S. Samuel
Diplomat Jim Jones has reassured fans in fear of a shelved Dipset LP by promising his crew is still in the process of crafting the reunion project together.
According to Jimmy, the album hasn’t reached completion, but said he understood fans’ concern.
“It’s going down, believe that,” Jones said about the LP. “We’re still recording songs but you don’t have to worry, the Dipset album is happening big time. You can bet your last dollar. I wouldn’t say officially [we’re on Interscope], officially is a big word–shouts to Interscope, Jimmy Iovine, Dr. Dre and everybody on that side. Just sit tight. We got a joint called ‘Anticipation’ that y’all should love. The vibe is good just being back with my band of brothers.” (VIBE)
Dipset A&R Duke Da God recently discussed the Diplomats’ split ties with independent distributor E1 and aligned with a major label.
“I think we outgrew E1. We did that when it wasn’t popular to go that route. We were innovators. Now we need to get it right. We need to touch the whole world. If we had a marketing budget of $200,000 on Koch, we need a $1 million to $1.5 million budget, so we can touch everybody. Our marketing budget wasn’t big enough at the time…There are so many avenues like radio and TV and [they’re more expensive]. It’s all about business, like with anything. You get what you pay for. You have to spend the money to get the proper listeners. Nothing is free. All them looks that you get, that you see major artists get, those aren’t free looks because they like the record. Just because Beyonce comes out with a record, it doesn’t mean everybody’s going to play it. It takes marketing dollars to get sh*t off the ground. All that sh*t you see on TV, those aren’t free looks. You have to pay to get those looks. When you’re in the game you see that though.” (Hip Hop Game)
The Diplomats are reportedly set to secure an album deal with Interscope Records.
After an interview at The Source Magazine headquarters where Freekey Zekey insinuated that a Dipset deal with Interscope Records was possible by pointing to a magazine cover with Dr. Dre’s picture (in addition to the revelation that the group has actually recorded with Dre), Freekey has confirmed that the group will be signing a deal with the label. “The papers are not actually signed right now [sic] but you could basically say it’s going down,” said Freekey in an interview with QTheQuestion.com, when prompted about the possibility of a deal with Interscope. (Hip Hop DX)
In late August, rumors circulated suggesting Dipset would sign with Interscope.
Weeks after both Cam’ron and Jim Jones tweeted about a potential label deal “almost being done,” the Dipset reunion seems to be inches away from being official. A source close to the New York crew says Cam, Jimmy, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey are finalizing a label deal with Interscope Records — the former home of Cam’ron rival 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew. Go figure. No official confirmation yet, but, we’re going to run with it. Wishful thinking! (Billboard)
Jim Jones and Cam’ron officially reunited earlier this year after a three-year hiatus due to internal conflict.
Check out some recent Dipset footage down below:
