Jim Jones Interview (Courtesy Of Complex)

Things have changed dramatically for Jim Jones in the past three years. Sure, he’s

still the slick-talking, swaggertastic Harlem Diplomat, but you’d be wrong to call him just another hot rapper. In addition to proving that artists on an indie label
can sell healthy, Jones recently inked an out-of-the-ordinary 50/50 venture deal with
Sony. Although the strained relationship he’s had with Dip Set partner Cam’ron has been the talk of the rap community as of late, nothing clouds Jones’ focus on making sure his business game is proper. We caught up with Capo at his video shoot for his latest single, “Love Me No More,” to talk Cam, Jay-Z, money, and what he likes to call swag-splashin’.

By Joe La Puma
Photos by Jared Ryder

Complex: It was reported that Juelz hasn’t spoken to Cam in 3 months, what’s the status from a relationship standpoint between you three?

Jim Jones: We’re all grown men, at the end of the day, we’re still friends, we’re still brothers. Juelz took a moment off to get his music together and come back stronger than ever. Cam took his own hiatus and that’s what goes on. As far as we’re concerned it’s still Diplomats, it’s all Diplomat business, nothing’s changed, the bird still flies high, Byrd Gang/Skull Gang, let’s do it.

C: Cam seemed like he was in the leadership role up until about a year ago, what do you think the main reason was for the shift of power?

Jim Jones: Cam’s still in the leadership position; we started this thing together, we’re partners, that’s my partner. We’re CEOs of this, and he has his own business that he does, and that’s how it goes. It’s still a business above all when it comes to Diplomats, but everyone has their own ventures that they become bosses of and making money off.

C: When’s the last time you spoke to Cam?

Jim Jones: Last time I saw him was Christmas Eve, we were both in the bank doing bank withdrawals. In the best place we could ever run into each other, in the bank ’cause we’re getting money, ya dig? That’s that Diplomat shit right there. Ain’t that the best place to run into somebody, like “What’s up? I’m coming to get a quick $30K, what you coming to get,” he’s like “I’m about to get a quick $40K,” I’m like shit we’re still getting money, I can’t get mad. That’s just for Christmas, just for the pocket.

C: Did he mention anything to you about going on stage with 50?

Jim Jones: Jones: He can’t tell me what I can do. I’m a grown man, I’m a boss of this shit, what I do for my own career and what I do for publicity is what I do. I always have my own edge, and there’s a method to my madness. It works for me and it works for us at the end of the day. I got a song with Game right now, so nobody can tell me what the fuck to do, and when to do it. I do what the fuck I want to do if it makes sense for me, and where I’m goin’. As long as it’s not going to taint the brand, you can’t tell me shit.


C: How did the Sony deal come about?

Jim Jones: Hard work, all the work I put in as far as having the last most three incredible years a person could have on an independent label. I’ve sold more records than most of the major artists this year. Jay-Z just barely made platinum by the skin of his teeth on that American Gangster, and if you ain’t go platinum you’re definitely not making any money. I don’t know why you’re renegotiating, you haven’t even recouped. What people don’t know about Juelz Santana is that he’s a platinum plus artist. Last time he left the game, he sold over a million records, so he’s as good as when he left. Imagine what he would have renegotiated for. This is what people don’t understand, this shit is all about money for us. We can do what we want to do, we want to take a little time off, we’re going to take a fucking break. We want to come at you niggas, we’re going to come right at you niggas, right to your doorbell, like bing-bong! What’s hoppin’? You in there?

C: Who do you respect on a corporate thug level?

Jim Jones: Dame Dash. Dame is the ultimate corporate dude, it doesn’t beat Dame Dash. He came in this game, he accomplished what he dreamed of and he sold what he came in for. That’s what it’s all about for you being able to sell your thing for millions of dollars. This is what Dame has done as far as having his Rocafella conglomerate and then he disappeared from the game because he didn’t need it. He’s rich beyond belief. But you’re going to see a lot of him now because he’s been consulting me on some things, you may see us running around on TMZ or channel 5 or something like what’s hoppin’?

C: Has your relationship with Dame got stronger since he left the Roc?

