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THAT CRACK |
| This is THAT Site | |
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| J.R. Writer |
The Harlem native, JR Writer’s, one-on-one demeanor is quit introverted, his on-camera and stage presence resemble nothing of the same. JR Writer’s flow quickly grabs the attention of any listener and his cleaver lyrics exude a sort of surprising confidence. He has made appearances on underground mixtapes with the Diplomats on songs like “Shake” with Cam’ron but this time around he gets an entire track to confirm his ill lyrical skills. His tracks on the Diplomats second LP Diplomatic Immunity 2 gives the spotlight to JR Writer as he secures his spot as a member of the Diplomats with the poise of a first-round draft pick. JR Writer brings a strong, silent-type, personality to the Diplomats, which leaves plenty of room for true lyrical maximizing.
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| Juelz Santana |
Question: In a time when beef and braggadocio run rampant in hip-hop wouldn’t it be uplifting for a new jack to blow a fresh breath of smoked-filled air into the game? Wouldn’t you appreciate a young blood eager to spit about realities and an everyday grind, rather than constant boasting? Enter Juelz Santana. OK, so Juelz, born LaRon James, isn’t completely wet behind the ears. Yes, he has benefited from a lesson or two already learned the tough way from his experiences in the rap industry. But even with his mainstream and mixtape successes - including recording, touring and shooting videos with Cam’ron’s crew The Diplomats - young Juelz is just now releasing his much-anticipated Diplomats/Roc-A-Fella solo debut, From Me To U, giving his fans their first opportunity to plunge into the realities and livelihood of the 19-year-old lyricist. Born and raised in Harlem, Juelz was certain to make it big. He has been writing rhymes since he was 12 years old. He first started his rap career with his long time friend, Malik, as a rap duo called "Draft Pick". "Draft Pick" had several gigs around New York City while performing together, including Amateur Night at the world famous Apollo Theatre, where they won two weeks in a row. Although the group is not together today, the two members still remain good friends. Juelz continued to believe in himself and his unique style, and there was someone else that believed in him also. His cousin, who is good friends with Cam'ron, decided that it was time for Juelz's unique style to be heard. One day while with Cam, Juelz's cousin drove through his block and had him rhyme for Cam. By the next week Juelz was in the studio recording a verse for the cut, "Double Up", off of Cam'ron's second album, "SDE". Cam'ron believed in Juelz, and after signing to Roc-A-fella Records himself, Juelz received a deal with Roc-A-fella Diplomat Records. Diplomat Records is Cam'ron's new record label, where Juelz is the Vice-President. Since then, it has been nothing but up hill for Juelz. His level of creativity for rhyming has continued to rise over the past year. He has had solo articles in issues of the XXL Magazine, as well as articles with the Diplomats in XXL and Source Magazine. Juelz is also featured on the Diplomats Volume 1 and 2 albums where you can hear cuts from joints off of his up and coming solo album, soon to be released in August 2003. If Cam’ron seemed knocked out at the two’s first meeting he must not have been in dreamland because a week later Cam called his future protégé and asked him to roll through the studio. “I wasn’t really that excited when he called because I had been through some of this before. My heart was cold in the music game at this point and things were hard. A lot of people had told me to come down to the studio before but I never really got that feeling like this was it.” Little did Juelz know that this, in fact, was it. Soon after that studio session things began to fall into place for the budding MC. His first big move was an appearance on “Double Up” off of Cam’ron’s Sex, Drugs and Entertainment. The buzz began building as the Dips assaulted the streets with their Diplomat mixtapes. Next came Cam’s connection with Roc-A-Fella Records. Soon after the Diplomats landed on the Roc, Juelz was given the major pieces he needed to play his game. The crew inked a seven-figure label deal with The Roc creating Diplomat Records with Juelz as vice president. Shortly following the deal were the young buck’s charming guest appearances on Cam’s smash hit singles ”Oh Boy” and “Hey Ma” off of his Come Home With Me LP, which led to a starring role on the Diplomats group album Diplomatic Immunity and it’s street-blazin’ smash “Dip Set Anthem.” But From Me To U will be sure to take the hungry young heartthrob to the stars. With guest appearances predominantly from his Dip Set fam and a stack of hot beats from producers like the Heatmakers, Self and Charlemagne to name a few, Juelz gives fans the ideal honest debut: filled with heart, pride, talent and tales of the life of this Diplomat. For proof check the single “Santana’s Town,” which features an infectious hook from Cam. Another satisfying track is the heart-tugging “Raindrops” about his grandmother. From Me To U gives Juelz a personalized opportunity to spin his sincere tales of both hardships and struggle with an edge of pain and a splash of the glitz and glam Juelz has tasted since the Dips started ruling the streets. So does that mean Juelz can answer the call for that new breed some of us might be craving? “I want people to see who I am, who Juelz is,” insists the Harlem Diplomat. “Hip-hop wants a change right now. The same people have been doing it for six or seven years. It’s not that it’s not hot music it’s just that it’s too common. It needs to be resurrected. I can resurrect it.”
