Ties have disconnected between Dip Set’s Juelz Santana and former Dip Set members, Mega and Mayhem (S.A.S.). The abrupt end to the business and personal relationship between UK’s duo and Dip Set’s Santana followed an incident that took place in the UK on August 31st, where promoters and a large crew of 30-40 followers surrounded the hotel Santana resided in, allegedly requesting money owed from Santana’s previous manager, Big Joe, for unfulfilled contract obligations which included 70,000 pounds, allegedly stolen from the promoters for two of Juelz’s performances that never took place.
Santana concluded a two-week European tour where he and S.A.S. touched the stage in various venues including Amsterdam, Sweden, and Switzerland. The night prior to the last scheduled performance the promoters and their entourage requested for Juelz to leave his hotel room and negotiate the fulfillment of former contractual obligations. Juelz allegedly refused to do so, as he requested police escorts.
The Dipset isn't anywhere near as unified as they once were. After a slew of beefs seemingly broke the camp up, Cam'ron claimed he sold Juelz Santana's contract to Def Jam for a large sum of money. Now, after a long time between albums, Juelz is opening up about the beef, the contract, the new deal and more.
"I was upset about the part of me being 'sold for $2 million,'" he told MTV recently. "At times like this, nobody is trying to 'sell' me. I could have come out and said, 'Oh, yeah, Cam got bought out.' But I didn't go that route. They just gotta watch me move. We gonna make it hot."
Durell Mohammed is really confident, so much so that one can feel that same energy three time zones away, oozing through the speaker of a cellular phone. The self-proclaimed “hardest out” has spent the past few hours working the press junket fielding phone calls from various magazines and websites promoting his sophomore opus, yet he still maintains the same exuberance throughout. “Let’s do it,” he excitedly says, obviously aware he’s in a much better zone than he was six years ago.
During the rise of the Harlem-helmed Diplomats in 2002, Hell Rell was watching from the sidelines thanks to a government-sponsored vacation in prison, serving two years for drug charges. However, he was able to contribute to five tracks on the group’s frosh effort, Diplomatic Immunity, including a freestyle recorded over the prison’s phone.
Upon his release the Bronx-born Rell immediately submerged himself in the studio, appearing in everything from music videos to mixtapes, culminating in the release of last year’s debut solo album, For The Hell Of It. A stark contrast to the Harlem World residents, Hell Rell has introduced a more rugged sensibility to the Dips’ flashy style. “I can honestly attest say that I’m one of the key figures to the street credibility of The Diplomats,” he says. It’s perhaps that same insight that’s propelled his status from role player to starter to with his team to cult sensation alongside a constant barrage of street albums and – perhaps surprisingly – a fan-created Internet phenomenon. While his various YouTube videos have shown signs that there is little more to Ruger Rell than just tough talk and unbridled arrogance, as
Hip Hop DX sat down with him it turns out that was only the surface. In Hell Rell’s world everybody’s just a guppy, and he’s the big fish in the small pond.
HipHopDX.com has learned of a potentially controversial situation that has developed involving the A&R department at indie powerhouse label Koch Records, producers who have worked on recent releases for the label, and both former and present Koch artists who feel they have been wronged by the label’s practice of placing the same beats on multiple artists albums.
HipHopDX spoke exclusively with some of the invested parties in this situation: rappers AZ and Jha Jha (formerly of Dipset), producer J. Waxx Garfield, and Koch A&R rep Bob Perry.
HipHopDX spoke with 40 Cal yesterday and the Harlem member of Dipset sounded off on Prodigy’s infamous remarks, rumors on Dipset’s disbandment, the blues influence on hip-hop and more. This all comes on the eve of 40 Cal’s CD/DVD combination, The Yellow Tape, being released on April 1st.
40 Cal on Prodigy’s remarks insulting Cam’ron and Jim Jones, “Prodigy’s remarks? No, I heard about it, but it went on deaf ears kind of. It wasn’t even enough for nobody to start talking about...
