The Diplomats: Harlem Classics

Grade: B/B+

Yesterday, I took a looked at the somewhat brief history of the Dipset/Diplomats crew. In attempts to keep the crew alive, or maybe just make a little more money out of the crew’s music, Duke Da God, the former A&R/Director of Marketting of Diplomats record, has released the Harlem Classics compilation. The 74-minute album is a collection of 22 songs by various members of the crew that never saw a proper release. Most of these tracks could only be heard on mixtapes by New York-based DJs like Kay Slay or Clue, usually ruined by the self-important pair screaming “Exclusive!” or “New Shit!” all over them. Without the DJ noise, Harlem Classics is an interesting look at what could have been.

Just looking at the CD packaging points to legal problems with who can use the Dipset and Diplomats name and logo. The name “Dipset” or “Diplomats” appears no where on the CD’s packaging. The liner notes make allusions the songs on the album are from “the hottest group out of Harlem,” without ever mentioning their name. And this album is being put out by the guy who runs their website. It’s also pretty clear that Duke Da God is probably on the outs with Cam’Ron, because despite Cam appearing on the vast majority of the songs on the CD, his name also appears nowhere on the CD’s packaging. The cover boasts that Harlem Classics features Juelz Santana, Jim Jones, JR Writer, Hell Rell, SAS and “many more.” Yeah, like Cam’Ron, the guy with four gold records to his name and actually started the crew. He might be a selling point.

The actual music is pretty darn good. Throughout Harlem Classics, Dipset members flex the swagger, witty wordplay, and rhyme patterns that earned them their appeal. Cam and Santana, the most talented members of the crew (Zoolander and the Zoo Keeper, respectively, in Cam’s words), shine the brightest on the album, displaying their lyrical dexterity on tracks like “What’s Really Good,” “You’re Gonna Love Me,” “Your Way,” and “The Answer.” JR Wrtier have his moments too, shining on tracks like “Magic” and “Don’t Fool With the Dips.” On the later he drops a ruthless verse over a warped electric guitar and DJ scratches; unfortunately B-teamers like Hell Rell and 40 Cal add nothing to the song. Jim Jones is pretty uniformly awful throughout the album; he should have stuck to doing ad-libs.

Truth be told, it’s better that this album was released independently: many of the songs on Harlem Classics would have been ruined by a major label. Most would never the light of day on a major label release day to sample clearance issues alone. Tracks sample Pilot (“Magic”), the Jackson 5 (“Did You Miss Me?”), Prince (“The Slaughter”), the Coming to America soundtrack (“What’s Really Good”), and ESPN theme music (“Halftime Show”). The best song on the album, “From Bottom to Top” by Juelz Santana, featuring Styles of Beyond, Celph Titled, and Fort Minor (none are in Dipset), samples the guitar intro to Guns ‘N’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine”; No way anyone hears this song on anything except a mixtape.

Maybe it was the best thing for the Dipset to remain a slight about street level crew, dropping heaters to be heard by those who were really dedicated. It’s better than where they are now, a few years removed from “Where are they now?” status.