Jim Jones: You know how long I’ve known Dame? Since I was six, literally. When I knew Dame, no one was famous. During elementary and high school, even though he was always older than me. He’s one of my mentors; I fuck with Dame, sincerely. He’s that dude, he’s the real.

C: You think Dame would be a good replacement for Jay, now that Jay stepped down?

Jim Jones: Did he leave Def Jam, or was he fired? Or was he weak? Which one? What happened with Rocafella?

C: How do you feel about Roc?

Jim Jones: I’m about to throw them a raffle, we’re going to write their [Rocafella] artists on a piece of paper, give me a hat. The name we pick we’re going to give them a deal. [Laughs.]

C: What do you think is the main the reason for their turmoil?

Jim Jones: I don’t know what their turmoil is. You know why I’m pissed off at him [Jay-Z]? He was my favorite rapper and then he just went out like a dud. He had a chance to do the unthinkable and then he did the unthinkable. Where I’m from, loyalty is everything, above and beyond everything. When you violate that, it fucks everything up. Especially when you were the hustler’s poster child and you chose to become a corporate stepchild. That don’t make sense when you’re all black-owned. I took an executive position because I didn’t know the game, I took it to learn both sides of the game; there’s a difference.

C: How did you feel about the American Gangster album?

Jim Jones: It was a cool gimmick; he geared it around the most popular movie of last year about gangsters and shit like that, and that’s what hip-hop personifies, this gangster rapper image. He seems to be infatuated with Harlem from way back in the day and this was his opportunity. I say some people do soundtracks to the movies and we do soundtracks to the streets, which we live on, which we came up on, which made us. I’m not going to discredit him, he makes a good song every now and again, I don’t hate on anybody’s music; when he has a good one, he has a good one. There are a few songs on American Gangster that I did appreciate, I can’t front, he got off on a few.

C: Which ones did you like?

Jim Jones: The shit with Nas, he got crazy on it. “How many times can I go to Mr. Childs?”

C: Has your perception of those two working together changed at all?

Jim Jones: For somebody trying to stay in the game and keep life and get off the respirator and say they came out of the coma, it’s good. I’m not knocking nobody’s hustle. I’ve become older and some of my childish grudges, I’ve let go of a little bit. What I call a stupid move may be a smart move for him. Maybe that’s all he can accomplish or all he can negotiate. For what it’s worth, he [Nas] was in a position where he had to deal with [Jay-Z]; he was the president of that label. For me, though, I would have never done that. I’m my own boss by all means; I figure for a person of that stature who has put so much work in the game and is a veteran, I thought he would never do that move. Sign of the times goes to show you though; people play chess in a different way. You’re either a king or a pawn.

C: What’s the deal with your reality show?

Jim Jones: This is a reality show, my life without the cameras. VH1 is digging in. I didn’t think that YouTube clip was going to even pop up on the Internet, to tell you the truth, big baby. But they caught a real life moment. Who am I to say anything?

C: How important is Internet marketing now?

Jim Jones: Very important. Everything is viral! I just learned that word the other day?everything is fucking viral. I guess that’s the Internet, MySpace and YouTube and Bossip.com, all that type of shit.

C: Are you going to focus more on the net?

Jim Jones: I’ve been doing pretty good on the internet for the past few years. I think I’m still in the top five when it comes to viral artists, independently. Shit, I do my thing, I can’t complain, but we’re going to take it to another level now that we have more money and more opportunities and people that own certain viral situations.

C: A few weeks ago, I heard some cuts off the new tracks with your artist NOE on them, he sounds pretty similar to Jay-Z?

Jim Jones: You were sneaky peeking? How you felt about that? We’re not trying to be like nobody, we’re just trying to do excellent music. There are similarities between everybody, if he didn’t make good music, you wouldn’t be inquiring. Fab sounded like Mase when he first came out, did he not slide right in and start getting Mase’s sales? Who Shyne sound like? Shyne sounded like B.I.G, did New York not start loving him? C’mon, let’s get money. It’s all about business here, 90 percent business 10 percent music. I got the 10 on the music and the 90 on the business.

C: Does the new album have any shot of having another “Ballin’”?

