The Harlem Renaissance

Cam’ron and Jim Jones working on repairing their friendship shouldn’t be a surprise by now. Miss Info broke the news last night, automatically conjuring memories of years past. During the early to mid 2000′s, there wasn’t a group who had more of a cult following than The Diplomats. G-Unit, possibly, but the more they became worldwide superstars, that organic and natural feeling of authenticity with their music seemed to disappear.

The crew that Cam built was different though. They never sought mainstream acceptance, although it eventually came. Dipset’s rise to power blossomed as the internet became more and more of a key player in Hip-Hop (for better or worse). They never seemed to not have product on the street either – albums and/or mixtapes. They had a proven leader and a solid #2 man in Juelz Santana and everyone else played their role. In essence, they were somewhat like the first Young Money with more emphasis on the street image.

Cam and Jimmy’s falling out had a domino effect on the entire state of New York rap music as well. They were the last symbol of strength in impactful, resonating music from the Big Apple. Excluding Jay-Z and Nas, no one has firmly planted their foot down and put the state on their back since. Jimmy went on to form Byrdgang, but saw that fall apart following Stack Bundles death and his falling out with Max B. Juelz created Skull Gang (and everyone still scratches their head as to why). Zeke was always more effective in the role of enforcer. J.R. Writer hasn’t seen half the success he saw five years ago. And Hell Rell, while he is the architect of the best interviews in Western civilization, saw his greatest fame as apart of the group.

Basically, it’s a classic case of “the whole being better than the sum of the parts.” If their reconciliation leads to everyone letting bygones be bygones and reforming The Diplomats, pencil me in. On the same chord, it’d be unfair to expect them to make the same music they did on Diplomatic Immunity 1. Totally different points of their lives, plus a totally different state of music. Whatever they would put out as a group was suffer the Detox effect anyway – meaning the result would have no chance in equaling the hype. At the very least, Twitter wouldn’t let it be great.

Even with the possibility of Dipset headlined Summer Jam, it is good to see Cam and Jimmy at least work on their personal flaws. Lord knows we all need to do that our damn selves. But if they do decide to make music together once again, let us all pray it comes out better than Shyne’s. That and here’s to hoping they still have the same ear for beats they did yesteryear. Someone get The Heatmakerz on the jack. Dame, too. Harlem’s (hopefully) on the rise again.

And now, one of the greatest Hip-Hop performances ever.