Let's talk about the Diplomats...

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Searched the archives, but the discussion on the Dipset crew seems to be pretty sparse, despite them being responsible for some of the best hip hop songs of last year (Crunk Muzik, S.A.N.T.A.N.A., Dutty Clap) and one pretty damn great album (Cam'Ron's Purple Haze.)

So, what's the deal? Are people just not listening? This some top rate stuff!

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:21 (twenty-one years ago)

They were found guilty of thoughtcrime and expunged from the records. And now you too must die.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:24 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.impawards.com/1992/posters/freejack.jpg

Thanks a lot, Ned, you made me derail my own thread.

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:34 (twenty-one years ago)

*bows*

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:35 (twenty-one years ago)

*cough*

http://www.thezreview.co.uk/posters/posterimages/f/freejack.jpg

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:35 (twenty-one years ago)

I have a couple of friends who are almost obsessed with Dipset, but I don't get it. I bought Cam'ron's last solo album, and it was just mediocre (or less than that). Even the big "Girls" single did little for me.

The production on every Dipset song I've heard has been sub-par, unfocused and noisy in a bad way, and none of the MCs are that interesting.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:38 (twenty-one years ago)

They were all very funny on that Ego Trip thing (esp. Jim Jones.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:40 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah WTF? The only appeal I see from dipset is that there a little left of center. Ecentric, but it really doesn't come out in their music other than a few funny ignorant lines in their songs.
REALLY only a handful of decent songs. Purple haze was very sub-par.
Musically compare them to wu-tang and they blow pink chunks.

― jjcale, Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:47 (twenty-one years ago)

Well, most acts blow pink chunks compared to Wu-Tang.

So I'm the only one who's feeling this? Purple Haze has at least 7 sings I'd rate highly (Girls isn't one of them), which is an outstanding rate compared to a lot of hip hop albums lately. Boring production? Crunk Muzik's production kills, it's all tablas smothered in ominous synths. S.A.N.T.A.N.A. actually manages to make sped up vocals interesting!

A few years ago I couldn't imagine myself touting (much less arguing for) the solidity of a Cam'Ron album, but Purple Haze is owning me.

― stephen morris (stephen morris), Sunday, 27 February 2005 00:58 (twenty-one years ago)

MIA hangs with them.

I like "Killa Cam" and "Who Am I?".

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Sunday, 27 February 2005 01:04 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah Purple Haze is a great album, no doubt. "Killa Cam" and "Down and Out" are so great. Shit the whole thing is so great. If you like Ghostface's free associative shit, you would dig dipset.

Diplomatic Immunity vol. 1 is fantastic, and so is Purple Haze. Come Home With Me has a pretty high success rate too, although cam is less consistent/stylized of an MC on that one. "On Fire Tonight" is the jam tho.

― djdee2005 (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 03:31 (twenty-one years ago)

they're pretty much the only hip hop i've been listening to lately. there's tons of talk of them on ILM (that Jim Jones Crunk Muzik thread turned into a dipset thread).

last night at a hipster indie party the dj put on "Crunk Muzik" and i went buckwild, and the crowd did also, but were a little confused. my wife said to me, "how do i even dance to this?!" and then she just realized you need to get buckwild and started bouncing to it!

― LaToya JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 27 February 2005 07:35 (twenty-one years ago)

but i also see where a lot of the hate comes from, they're really stupid - but it's a stupidity that i've learned to love. jim, cam and juelz are good to great mcs, the rest of them are ho-hum. the new diplomatic imunity 2 is shitty - too many fucking weak people and beats on there. also, i understand people not liking their production. it's a little weird and always sounds unfinished. when they get just blaze or the heatmakers to make a beat, they're good, the rest are sort of kanye,just,heatmakerz imitators. but i have such a love of soul lately it's fun to hear the beats they make (even if it's sped up vocals)

― LaToya JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 27 February 2005 07:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I love some Dipset music but reading about them on the internet makes me wish I didn't.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 07:51 (twenty-one years ago)

uh, why?

― LaToya JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:07 (twenty-one years ago)

because it's usually either smirking praise about how weird/funny/'avant garde' they are, or humorless preachiness about how politically incorrect they are.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:16 (twenty-one years ago)

ok, the beer made me think you were making a direct reference to me.

but if you are, eat me :)

― LaToya JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 27 February 2005 08:24 (twenty-one years ago)

they are funny and weird, Al! (note use of comma)

I mean, that's why i like them...it makes them more interesting, its a cool aesthetic they've got going on.

I don't know what it means that they're "avant garde" tho.

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:39 (twenty-one years ago)

i guess its more the smirking you object to, which makes sense i suppose.