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| Killa Cam |
Simply put, Harlem’s favorite son Cam’ron is a movement unto himself. From literally changing the face of urban fashion with his trendsetting, redefining sense of style and signature pink wardrobe, to his mind-boggling ghetto nursery rhymes, to the secret code he’s developed with his Diplomats crew - ‘Dip Set,’ ‘Byrd Gang,’ ‘Purple City,’ ‘Un Casa,’ ‘Sheist Bub,’ – ‘Killa Cam’ has turned Harlemworld into Cam’ron’s world. Cameron Giles - the flamboyant young cat who would go onto become Dip Set superstar Cam’ron - came up in Harlem’s grimiest streets with the same hopes, fears, talents and dreams as the other kids on the block; except young Cam was maybe that much better. Whether it was kicking rhymes with his friends, getting the latest gear just right, or playing ball, Cameron Giles had it. His love and gift for basketball was the first to truly shine: as a guard for Manhattan Central High School, young Cameron was named All-City, All-American and was eventually awarded a college scholarship based on his on-court talents. “I been this way since I was, like, three,” muses Cam’ron. “From the moment I wake up at like seven in the morning in my boxers and socks, I’m that fresh. I’m Cam.” But soon, he’d enter a different game entirely. Through friend and fellow-Harlemite Ma$e, Cam had a chance meeting with the late Notorious B.I.G. Though his city-wide reputation as a baller preceded him, Biggie Smalls was impressed with Cam’ron’s abilities on the mic. “Mase took me to his crib after he signed to Bad Boy and he just threw on a bunch of beats and I rapped for B.I.G.,” Cam remembers. “Every beat he threw on I had rhymes, I had mad rhymes back then. Big said he wanted to sign me.” Biggie and partner Lance “Un” Rivera were astounded by Cam'ron's skills and immediately signed him to their Untertainment Records. Both his Untertainment debut, 1998’s Confessions of Fire, and his sophomore release, Sports, Drugs and Entertainment, went gold. But Cam, seeking to take his career to the next level, grew disenchanted with then-distributor Epic. Ever determined and creative, Killa Cam, as he was becoming known, took matters into his own hands; he and his Harlem Diplomats crew began putting out mixtapes for the streets, well before it was commonplace. “It’s been going on about a couple years, but we made a tapes ‘cause we always had music. We would put all the songs on a CD and put them out on the streets for free. We started selling them for $5 just to get our money back. After I did it other artists started doing it too,” he remembers. Eventually, Cam’ron’s buzz had become larger than just mixtapes; the streets were crying for another studio album. Always an opportunist, his friend and former manager Damon Dash negotiated Cam out of his deal with Epic and signed him and his Diplomat Records to a deal under Roc-A-Fella. In 2002, Cam released his long-awaited opus Come Home With Me, which sold over one million units and catapulted Cam’ron to celebrity status. The monumental success yielded the smash single "Oh Boy,” which also rocketed protege Juelz Santana to fame. Now, with the release of Purple Haze, Come Home’s highly anticipated follow-up, Cam puts it down like only he can. “I’ve been working on this for about 7-8 months. I always grow every album. I’m around nice artists like Juelz, Jim Jones, J.R. Writer and a whole bunch of new people and it keeps me on my toes,” Cam says. “It’s like tough love and that’s why every album I do is better than the last one.” From the Jeep banger “Killa Cam,” to the certified street anthems “Get Em Girls” and “Shake,” to the radio hits “Hey Lady” “Lord You Know” featuring Jaheim and the new single, Cam’s spin on the Cyndi Lauper classic “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun,” Purple Haze continues Cam’s legend. Featuring appearances from the entire Dip Set crew – Juelz Santana, Jim Jones and Freekey Zeekey – as well as Kanye West, Jaheim, Lil Flip, and Twista, Cam’ron delivers his most diverse, creative and cinematic album to date. In fact, Cam plans to release a ‘Purple Haze’ short film in conjunction with the album. “I want you to have the visual, even if you don’t see the movie,” muses Cam. “Visualize it just by listening. Its like a verbal movie or even a book.” Purple Haze’s lead single, “Lord You Know,” features the thunderous crooning of thug-prince Jaheim. The song, a more introspective look at the streets, reveals Cam’s maturing view of the world. “The Jaheim joint is real soulful. I just wanted to give a tribute to all the people in jail. Jaheim came up with the hook and it was crazy. You feel that song in your gut,” Cam says. “I think that’s a big plus for everybody locked inside.” But Cam’ron reveals that his favorite song is one that strikes in the heart, not the gut. “My favorite song is ‘Ghetto Soap Opera.’ It’s about me and my son’s mom and what we are going through right now,” he reveals. Cam’ron, notorious for hisd tenacity, believes in constantly moving forward and Purple Haze is the culmination of that mentality. “If you do five albums and don’t grow, then you are just stupid,” Cam laughs. “That’s like going to high school for four years and still being in the 9th Grade. I went from artist to CEO to selling cologne to selling liquor.” True to his word, Cam’ron is one of the elite few artists that has been able to escape the confines of the game to expand Diplomat Records into a franchise. Along with the Purple Haze album and film, and his other ventures including “Oh Boy’ cologne, Cam’ron has taken his purple game to the spirit world as well – liquor that is. Along with his Diplomat partner Jim Jones, Cam has launched a cognac-based purple punch appropriately dubbed Sizzurp. Sizzurp has secured national distribution and is set to launch this summer. Be warned: Rap’s Pink Panther and Harlem’s freshest Diplomat – Cam’ron – is back with Purple Haze.
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| The Diplomats |
It’s true—there hasn’t been a heavy hip-hop buzz coming from Uptown Manhattan in a long time. Remember that in the 1920’s Harlem was the Mecca of Black music. But its popularity slowly died down throughout the years as Harlem fell into the hands of the streets becoming one of the most well known ghettos in America. Now with the rebirth of a new Harlem Renaissance comes also the resurgence of rap in NYC’s honorary sixth borough. And who’s leading the way to bring Harlem world and hip-hop back to where it once was? Harlem’s own government officials The Diplomats: Cam’ron, Jimmy Jones, Freekey Zeekey and Juelz Santana. Face it, 2002 has been Cameron "Cam’ron" Giles’ year. After aligning himself with old-friend/mentor Harlem native Dame Dash and signing a solo deal with the biggest label in rap, Roc-A-Fella Records, Cam and his Diplomat crew have spent ’02 running the radio airwaves and video shows. It all first started when Cam dropped his third LP, a banger entitled Come Home With Me. The album spurred one of the smash hits of the summer, "Oh Boy," infectious clever rhymes and hook over a sped up R&B sample produced by Just Blaze. It was on "Oh Boy" that the baby-faced LeRon James a.k.a. Juelz Santana made his biggest Diplomat guest appearance spitting playful lyrics on the song’s second verse. Since then the Diplomats have been on fire ruling the radio waves and mix tapes with their catalogue of unreleased music and freestyles, which only proves what workaholics the guys are. But that doesn’t mean that the Diplomats are a new crew coming into the rap game. "We’re like a movement," Jim Jones insists. "We don’t like to say crew no more because a crew tends to break up all the time. And we’re not new either." The Diplomat movement definitely isn’t a new thing. Cam, Jimmy and energetic hype man Ezekiel Jiles a.k.a. Freaky Zeeky all grew up together on the East Side of Harlem. Four years ago the guys picked up the youngest lyricist of the group, Juelz, to make their current roster. Not long after the explosion of "Oh Boy" Cam got his dream—a record deal of his own and on Roc-A-Fella Records. Now, only months later Diplomats Records has finally come to official fruition. With Cam’s second single, "Hey Ma" big on the charts the Diplomat Records movement is ready for war with Co-CEO’s Cam and Jimmy, President Zeek and Jules as the V.P. After Cam’ron signed to a solo deal with Roc-a-fella Records in 2002, Diplomat Records was created. Like a proud parent Diplomat Records soon gave birth to the Diplomats, a rap movement that was intended to re-route the path hip-hop music was taking. Original members included Jim Jones, Cam’ron, and Freakey Zeekey. Shortly thereafter Juelz Santana was brought into the mix to make for an unstoppable force in the hip-hop world. Like an epidemic, the Diplomats sound quickly spread from New York City to national to international fame. With an arsenal of rhymes and infinite ammunition these lyricists created a new sound in hip-hop and gave center stage back to the sixth borough, Harlem. Enter Diplomatic Immunity, the first album off of Diplomat Records. Diplomatic Immunity is a “combination of all our skills and has on it appearances from many of our Dip Set fam besides just the four of us like Hell Rell,” Cam’ron tells. "I think I have an ear for talent. I think I can tell who’s hot and who can spit. And we all can. You’ll see this for real on the new album." And Diplomatic Immunity’s first single "Bout It Bout It" (remix) proves just that. “I bumped into Master P at the airport and since I always liked ‘Bout It Bout It’ I thought it would be cool to do again so me and Jim jumped on it and Master P joined us,” Cam explains of the long-awaited remix of the No Limit classic. The second single “I’m Ready” features the quick-witted lyrics of Cam, Jim and Juelz and prepares fans for the “powerful music” the Dip Set are bringing to the game. With Cam’s flip-flopping clever rhymes intermingled with his competitive nature and Jim’s charismatic style rap and aggressive leadership antics it’s crystal clear that the Diplomat leaders, along with their young gun Juelz and the always extreme Zeek, will be able to take their movement to the next level: international stardom. “I don’t know if the people are ready for us ‘cause we taking over the world,” Jim laughs. Diplomatic Immunity intends to prove that the Diplomats have a rhyme arsenal more deadly than any crew repping NYC today. But also that it takes more then a few creative rappers and contagious beats to make a movement. It takes an army full of Harlem soldiers. On November 23rd, Diplomatic Immunity 2 will be revealed with newly recruited soldiers to defend the frontlines the Diplomats created in the hip-hop game. If you thought the first album was laced with lyrical genius wait until you hear Dipsets weapons of mass destruction in their second installment. The newly enlisted JR Writer, Hell Rell, 40 Cal, and Jha Jha all add their individual spice to the Diplomats tasteful recipe while veterans Cam’ron, Juelz Santana and Jim Jones remind fans why they became fans in the first place. And while the prominent production on the first LP was done by the Heatmakerz who also make four appearances on Diplomatic Immunity 2, the Diplomats also added underground fire from producers like Skitzo, Develop and Stay Getting Productions to name a few. Although the masterminds behind this musical revolution are all natives of Harlem, Manhattan, the newly added members cover many realms of hip-hop genres. The first lady of the Diplomats, Jha Jha, a Miami native, is the feline amongst this K-9 unit. Although Jha Jha’s flow stems from southern influence she is no stranger to what the streets in other cities like New York, Chicago and Detroit want to rock to. Being the only female of the Diplomats is a challenge that Jha Jha takes on full force with the grace of a lady and lyrics of a fierce leader. “I bring a little sexy twist to the Diplomats” says Jha Jha. Check out track #6 “Get From Around Me” on the Diplomats second LP Diplomatic Immunity 2, to hear an example of Jha Jha’s rugged flow. While the Bronx native, JR Writer’s, one-on-one demeanor is quit introverted, his on-camera and stage presence resemble nothing of the same. JR Writer’s flow quickly grabs the attention of any listener and his cleaver lyrics exude a sort of surprising confidence. He has made appearances on underground mixtapes with the Diplomats on songs like “Shake” with Cam’ron but this time around he gets an entire track to confirm his ill lyrical skills. His tracks on the Diplomats second LP Diplomatic Immunity 2 gives the spotlight to JR Writer as he secures his spot as a member of the Diplomats with the poise of a first-round draft pick. JR Writer brings a strong, silent-type, personality to the Diplomats, which leaves plenty of room for true lyrical maximizing. Hell Rell has a little more experience with the Diplomats then the other member’s do. He was down when the Diplomats first started. Now after doing a bid or two, Hell Rell is ready to expose his lyrical expertise and streetwise antics. Although the streets taught Hell Rell the in’s and out’s of making money he has transferred that energy from the concrete to the recording studio. An example of his energy transfer is Track #6 “Wouldn’t you like to be a gangsta too?” on Diplomatic Immunity 2. Hell Rell explains what he brings to the Diplomats, “…you know I’m from the bottom so I’m bringing that bottom music back to the game”. Finally, 40Cal caters to the younger crowd. 40Cal spit lyrical venom alongside Jim Jones on tracks previously released on underground mix tapes. On their new release Diplomatic Immunity 2, 40Cal does his thing on Track #10, “40 Shots”. Now, while establishing his credibility as a member of the Diplomats, he still sharpens his skills by taking part in battles. In his own words he defines his role saying, “40Cal aint nothin’ to be fucked with.” The Diplomats have become an unstoppable movement in hip-hop music. Although their grandstand approach is often overshadowed by their “underdog” status, the Diplomats know what style of music they want to release. The Diplomat soldiers’ pasts combined with their futures make the ingredients needed to cook up hard-core beats with lethal lyrics and everyone is eating it up. Track #3 on Diplomatic Immunity 2 summarizes the Diplomats stance with the lyrics “…we’re the truth, we’re the proof, get use to this!”
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