I get a chance ’cause you still in the fuckin’ way. The only niggas in the game is 50 [years old] that’s getting busy. The only nigga that’s not 50 [years old] is 50 that’s making some money. These niggas gotta move over. That ain’t a cheap shot, these niggas is 40-something years old, literally, what’s up? I mean what the fuck is up? -Vanessa Satten

Excerpt from XXL's Cover Story on Cam'ron

Pick up the April issue of XXL for the full story (props to XXL for doing two months of Dipset in a row)

Where is he? What’s he doing? What’s with that kiddie-size pool? Mystery has dominated the past two years in the career of Harlem MC Cam’ron Giles. The random fan cell-phone shot notwithstanding, since May 2007, one of the flashiest, most flamboyant stars hip-hop has ever known has kept himself uncharacteristically out of the public eye.

But on this January afternoon at Industria Superstudio in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, the swaggering rapper is hard to miss. In his gleaming diamonds and an electric blue bubble coat, he’s dressed to impress. Today is the first professional photo shoot he’s done in he doesn’t know how long.
Cam, 33, got his start in hip-hop as a member—along with fellow future luminaries Ma$e and Big L—of the Uptown outfit Children of the Corn in the mid-’90s. He signed a solo deal with Sony/Epic in 1997 and started a rap crew, the Diplomats, with his closest childhood friend, Jim Jones, their man Freekey Zekey and the teenage Juelz Santana. After two moderately successful solo albums, an unhappy Cam escaped to Roc-A-Fella Records—the Def Jam subsidiary co-founded by his old Children of the Corn manager, Dame Dash. In 2002, Cam ascended to official rap stardom with the Come Home With Me album, which sold over a million copies and introduced the rest of his squad to hip-hop heads everywhere.

Over the next few years, the Diplomats would drop two official group albums (one on Def Jam, one through the independent Koch Records) and a slew of mixtapes, amassing an army of second-tier members and affiliates and firmly establishing themselves as a major hip-hop crew. After Dame split from partner Jay-Z in 2004, Cam and the Diplomats brand left Roc-A-Fella—Cam signing solo with Asylum/Warner. Juelz, though, who was signed to Def Jam through Diplomats, stayed put, releasing his own million-selling breakout album, What the Game’s Been Missing!, the following year.

In 2006, rumors began to swirl that things weren’t kosher between Dipset’s two dominant personalities. Jim had been the yin to Cam’s yang, the best friend, handling biz behind the scenes for years. But with Jim focusing on his own rap career—gearing up to release a third solo album on Koch—the two, once inseparable, were rarely seen together. Cam appeared in the video for Jim’s smash single “We Fly High” late in the year, but talk persisted.

In February 2007, Cam got into a heated on-air discussion with 50 Cent about Koch Records and the comparative sales success of Jim’s hit Hustler’s P.O.M.E. and recent releases from 50’s G-Unit Records. During the resulting Internet beef, while Cam and 50 traded diss songs and videos, Jim and Juelz remained conspicuously on the sidelines. In May, Cam posted a Web video of himself standing next to a small pool with palm trees in the background, warning 50 and fans that it was going to be a “hot summer.”

But Cam disappeared after that. And over the next few months, Jim began to publicly acknowledge the rift within Dipset. Jim went so far as to appear on BET with 50, and he and Juelz joined G-Unit onstage at New York’s Hammerstein Ballroom. Remaining out of sight—and silent, save the sporadic rap track leaked online, a mixtape, Public Enemy #1 and a DVD video trailer, “Here’s Cam’ron (You Little Yentas)”—Cam left the industry, fans and friends guessing as to his whereabouts.

This leaves Dipset under the auspices of Jim, who has become the team’s sole leader and biggest star—scoring a 50-50 solo deal with Sony’s venerable Columbia Records. Lately, in fact, Dame has gotten heavy into the Jim Jones business, working closely on projects like an Off Broadway play and a documentary, This Is Jim Jones, about the rapper’s life.

In last month’s XXL, the cover story featured interviews with Diplomats Jim, Juelz and Zeke discussing the status of the crew. Zeke seemed caught in the middle and insisted Cam would come back to the fold. And while Jim took pains to take his share of the blame for the breakup, both he and Juelz alleged that Cam had been less than fair with Dipset proceeds. And Juelz, who’d been strangely quiet himself since What the Game’s Been Missing!, claimed Cam had essentially frozen his career—blocking him from releasing collaborative material with other artists—through the original Diplomats contract Cam held and only this past summer sold to Def Jam for a reported $2 million.

