The Diplomats
| The Diplomats | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | Dipset |
| Origin | Harlem, New York City, New York, United States |
| Genres | Hip hop |
| Years active | 1997–2015 |
| Labels | Diplomat |
| Associated acts |
Purple City State Property |
| Website | dipsetusa.com |
| Past members |
Cam'ron Juelz Santana Freekey Zekey DukeDaGod Vado Hell Rell 40 Cal. J.R. Writer Jim Jones Jha Jha |
The Diplomats (popularly known as Dipset), were an American hip hop group founded in 1997 by Cam'ron and Jim Jones, in Harlem, New York City. The group was originally composed of members Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew up together in Harlem. In 1999, fellow Harlem-based rapper Juelz Santana was added to the group.
In the year 2001, following Cam'ron's signing, the group secured a recording contract with Def Jam and Brooklyn-bred rapper Jay-Z's Roc-A-Fella Records. They subsequently began recording their debut album, Diplomatic Immunity, and released it under the aforementioned labels in March 2003. Following tensions and controversy between Cam'ron and Jay-Z, the group severed ties with the labels and signed to indie record label Koch Records. The group released their second album Diplomatic Immunity 2, in November 2004 under Koch. After a hiatus because of artistic differences, in 2010 the original members began recording music together again and announced a reunion album. In February 2011, it was announced they had signed with Interscope Records. However in May 2013, Freekey Zekey revealed they were no longer signed to Interscope. Freekey Zekey stated, "I don't know. [Juelz Santana] had...I guess...had personal problems that was negating him from hittin' the studio hard. I don't know what they are or what they was, but his mind was with it. 'Cause every time we talked to him or spoke to him, he [was excited]. But whatever was lurkin' in his personal life or whatever the case may be, would basically stop him from getting into that studio."
The first commercial appearance of the group was on Cam'ron's 2000 album S.D.E., released on Epic Records. During this period, various members of the original group consisting of Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey, and others, were first signed together as a group to Roc-A-Fella Records from 2001 to 2004, though they are now signed to their own label, Diplomat Records. Each individual artist, however is signed to a different label, including E1 Music, Asylum, and Def Jam, among others.
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