Diplomats "The Bird Gang"

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Oct 9, 2003
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DIPLOMATS

ONE FOR ALL

Forget misery. Nothing loves company more than success. As a silver, bigbodied BMW 745i rounds the corner of 145th Street onto Adam Clayton Powell Blvd., the Harlem natives nearby cut their convos short like bad cellular connections. All eyes are on Cameron Giles the driver of the silver bullet, as he pulls up in front of Danny & Mel’s Unisex Barbershop and hops out with his Diplomats crew, which consists of Juelz Santana, Jimmy Jones and Freaky Zekey. Clad in a pink shorts set with a matching fitted New York cap and pink striped low-top Nikes, Cam‘Ron is immediately y rushed by young kids asking for autographs and middle –aged women looking for additional cash flow. Unlike the Nasdaq, Killa Cam’s stock value has risen since he joined Roc-A-Fella’s army, but Cam won’t be content until his Dip Set platoon is asked to scribble their own John Hancocks on loose leaf and napkins. Juelz, Jimmy and Freaky know this all too well, so they fall back and post up on the block. They can breathe easy because with Cam at the wheel, they know their careers will never see the curb.

THE SOURCE: One would think y’all came from the same womb. There’s a real sense of unity within the crew almost like family…

Juelz Santana: When people say it’s like family, it really means it’s not family. It’s just like family. But it’s real family over here.

But y’all aren’t blood-related.

Jimmy Jones: We all came up together as youngstas, runnin’ the streets. I’ve known Cam since we was, like 11 or 12 years old. We lived in the same ‘hood over on the east side [of Harlem], the same complex and shit, along with Damon Dash. Time went on and Cam went away to school on that basketball shit. He came back and we was doing what we do, and he got the deal so we was with Mase and all thatJuelz, you were signed to Priority at one point as part of a group called Draft Pick. How did you come to the Diplomats camp?

Juelz: My cousin brought me to Cam’Ron while he was sleeping. He woke up Cam and I just spit. And from there we just been workin’. I was on the S.D.E. album. I wrote the shit for the girl on “What Means the World to You.” We was just building.

Cam’Ron didn’t have the Diplomats imprint on Roc-A-Fella Records at the time. What made you leave your label to join his team?

Juelz: ‘Cause I like his style. He put me over a lot of people, and I wasn’t even really family yet at the time. For him to do that made me feel real comfortable around him, Jimmy and everybody I’m with. I just knew it was gonna pop for me, too. Everything he do he try to make beneficial to me as his artist. He just put me on mad shit like the “Oh Boy” song and now we got it poppin’!

Everyone takes family seriously. Cam, do you have any regrets about verbally lambasting Nas’s mother and child?

Cam’Ron: At first I thought I went too far because I didn’t hear what he said. But then I heard what he was talking about and I was like, “Nah, he went too far.” I did apologize about what I said about his daughter and. his mother. ‘Cause I did the song after I heard about what happened, about two hours later. So I went and wrote it without even hearing what he said, just to show that I can jump on you in two seconds. But I got too much money to be worrying about Nas. I got shit going on. ‘Cause I ‘m about to shoot a “Bout it, Bout it” video with Master P [for the Paid In Full Soundtrack].
. We been poppin’ ever since. Juelz is younger than us, he from up in Washington Heights.

That’s a big look for the Diplomats. Where do y’all draw the line between friendship and business?

Juelz: Everybody gets yelled at ‘cause it’s tough love, just like at he Roc. Cam doesn’t take no shit ‘cause he’s a real smart businessman. He knows what he wants to get done. And he knows what can happen. So if he gotta be hard on niggas, he be hard on niggas. If he gotta scream on niggas, he scream on niggas.

We don’t hear too much from Freaky Zekey. What do you bring to the table?

Freaky Zekey: I’m just, like, action. I’m basically all the electricity. Every there’s a silent moment, I come through with a joke and maybe that’ll spark a whole new rhyme sometimes. Actually, I said something that sparked a new rhyme about some girl who had a venereal disease- “Who Burned Me”

Ouch. How do yall decide what songs to keep and what not to?

Cam’Ron: Nothing goes in the street without me saying “cool”. But I don’t gotta coach them. That shit is wack. I went through that shit before. They go to the studio, they bring it to me, I listen. Aiight, that’s cool. If not, go and change that verse. We did 100 songs and I might have told them to change their shit six times.

You can never accuse the Diplomats of not being patriotic. First Cam does “Welcome to NY City” with Jay-Z, then you guys title your LP Ground Zero.

Juelz: September 11 brought a lot of power and strength. And that’s what we bring in our music: power, strength and pain. So it’s like Ground Zero music


From the Source October '02 issue.

Type By HusseinMichigan4 "U ALREADY KNOW"

Diplomats Mix-Tape Vol 1 and 2 in the streets right now.

Article from new XXL magazine with Uncle L on the cover

COMING SOON!!!!!!!!!

LET'S GO DIP SET

http://www.ruffrydersworld.com/jayz...ones_grindin.rm

CATS JUST WINNING AND NOT GONE STOP!!!!!!!!!