Today, the enigmatic Dipset founder, gearing up to drop his new solo album Crime Pays this April, is here to give his side of the story. As he puffs on a Black & Mild in the backseat of his boy’s Jeep, heading home to New Jersey for the evening, Cam’ron wants to clear the air.

XXL: So where have you been?

Cam’ron: I’ve been chillin’. My mom had had three back-to-back strokes. She’s doing much better. She’s still, like, 50 percent paralyzed on her left side of her body, little speech impediment. But she’s healthy, she’s alive, she’s walking, driving. But she had three strokes, so I took her to Florida, to a specialist. Then to a rehabilitation center for nine months so she could start walking and get her speech back and everything.

XXL: So that’s a huge piece that explains your being M.I.A. for so long, right?

Cam: What happened was, family always comes first. But then I started hearing that “Cam’ron is missing.” “Cam’ron is hiding.” And it’s like, Who am I hiding from? Missing? Like, What?! I just started using it to my advantage. But it wasn’t like I was “hiding” or “missing.” If you was in Florida, you probably seen me.

XXL: What happened with the “Hot Summer” video? That confused a lot of people. You said, “It’s gonna be a hot summer,” by the swimming pool and all that, and then it was never a hot summer. We didn’t hear anything more.

Cam: That’s when my mother got sick, actually. June 2007. So what happened was, that pool that you seen me in, that was the house that I had got for my mother for that whole year. When I did that video, I had just got to Florida, maybe about two weeks [before]. I had shot that little video. You know me, I didn’t sit there and let people be… I’m one of those people, if you say something about me, I get on you like yesterday. But you gotta realize, my mother don’t have any other family but me. So when I go down to Florida, it isn’t like I can go to the studio. It isn’t like I can leave her in the crib for 10 hours, 12 hours. So my moms was sick. I was with her for nine months straight, 24 hours a day, unless I may have went out to get something to eat for an hour or two.

XXL: That was around the time—it seemed like you sorta went underground after the incident with 50. When you got on the phone with 50 on Hot 97.

Cam: Yeah, you could say that.

XXL: What was the purpose of that? To defend Koch or to defend Jim Jones and the Diplomats?

Cam: I mean, at the end of the day, I was kind of defending, in my opinion, Jim and Diplomats. Because he was basically saying that he could shut down any project on Koch at the particular time. And it was, like, nobody major—I’m not sure if Khaled was even up there. No disrespect to Khaled, no disrespect to Styles or nobody like that—but nobody was checking for Koch before we went over there. So I kinda think it was taking a shot at Jim or the Diplomats. Either way, that was family, and that was the label. So that’s how I kinda took offense to it.

XXL: Did you expect the beef to unfold the way that it did?

Cam: I don’t expect nothing. I go with the momentum. I don’t sit there waiting to expect what’s going to happen. If somebody says something, I react. If I do something and wait for them to react, I’m going to react again. I don’t really sit there and expect or analyze what’s gonna happen. But I’m prepared for anything.
What’s the status of the situation now? If you and 50 walked into the same room, is there beef, or is it done?
50 can kiss my ass. That’s the basic moral of the story. I’m not one of them people, once we beefin’, I’ma be like, “Yo, I wish it didn’t happen.” It is what it is.

XXL: After the Hot 97 call, Dipset didn’t jump to your defense. Then Jim actually started making public appearances with 50. This seemed to expose a rift between you two.

Cam: What people gotta realize is that, like, Jim’d been doing his own thing. It may seem… We may come to one person video or the other person video, but we’d kinda been not hanging out anyway. But whatever is going on behind the scenes don’t always have to be public. So if somebody was trying to diss him in public, I took offense to that, because that was my brother. But, yeah, we’d kinda been shied away from each other behind the scenes anyway.

XXL: How come?

Cam: Well, I don’t know his reason, or what he thinks, but one time Jim was in my house, and we was plotting and strategizing on our marketing and promotions. And out of the blue he asks me, “You wanna have a fake beef? Between me and you.” And I was like, “Hell no!” That didn’t even make sense. I was like, “Why would we do that? That would confuse the fans.” And he was like, “Oh okay.” But for me, I took that as, you must wanna go your own route anyway, because why would you even make that suggestion? So when he made that suggestion, it wasn’t like beef or no problems, but I kinda shied away and started letting him do his own thing. Because I felt, why would you even say that if you didn’t wanna go and do your own thing?

XXL: What did you think of the Diplomats story we did last month?

Cam: I didn’t get a chance to read it yet.