Jim Jones: That’s what everyone’s going to hold me accountable for because it was a very strong record, it made history. This is music, though, I don’t plan on giving you another “Ballin’” I’m planning on giving you another record that’s emotional and that you’ll be able to feel. Fuck a “Ballin’,” I am ballin’. That’s what I gave it to you for, now I might swag-splash you give you a little bit of style, ya dig?

C: With rap sales down?

Jim Jones: Whose rap sales are down?

C: Well, the majority of rappers?

Jim Jones: Then say that!

C: OK, with the majority of rap sales down across the board, what other hustles are you looking into for 2008?

Jim Jones: Whatever I can get my hands on. I’ve been doing the fashion thing, I was at Fashion Week, learning everything from top to bottom. From the real chic to the urban demographic. We’ve indulged in liquor, I’ve gotten better at that. If you think back to “Oh Boy,” we were the first people with smell-goods, but we didn’t know how to do a deal. Now that I’ve seen people have exploited the “smell-goods” market, I’m going to jump back into that. You might catch me on the side of a bus- in Calvin Klein ad, spread out [does modeling pose], BAM! Holla at me, ’cause I gets moneyyy!

C: Going back to Dame, how did you feel about The Untouchables?

Jim Jones: It gave you the real thing, it gave you the raw. It had detectives that were involved, the D.A.’s that were involved, some of the players that were involved, the emotions that were involved. Some of the people today are still hurt on the face of disloyalty that Nicky Barnes has shown. From a Harlem perspective, before the snitching, Nicky Barnes embodied everything that we were about. Going hard hustling, fly, flashy, taking care of his people, creating a bond amongst people, and then he violated everything he built due to his own selfishness. I guess he didn’t watch some of the movies, when you choose you choose, and the bitch chooses who she wants to be with.

C: Is snitching ever OK?

Jim Jones: Nah. Let me tell you like this. You have to have integrity in everything you do. Snitching is at its worst when you snitch on a friend you built a bond with. A loyal friend that would never think of what you’ve done-to do something that would discredit them, or lock them up and take them away for life, that’s like death. There’s a thin line between love and hate when it comes to snitching. Where we’re from, don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time, why would you try to find a scapegoat to suffer your consequences? Wrong is wrong, everybody has to get dealt with accordingly.

C: Right.

Jim Jones: There’s a justice system for everything, and we can’t say we hate police because they hold order in this world. As much as we like to say we hate them, and fuck them and shit like that, and that they do us wrong, at the end of the day if there was no police everyone would be running around here like it was the Wild Wild West with guns and shit on them getting busy.

C: You’ve said you’re an emotional person, on 106 and Park you got emotional, what has the response been to that?

Jim Jones: For what it’s worth, there’s been a great response. A lot of people have told me for what I have done, it was very powerful. A lot of people don’t want to step out in that form or fashion, and it’s touched my family in a way where I couldn’t wait for an opportunity to speak out. There’s not too much of a human element in rappers, before they started they were very humble, then they get a little bit of money and they get vain and obnoxious. Then when they get knocked back off they want the same favors as before, but as it turns out they’ve burned a lot of bridges. For what it’s worth, I hope that what I did shows we do have a human element.

C: Where do you get the hot-shot dialect from?

Jim Jones: My swag? I’ve been swag-splashin’ these niggas. It comes from coming up in the ghetto. Coming up in the gutter, coming up amongst the pimps, the hoes, the hustlers, the thieves. I was what you’d call a prince amongst thieves, and I still am. There’s some honor in that, I was allowed to roam where I wanted to roam, I was allowed to learn the game from all angles. A fast tongue is what you needed to have if you were a hustler, if you were trying to get money, fast hands what you need to have if you wanted to survive in the streets and fast feet is what you had to have if you wanted to get away from them cops. Coming up in Harlem, all the flash? I mean all the flash like everything you can imagine. The dice games, you go to one dice game you’ll learned all new slang it’s unbelievable. We could do a big article on dice games, and how much slang comes out of a dice game, how much quotable you have in one dice game. Niggas start betting thousands, and niggas start talking greasy! That grease starts falling out their mouth, that can of oil, ya dig!