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Back in the early 2000s when Dame Dash signed The Diplomats to Roc-A-Fella Records, rumors began to swirl that there was a confrontation between Dipset and Roc-A-Fella members that caused animosity in the camp (some even said Juelz Santana slapped Jay-Z). And now, we might’ve gotten some clarity as to what actually happened—and allegedly, someone indeed got slapped.
In a recent interview for The Art of The Dialogue, former Dipset member Freekey Zekey revealed that the tension between Dipset and Roc-A-Fella stemmed from a dust up between Jim Jones (of course) and Roc-A-Fella executive, Lenny Santiago. Reminiscing about the incident that began the drama, Zekey said things went left when Dipset called Lenny in order to get some studio time on a Sunday to which Santiago responded, “Kiss my ass, it’s Sunday. What you talkin’ about?”
Needless to say, that didn’t go over too well with Jones and company. The next day they went to the studio looking for retribution. Though he wasn’t around for the actual incident, Zekey says, “I’m pretty sure somebody got slapped or something physical happened to Lenny S.” Looking to kill whatever internal beef there might’ve been within the label, Dame Dash’s solution was for Jim Jones and Lenny S. to simply fight mano-a-mano. He got the two men in front of each other and said, “Lenny S., go over there and fight Jim.’”
That really does sound like something Dame Dash would do, too (LOL).
The proposed fight didn’t actually happen though, as Lenny called some reinforcements in the form of Memphis Bleek’s fam who rolled up in a jeep.
“That’s when it kinda.. the diamond started to… we found something hard enough to start to break the diamond. Because it was like, ‘Hold on, this is Bleek’s people with Lenny S. and y’all n-ggas gonna ride?’ That’s where the divide came from. It was just supposed to just be a Lenny S., Jim Jones fight but I guess Lenny S. called somebody and who he called was Bleek’s fam.”
Could that be the reason why Memphis Bleek once said that Dame Dash threatened to kick him off the Roc-A-Fella label, which in turn led to Dame and Jay-Z’s turmoil?
Regardless of what exactly led to the demise of one of the greatest Hip-Hop labels the game had ever seen, it’s disappointing to know that we could’ve gotten hella good music from Dipset and Roc-A-Fella artists during that period in time only for them to beef internally over egos.
Such a shame.
Check out Freeky Zekey’s talk about the incident below, and let us know your thoughts in the comments section.
The rapper Cam’ron is facing a copyright lawsuit over allegations that he used a 2003 image of himself on t-shirts, jewelry and a slew of other merchandise sold by his Dipset Couture – all without any kind of license from the original photographer.
In a complaint filed Tuesday (April 11) in New Jersey federal court, photographer Djamilla Cochran claimed the “Hey Ma” rapper (real name Cameron Giles) splashed her image — a shot of Cam wearing a fuzzy pink coat and hat while holding a matching flip phone — across a wide range of Dipset products.
She says he also repeatedly posted the image to Instagram to promote those products, which also included shower curtains, pillows, swimsuits, socks and even a birthday cake. The complaint came with numerous screenshots of Dipset Couture’s product listings and Cam’ron’s posts promoting them.
And, according to the lawsuit, Cam’ron was alerted numerous times that he was using the image without a license.
“Getty Images notified defendants of their infringing activities by mail and email on multiple occasions,” Cochran’s lawyers wrote. “Despite those notifications, defendants continued to sell merchandise and continued to display the photograph on website and accounts.”
Reps for Cam’ron did not immediately return a request for comment.
Cochran’s image (featured above) captured Cam’ron at the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week Show in New York in 2003, wearing a flashy color that would become a key part of his brand identity. In 2016, GQ magazine used the photo atop an article titled “Cam’ron Is Very Particular When It Comes to the Color Pink,” saying that the rapper had “defined himself with an iconic pink mink coat” at that fashion show.
While it might sound unfair to a celebrity, the copyrights to a photo are almost always retained by the person who snapped it. Being featured in an image doesn’t grant someone a right to use it for free, and certainly not on commercial merchandise.
That’s not a new dilemma for stars. Over the last few years, Miley Cyrus, Dua Lipa, Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Emily Ratajkowski, LeBron James, Katy Perry and others have all faced copyright cases after they re-used photos of themselves snapped by someone else.
But the lawsuit against Cam’ron is potentially more serious than those earlier cases, which mostly dealt with stars just reposting an image on social media. His alleged unauthorized use of Cochran’s image on numerous commercial products, even after he was allegedly warned to stop, could leave him facing more substantial damages.
According to screenshots included in the lawsuit, Cam’ron had been doing so for years. Instagram posts from his mr_camron handle dating back as far as 2014 show Cochran’s image, including on skateboards, facemasks and reposted in full.
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The LOX and Dipset Verzuz was one of the most memorable moments in Hip-Hop ever. Jim Jones is requesting both groups do a round two.
As spotted on Vibe Magazine the Harlem, New York native recently did an interview with AllHipHop.com. While he discussed a variety of topics include his new album Back In My Prime the hosts got him to speak about the iconic night at Madison Square Garden. Surprisingly the “We Fly High” rapper revealed he thinks a rematch is in order. “I don’t think that energy will ever be duplicated outside of New York unless we go for the rematch, you heard?” explained. “The way I’m thinking about it is last time, there was a lot going on. The venue was way too small. There were people on my back. There were people on people’s shoulders in there.”
Jim Jones also went to say only one venue can really host an event of this magnitude. “I think we need proper respect of doing it in the Garden, the big Garden, with proper security, set up right so everybody have breathing room. Not using it as no excuse, but we need a rematch for the city. I’m putting it out there. I’m putting it out there like Rocky after he lost to Apollo Creed. And we gonna be ready like hot spaghetti.”
Swizz Beatz and Timberland have to comment on exploring a rematch. You can see Jim discuss his dreams for a round two below.
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New York City Mayor Eric Adams isn’t a hit with most New Yorkers, but the local rappers sure do appreciate him, especially Jim Jones.
Speaking exclusively with TMZ Hip Hop, Dipset’s Capo, Jim Jones, had high praise for Mayor Adams and also confirmed the socialite/politician will be working with the rapper on the Mayor’s Cup of Dance coming this summer and will feature some other notable NYC Hip-Hop stars,
Per TMZ Hip Hop:
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TMZ Hip Hop linked up with the Harlem Capo a couple times this week and he was completely floored that Mayor Adams not only bumped up their meeting but also had his aides immediately reach out to get the ball rolling on the Mayor’s Cup.
Jim’s spearheading the dance initiative and is getting all the boroughs involved. He says he spoke to Fabolous and Maino to represent Brooklyn and wants Cardi B and Fat Joe to stand up for the Bronx, and Nas and N.O.R.E. to lead Queens. He’s also planning to include artists from younger generations.
Jimmy also touched on sharing the stage with Drake during his sold-out show at Harlem’s legendary Apollo Theater. He said he appreciated the love he received from Canadian rapper, Future The Prince and the OVO team.
Jones also hopes to reciprocate the love and hop on a track with the 6 God while acknowledging that rap has become more of a young man’s game and warning his contemporaries, both young and old, not to sleep on him.
The Harlem rapper said he would back up his talk with the bars present on his upcoming album Back In My Prime, which will primarily feature production from Hitmaka.
You can peep the entire interview below.
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Photo: Mike Stobe / GettyNayor
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