The lox we are the streets
2003’s Diplomatic Immunity, released under Roc-a-Fella, contains “I Really Mean It,” a song that defines the Dipset era with its swagger and laidback defiance. As such, Dipset made Harlem stand out from the rest of New York.
#The lox we are the streets how to
Cam’ron knew how to make lines like “drinking sake on a Suzuki in Osaka Bay” roll off the tongue with a cool ease that nobody can replicate. Dipset was equal parts weird, rebellious, and musical. Led by Cam’ron, Juelz Santana, and Jim Jones, they were a part of Puffy and Mase’s Harlem World scene in the late Nineties and joined Roc-a-Fella Records in the early 2000s.
The Harlem rap group the Diplomats, a.k.a Dipset, have had a whirlwind of a career. It would have been a crime to miss out.įor those born outside of the five boroughs, some backstory. As a native New Yorker, this was like seeing the Knicks in the Finals.
This was Dipset versus The Lox, Jadakiss versus Cam’ron, D-Block versus Harlem World, Swizz Beatz versus The Heatmakers. It pays to know some good people, especially on this particular occasion. Eventually, I ran into some friends who were able to secure a ticket from a New York Times critic who had an extra.
I wasn’t given tickets outright but was told that if I put in a request they would get back to me via email. I called MSG in the morning and tried to work my polite and boyish charm while talking to the person on the other end of the line. For me, however, there was a real problem: I didn’t actually have a ticket. After all, when you are putting on a hip-hop event, you can expect this sort of thing - big entourages telling security about the connections they have as they try to get into the show. Despite the hectic scene, nobody seems too pressed. Security is telling everyone to move back, encountering issues with holding down a crowd of folks waiting to get into the media entrance. They’re here to see Dipset and the Lox’s Verzuz battle, and some members of Dipset’s entourage aren’t being allowed in. at Madison Square Garden, and the crowd of people outside is restless. In the end, it rests comfortably with a 4.5 star rating (the first half was fire, things tended to slow down a bit on the second half).It’s 8:30 p.m. The ONLY thing that MP&R had that was an edge over WATS was the storytelling, which was lacking on this album. Lyrically they were more sharp and the production fit them so well. The second time around, we got a more focused, aggressive, and inspired Lox, and you almost get the impression that they were held back a little bit during their Bad Boy tenure, because they let loose on all levels here (along with completely burying the "shiny suits" throughout this album, lol). I'm not sure what I was thinking, but it took me quite some time to change my mind, because their debut simply does not hold a candle to album number two. Believe it or not, there was a point in time when I felt "Money, Power, & Respect" was better than "We Are The Streets" (please don't ask me why, lol). Can you imagine these two albums indirectly going "head to head"? Wow.)īefore I offer my thoughts on this album, I want to bring their debut back into the picture. Release date: Janu(Sidenote: Ghostface Killah's second album "Supreme Clientele" was scheduled to be released on this same day, but was wisely pushed up to a February 8th release date. As you would imagine, the buzz for this album was a little bit bigger than the first time around, and with ALL this being said, let's continue on to the year 2000! They quickly linked up with Ruff Ryders (by way of Interscope Records), which turned out to be a great fit for them, now going by Sheek Louch and Styles P for maximum effect (the Jadakiss named remained). The mounting pressure was too much for Bad Boy, so they literally had no choice but to release them, truly a historic moment in hip hop, for the right and/or wrong reasons depending on your perspective. But seriously, they were not happy and they set out to do something about it.When working things out directly with the label didn't work, they truly took things to the next level, starting a "Let The LOX Go" campaign to be released from their contract. When you take into account the buzz they had before their first album dropped, the multiple guest appearances, in and outside of Bad Boy (including the classic "It's All About The Benjamins Remix), and the response to the "Money, Power, & Respect" album (shooting to #1 on the Top R&B/Hip Hop Albums" chart and sitting at #3 on the Billboard 200), their tenure at Bad Boy was largely a success in my book, however, the crew was apparently not happy with the label or the direction of their careers, and that includes the "shiny suits", lol. As I mentioned up top, going into this album, things had drastically changed for Lox, so let's continue with 98 and 99 heading into the year 2000.