Words by Jesse Serwer—
Jim Jones’ latest video features the Diposet-capo-turned-reality-TV-curiosity freestyling over reggae star Christopher Martin’s “Cheater’s Prayer.” Unexpected? Sure. Surprising? Hardly. During their heyday in the mid 2000s, the Diplomats—Jones, Cam’Ron, Juelz Santana, Freeky Zeeky, JR Writer and various assorted other Harlem characters—regularly interacted with dancehall, collaborating with Sizzla and Vybz Kartel and sampling Sanchez, Bob Marley and Sister Nancy. Then there’s Cam’Ron’s occasionally offensive but generally hilarious references to Jamaican culture, specifically its food. Here’s a look at some of the Harlem crew’s 10 best and most notable riffs on reggae, dancehall—and ganzie shirts.
10. Jim Jones, “Cheater’s Prayer”
Christopher Martin’s “Cheater’s Prayer” is as accurate of a look into men’s minds regarding infidelity as you’ll find. Jim Jones probably probably knows a thing or two about giving bun, but his freestyle over Martin’s reggae hit is actually about cheating on “mary” (marijuana) with some “white girl.” Yeah, this one leaves a little to be desired but it gets a pass for being timely.
9. Wayne Marshall, Vybz Kartel and the Diplomats, “Straight off the Top”
File this one under tunes that sound better on paper than in practice. In hindsight, the collaboration between an ascendant Dip Set and a then-fresh-out Vybz Kartel is probably one of the more disappointing tunes on 2003’s hip-hop-meets-dancehall compilation Def Jamaica, considering its potential. But whether it’s Jim Jones quoting Shabba or Juelz Santana toasting to a good plate of ackee and saltfish, “Straight off the Top” has its entertaining qualities. Honorable mention goes to Def Jamaica track “Sweetness,” a collaboration between Cam’Ron, Buju and some sort of pseudo-Neptunes gone salsa beat.
We doubt Bob Marley (or his estate) would approve of his music being used for “Reggae Joint”—also known as “The Gun Song”—from Dip Set B-teamer 40 Cal’s Trigger Happy mixtape. But, perhaps he would admit that the beat’s flip of “Sun Is Shining” is kinda tight.
7. Juelz Santana feat. Sizzla and Cam’Ron, “Shottas”
These days you can find Cess Silvera’s Shottas on sale at the checkout counter of Duane Reade but, back around ’05, the famously bootlegged Jamaican gangster flick was in every thug’s DVD drive. A testament to the movie’s appeal (or at least the hip-hop’s embrace of the term shotta) was this Sizzla collaboration from Juelz Santana’s What the Game’s Been Missing. Produced by the Heatmakerz—the Jamaican-born beat team behind the Dip Set’s most classic tunes and a key factor in the crew’s embrace of Jamaican and dancehall culture—”Shottas” wasn’t a big hit, but it did produce one of the more memorable videos from the Dip Set’s heyday, not to mention the line “He curry chicken, turn him a beef patty.”
After his Youtube-fueled beef with 50 Cent had him looking kinda crazy (and even had Jim Jones becoming Dip Set alpha dog for a minute after Cam’s estrangement from his own crew) Cam’Ron took some time off in ’06/’07. Among the tunes on his comeback mixtape Public Enemy # 1 mixtape was “Bum Bum,” which sampled Sister Nancy’s dancehall classic “Bam Bam.” Never missing an opportunity to rep his taste for Jamaican takeout, he also offered this Atkins-friendly one-liner: “Gal need advice, told her we can eat a bite/Ate the oxtails—you can keep the rice.” But the real capper was the skit that precedes it.
5. Jim Jones feat. Cam’Ron and Juelz Santana, “Jamaican Joint”
Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Cam’Ron take turns spitting over the beat from the classic hip-hop remix of Super Cat’s “Dolly My Baby” (the one where Biggie first said “I love it when you call me Big Poppa”) on the 2004 mixtape track “Jamaican Joint.” Jones in particular extrapolates on the song’s Jamaican connection, sprinkling his verse with patois, while Cam begins his with a shoutout to the Shower Posse.
4. JR Writer, “Jamaican Diplomocracy”
JR Writer is probably the most slept on Diplomat, a freestyle specialist who never quite scored a hit, even on Dip Set-friendly New York radio. But, as Writer says on the intro to “Jamaican Diplomocracy,” “I kill my Jamaican shit,” and he proceeds to do just that, tearing his way through a sample of Bob Marley/The Wailers’ “Hypocrites.” A certified mixtape classic from the height of that form’s heyday.
As a wise man named Ted Bawno once put it, “Ignorant rap by intelligent rappers is entertainment; ignorant rap by an ignorant rapper is death.” Whether you like to admit or not, Cam’Ron definitely falls in the former category; his greatest achievement as a rapper is being so much of an asshole that he’s actually somehow likable. Cam’s asshole qualities are on full display on “I’m Sorry,” a classically callous male response to Foxy Brown’s “Sorry” (that’s Foxy Brown, the ’80’s reggae singer, kids, not the ’90s Brooklyn rapper) over the timeless Taxi riddim.
2. Cam’Ron-“More Gangsta Music”
Another reggae-sampling banger produced by the Heatmakerz. “More Gangster Muzik,” off Cam’Ron’s critically lauded 2004 LP Purple Haze, was crafted from the intro to Sizzla’s “Woman I Need You.”
Can’t forget the honorable mention for “Bubble Music,” also off Purple Haze, which sampled Steel Pulse’s “Blues Dance Raid.” (Shout out to Eddie Huang and Regent Street)
(Version below is instrumental. Hear the real thing here).
This is the king of all Dip Set tunes, the Harlem crew’s theme music, not to mention its first single as a group. Fittingly it’s built from some reggae, specifically the arresting intro from Sanchez’s “One In a Million,” turned into a high-energy crunk anthem by The Heatmakerz. It’s a flip so classic that we named it #1 on our breakdown of the Toppa Top 10 reggae samples in rap.
+1: Cam’Ron, “Family Ties”
Among the many entertaining references to Jamaican culture Cam’Ron has made over his nearly two-decade-long career (and as recently as his latest tune), one of his best and most enigmatic—to some people at least—was the line, “80 holes in your shirt, there: your own Jamaican clothes,” from the Purple Haze cut “Family Ties.” For some this might be a clear reference to the popularity of hole-y string vests (aka “ganzie shirts”) in Jamaica but the line was the inspiration for the popular website Rap Genius, whose founders started the online rap lyric decoder after being confounded by the reference.
(Bonus points to anyone who’s seen Cam riding around Harlem on a BMX bike wearing the tam with the fake dreads, his preferred look for “incognito” missions to his old ‘hood.)
Cam’ron – Family Ties from 92izi on Vimeo.
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