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 09:45 (twenty-one years ago)

When did Cam'Ron stop being rubbish? Because he did used to be rubbish, right?

― Dom Passantino (Dom Passantino), Sunday, 27 February 2005 11:44 (twenty-one years ago)

I remember seeing pus Cam doing "horse and carriage"
on jenny jones a few few years back...
wow was that pus

― jj, Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:19 (twenty-one years ago)

oh, no LaToya, wasn't directed at you. mostly it was referring to things that are said outside of this thread (although some of it is on display here).

what's "pus"?

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 16:35 (twenty-one years ago)

thanks for this!

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Sunday, 27 February 2005 18:29 (twenty-one years ago)

haha al now i think yr talking about me.
I'm still not sure whats wrong with thinking they're funny when they're clearly going for humor at times, and i think they're a fairly eccentric group of guys. Am I missing something here?

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 20:52 (twenty-one years ago)

I mean, i like it because cam is good.

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 21:00 (twenty-one years ago)

The problem that I think Al is identifying is when people only like zany rappers. A lot of the writing on Cam'ron (and I don't think anyone on this thread is particularly guilty of this) tries to fit them into the Biz Markie/Dr. Octagon/Deltron lineage. The posts can be summarized as "Dipset's gansta, but wacky! Isn't that cute?". A lot of people only like their rap infantilized.

NB: Cam and Kool Keith et al. are great, and funny, and weird, and it's ok to praise these qualities. It's just that serious rap can be good too.

― Shmool McShmool (shmuel), Sunday, 27 February 2005 21:43 (twenty-one years ago)

honestly, reading back on this thread, i think he's talking about this line

Yeah WTF? The only appeal I see from dipset is that there a little left of center. Ecentric, but it really doesn't come out in their music other than a few funny ignorant lines in their songs.

― LaToya JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 27 February 2005 21:44 (twenty-one years ago)

A lot of the writing on Cam'ron tries to fit them into the Biz Markie/Dr. Octagon/Deltron lineage.

i'm actually trying to convert an undie fan over to more mainstream/gangster shit by making him a dipset mix. i also gave him the first david banner, freeway and the lil scrappy/trillville cd (to give him a taste of lil jon's production style).

― LaToya JaXoN (JasonD), Sunday, 27 February 2005 21:46 (twenty-one years ago)

If you like Ghostface's free associative shit, you would dig dipset.
I wanted to mention this in my first post but couldn't phrase it right. Cam, in particular, seems very weak at the free association/poetry thing - certainly sub-Ghostface and maybe sub-Aesop Rock.

If you're going to bring nonsense, you better be as charismatic and fun as Ghost or have the RZA doing a lot of your production.

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Sunday, 27 February 2005 21:48 (twenty-one years ago)

haha, it's kind of surreal watching people try to interpret what I meant or was referring to.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

it's like YO GUYS I'M RIGHT HERE what's with the third person?

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:08 (twenty-one years ago)

chea

― f-a-b-o-l-o-u-s (adamwest), Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:12 (twenty-one years ago)

but I was referring as much to the inexplicable targeting of Cam as the sole bastion of misogyny in hip hop as I was to the fetishizing of their weirdness.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:14 (twenty-one years ago)

dipset are terrible mcs. i like them, mainly because of the heatmakerz who rock sample based hip hop far better than kanye imo.

― blunted nitely, Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Heatmakerz are awesome and definitely a big part of why I love Dip Immunity.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I wasn't really interested in Cam/Dipset beyond the singles until I heard "I'm Ready" on the Paid In Full sdtk and went nuts.

― Al (sitcom), Sunday, 27 February 2005 22:20 (twenty-one years ago)

Yeah I like heatmakerz a lot too.

jim, cam and juelz are good to great mcs, the rest of them are ho-hum.

Haha the only one you left out is freaky zeeky!

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:06 (twenty-one years ago)

I think if there's one thing purple haze affirmed to me, it's that cam has the ability to be incredibly consistent.

― djdee (djdee2005), Sunday, 27 February 2005 23:17 (twenty-one years ago)

jim, cam and juelz are good to great mcs, the rest of them are ho-hum.

Haha the only one you left out is freaky zeeky!

no way, DI2 had tons of terrible people on it

― LaToya JaXoN (JasonD), Monday, 28 February 2005 02:03 (twenty-one years ago)

well, i donno if they're guests or if the dips have increased in size recently or something, but to me diplomats = cam, jim, juelz and FZ.

― djdee (djdee2005), Monday, 28 February 2005 02:40 (twenty-one years ago)

I think technically JR Writer and maybe some other dudes are official members now, plus all the extended purple city/byrd gang guys. I can't remember the last time FZ did anything significant with them, probably the Who Shot Frekey mixtape.

― Al (sitcom), Monday, 28 February 2005 04:23 (twenty-one years ago)

four months pass...

and I'm corrupt/ cuz girls all whores - this (actually, the entire song) should bother me, I think, but it doesn't.

ps I was totally wrong about Purple Haze

― milozauckerman (miloaukerman), Saturday, 23 July 2005 23:24 (twenty years ago)

one year passes...

which of the 5 diplomats mixtapes are worth listening to? i am aware im like four years late on this.

― max (maxreax), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:05 (nineteen years ago)

Vol. 2-4 are fantastic...Vol 1 is cool just for the fact that it's the first Dips release...Diplomatic Immunity is still the best Dipset music by far.

― Shlomo Shemesh (Shlomo Shemesh), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:11 (nineteen years ago)

Has the hipster lovefest for Purple Haze finally ended? I forced myself to listen to it at least a dozen times, but beyond "Adrenaline" it just never clicked for me. Cam's persona doesn't have any redeeming qualities, I don't find him charismatic at all, and dude's supposedly unassailable ear for beats produced "Suck it or Not" for Christ's sake.

"S.A.N.T.A.N.A." still fucking kills me though.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:30 (nineteen years ago)

Cam's persona doesn't have any redeeming qualities, I don't find him charismatic at all, and dude's supposedly unassailable ear for beats produced "Suck it or Not" for Christ's sake.

Yeah but isn't that half the point? It's like Peckinpah (or something); beauty in ridiculous, repulsive offensiveness.

― max (maxreax), Sunday, 1 October 2006 20:46 (nineteen years ago)

god, i hate reading old threads

― jaxon (jaxon), Sunday, 1 October 2006 21:14 (nineteen years ago)

isn't that half the point?

I think you're right that the offensive-as-beautiful is the point, but unlike say ODB (who throws himself up against the Wall of Repulsiveness until he breaks through to beauty, or at least gross-out humor), I feel like Cam just keeps shoulder checking the Wall 'O Repulsiveness and holds it up as proof of his macho.

I think his stoicism (bizzare given his many nonsequiter rhymes) is what makes it hard for me to take any of what he says as absurd. It's like he's reaching for some Demented Dr. Seuss shit, but he just comes off like the creepy old guy that tells dirty limericks to your kids.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 1 October 2006 21:43 (nineteen years ago)

http://xxlmag.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/camron1.jpg

discuss

― am0n (am0n), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:01 (nineteen years ago)

Cam likes his hideous wimmins.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:25 (nineteen years ago)

well look who was right all along

― and what (ooo), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

what's really hood?

― Wrinklepossum's Awesome Blossom (Wrinklepaws), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

shoulder-checking the wall o' repulsiveness?

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:36 (nineteen years ago)

Yeah. But shit if they're not impressively compact, stunningly-rhymed dirty limericks.

― max (maxreax), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:38 (nineteen years ago)

cams rhymes are bullshit
cams beats are bullshit
cams crew is bullshit
cams albums are bullshit
cams fans are bullshit

― and what (ooo), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:43 (nineteen years ago)

cams rhymes are bullshit
cams beats are bullshit
cams crew is bullshit
cams albums are bullshit
cams fans are bullshit

Way to make an argument, homie.

shit if they're not impressively compact, stunningly-rhymed dirty limericks

Truth. I guess we just part ways in whether or not they're beautiful and/or compelling.

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 1 October 2006 22:58 (nineteen years ago)

http://33jones.com/blogpics/killacam.jpg

― am0n (am0n), Sunday, 1 October 2006 23:24 (nineteen years ago)

dudes on ilm named 'hoosteen' are bullshit

― and what (ooo), Sunday, 1 October 2006 23:28 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.ccs.neu.edu/home/woj/pics/burned.gif

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 1 October 2006 23:52 (nineteen years ago)

That's not so much a stupid threat as it is the third GIS result for "burned."

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Sunday, 1 October 2006 23:53 (nineteen years ago)

When I moved to Harlem three years ago, the Diplomats' Diplomatic Immunity was a constant companion, like the sun, the smog and the malt liquor in which I’d drown my tears.

Being a newbie, it seemed necessary to me that I digest Diplomatic Immunity, in the same way that other arrivistes feel like they have to read Invisible Man. It wasn’t that I loved all the kitchen-sink sampling and polyglot cultural poses so much; sometimes, as with the city itself, I wondered what, if anything was at the center of all that shiny stuff. But Diplomatic Immunity was such a part of the landscape, I felt like I needed to understand it if I was going to understand my new home. What’s that reference? Who’s he talking about? Am I supposed to understand this?