XXL: The basic premise behind it is that the three guys miss you,
they say you’re doing your own thing, but, at least to some degree, they feel fucked over by you. Is that fair, or do you disagree with that?

Cam: I would say I disagree. Because, at the end of the day, I’m not focused—I don’t understand how people are still focused on this stuff. This been like two, three years you haven’t really seen us together. Or haven’t heard us on the same record. So I’m kinda, like, past how people are feeling or what’s going on.

XXL: People were so used to the core four of you together through the years, the movement. Not seeing you together just doesn’t seem right. Is that understandable to you?

Cam: It’s like, if you’re a Williams, you a Williams. That’s like Diplomats—once you a Diplomat, you a Diplomat. All four of us are Diplomats. But, at the end of the day, James and Florida had to break up. You know what I’m saying? Everything don’t last forever.-Vanessa Satten

For more of the Here I Am Interview make sure to pick up XXL’s April issue on newsstands now.

CLASSIC Killa Cam

Cam'ron responds to some fans most pressing issues!

"Why the fuck is every callers name LOL?" Hahaha!

Juelz and Freekey Dispelling Some Rumors

Were they going to sign Lloyd Banks cuz? No. Was Juelz ever going to sign with G-Unit? I guess you have to watch the video to find out...

New Message from Killa!

Video message from Cam about Crime Pays with a video preview of his new song "Cookin Up"

Did Cam Do Juelz Wrong?

Meet The Diplomats-Jim Jones

Real Name: Joseph Guillermo Jones, II
Aliases: Capo Status, One-Eye Willy
Position: Co-CEO & Founder
Age: 32
Height: 5’11”
Biggest Solo Hits: “We Fly High (Ballin!)”, “Pop Champagne”, “Certified Gangstas”
Last Album: Harlem’s American Gangster (February 19, 2008)
Signature Ad Lib: “BALLIN!”
Last Spotted: Turning himself in for some crime.

Signature Verse:
Ya boy getting paper (Money), I buy big cars (Foreign)
I need fly rides to drive in my garage (Choose 1)
Stay sky high (Twisted), fly wit the stars (Twinkle, Twinkle)
T 4? Flights, 80 grand large (Balling!)
So we lean wit it, pop wit it (Bankhead)
Vertible Jones, mean wit the top listen (Flossing)
I'm saying clean wit bottom kit (Do It)
I hoped out saggy, jeans and my rock glistening (Balling!)
But I spent bout 8 grand
Mami on stage doing the rain dance (I think she like me)
She let it hit the floor, made it pop (What else?!)
Got my pedal to the floor screaming fuck the cops (Do It)

-Jim Jones “We Fly High (Ballin!)”

Sample Video: “Pop Champagne (feat. Ron Browz & Juelz Santana”


Written by Alex K.

Juelz's Sizzurp Response

Juelz speaks to MTV about Cam'ron's claim that he stopped talking to Santana after he became addicted to syrup.

Full Article

Cam'ron Speaks to Miss Info (Part Two)

Part Two

Cam'ron Speaks to Miss Info (Part One)

Haven't actually watched the video myself yet, hopefully it's good!

Meet The Diplomats-Cam'ron

Real Name: Cameron Giles
Alias: Killa Cam
Position: Co-CEO & Founder
Age: 32
Height: 6’2”
Biggest Solo Hits: “Oh Boy”, “Hey Ma”, “Get Em Girls”, “Horse & Carriage”, “What Means the World to You”
Last Album: Killa Season (Release Date: May 16, 2006)
Signature Ad Lib: “Killa!”
Last Spotted: Screaming “CURTIS!” out of his car -

Signature Verse:
I get the boasters boasting, I get computers ‘puting
Y'all get shot at, call me, I do the shooting
I do the recruiting, I tutor the students
I nurture they brain, I'm moving the movement
Whether buddist or budah, that's judist or juda
I got luger to ruger, hit from Roota to Toota
Chick from hooter to hooter, I put two in producers
I'm the real boss story, the hoolah of hoosiers
I rock mostly dosey, I roll mostly dololy
I'll leave you wholy, holy, you'll say "Holy Moly"
Here come the coroner get 'em, play "Rolly Poley"
I'll tell you true stories, how I coldly hold heat
When it's repping time, I get on extra grind
Fried to fricassee, pepperseed to pepperdine
Jeff Hamilton, Genesis, leather time
Bitches say I'm the man, I tell 'em "Nevermind"

-Cam’ron “Get Em Girls”

Sample Video: “Suck It or Not/Wet Wipes”


-Written by Alex K.