Then there was the matter of Cam'ron himself: the young, ebony-haired waif; the wide-eyed, gangsta-kid-turned-improbable-boy-wonder who had pockets full of fairy dust and eyes that pierced your heart. The smart chicks wanted to take him home, and the smart guys all had stories about knowing him, you know, before. Everybody loved what he seemed to represent. He was an icon for the new, golden age of discovery.

― and what (ooo), Monday, 2 October 2006 05:11 (nineteen years ago)

hahahahaha

― Marmot (marmotwolof), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 10:40 (nineteen years ago)

Purple Haze isn't bad. "Adrenaline" is definitely the best thing on it though.

Jaxon otm.

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 13:42 (nineteen years ago)

There are still dipset tracks from this past year i like alright too, like the juelz track with sizzla.

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 13:46 (nineteen years ago)

hahahahaha
-- Marmot (marmotwolo...), October 3rd, 2006.

I really wasn't sure how I was supposed to respond to that. Thanks for clearing that up.

(earnest x-post)

― Hoosteen (Hoosteen), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 16:58 (nineteen years ago)

read the most current beck thread

― jaxon (jaxon), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 17:41 (nineteen years ago)

i think that "cam's rhymes are bullshit" thing was a meta-joke you didn't get, hoosten

― HUNTA-V (vahid), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 17:45 (nineteen years ago)

i like immunity vol. 1

― am0n (am0n), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 17:53 (nineteen years ago)

Crunk Musik is still great, despite the bandwagon-jumping title.

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 18:17 (nineteen years ago)

no cams rhymes really are bullshit

― and what (ooo), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 18:27 (nineteen years ago)

"cock and spray/block away/osaka bay"--bullshit?

― max (maxreax), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 20:04 (nineteen years ago)

I think gun talk coupled with non sequiturs that happen to rhyme is pretty much the definition of bullshit, yeah.

― Alex in Baltimore (Alex in Baltimore), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 20:13 (nineteen years ago)

touché. cam'ron may be the most bullshit rapper of all time.

― max (maxreax), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 20:24 (nineteen years ago)

what's really hood?

-- Wrinklepossum's Awesome Blossom (wrinklepaw...)

― and what (ooo), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 20:39 (nineteen years ago)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v48/w1nt3rmut3/anihovercat.gif

― jaxon (jaxon), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 20:56 (nineteen years ago)

i think their reign is over. not a bad thing- camron was the only one worth listening to out of the lot. 40 cal was okay at times, juelz had swagger and sometimes that was good enough, but the rest were just rubbish.

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 21:16 (nineteen years ago)

their "reign" of being kinda sorta popular for a new-ish new york group that's not G-Unit

― M@tt He1geson: Real Name, No Gimmicks (Matt Helgeson), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 21:27 (nineteen years ago)

well they were the only real contenders in NY for that crown that i can think of. and g-unit's credibility hasnt really been all that high for a while, even if their sales have been. jimmy jones gives good interviews, they have great marketing nous, great work ethic (although all their tracks sound the same), but the music just doesnt add up to the brand. maybe camron have brought mase back seeing as they used to be buddies.

― titchyschneider (titchyschneider), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 21:35 (nineteen years ago)

jimmy jones gives good interviews, they have great marketing nous, great work ethic (although all their tracks sound the same)

great logo, too.

― max (maxreax), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:02 (nineteen years ago)

http://xxlmag.com/online/wp-content/uploads/2006/09/camron1.jpg

Why's Cam'Ron hanging out with Little Frank Sidebottom?

― Sadly, he will be the next Alexis Petridish. (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:17 (nineteen years ago)

I guess it takes a few days for rap gossip to jump the pond.

― deej.. (deej..), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:21 (nineteen years ago)

ahhh THAT'S who that pic wz reminding me of

― rtccc (mwah), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:31 (nineteen years ago)

why is camron hanging out with bob zemko?

― and what (ooo), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:37 (nineteen years ago)

http://www.comedycv.co.uk/franksidebottom/frank-sidebottom-2005-december.jpg

(Left to right: Frank Sidebottom, Little Frank Sidebottom)

― Sadly, he will be the next Alexis Petridish. (Dom Passantino), Tuesday, 3 October 2006 22:39 (nineteen years ago)

ten years pass...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMnlep8tTDw

― dylannn, Tuesday, 27 June 2017 18:34 (eight years ago)

THE SEQUEL OF ABEL THE WAY I SLAING CAINE

― dylannn, Tuesday, 27 June 2017 18:34 (eight years ago)

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