Dipset, or the Diplomats, are a rap group from Harlem, NY composed of a bunch of members (it’s really sort of a collective), but the 3 main members are: Cam’ron (Killa Cam), Juelz Santana and Jim Jones (of BALLIN! fame). They had a lot of popularity in the early 2000s, being part of Jay-Z’s Roc-a-Fella Records and the associated “chipmunk soul” sound.
Cam’ron had been around for a while, having rapped alongside Big L in the 90s. The Diplomats start coming together in the late 90s and early 2000s, and had made appearances on Cam’ron’s solo albums. With the release of Cam’ron’s acclaimed Come Home with Me in 2002, the Diplomats start gearing up for the release of their group album, Diplomatic Immunity.
But in 2002 the cloud of 9/11 still hung over the entire country, and Dipset, being based on Manhattan, decided to fold 9/11 into their group identity, and started describing their music as “9/11 music.” Numerous lines in their songs (especially Juelz Santana’s verses) relate to 9/11 in some way, referencing al-Qaeda, the Taliban, etc. But they were not really as reverent towards the tragedy as most in the country wanted. They used a lot of patriotic imagery, like eagles and American flags, but the lines in their songs were almost flippant towards what had happened. Most controversially, in 2002 a leaked version of the song “I Love You” surfaced, which included the line
I worship the prophet, the great Mohammed Omar Atta, for his courage behind the wheel of the plane. Reminds me when I was dealin’ the ‘caine.
Santana was taken to task by the media for this, leading him to say to NME in 2002
Anyway this isn’t even Dipset’s best 9/11 line. The album was released in 2003, and these are some great 9/11 lines from it.
Iirc, there aren’t really any good 9/11 lines from this one, it just lays out their mission of making “9/11 music.” I think the whole 9/11 obsession from Dipset is a good representation of how sort of odd victims of U.S. imperialism and fascism felt about the whole thing. On one hand, as Santana says in that interview, he knew people in the towers, it really was a tragedy. But on the other hand, to be on the receiving end of the war on drugs and the U.S. police state and carceral state, gives a different perspective on how bad you can really feel for a symbol of that state. The U.S. did deserve it, not only for the actions in the middle east but their actions at home, but the tragedy is still nonetheless felt. Dipset also used a lot of patriotic imagery, like eagles and American flags, but I think there’s a real sense of irreverence towards the tragedy and sense of detachment from how white America felt about the whole thing shown in how they treat it.
Includes the fantastic line
Fuck the twin towers dog, we on top of the Eiffel
Honestly this song always sort of annoys me. Juelz and Cam keep pausing in their verses, I always feel like they’re building up to something that never comes. Jim Jones has my favorite verse on here (rare) just because he doesn’t pause every couple of lines. But the beat is fire, and honestly I think what I love about this album is it’s just fun, and you can hear these guys just having fun over a great beat here. Also Santana just yelling “Taliban!” every now and then, which he does throughout the whole album.
The original version, with their most famous line which I discussed in the intro. For some reason Juelz always gives me proto-based god vibes idk. He just sounds very stream of consciousness. I think Cam’ron is probably the most skilled member (coming up with Big L will do that) but Juelz will always be my favorite.
A similar line off Santana’s solo album
A young Muhammad Atta, no plane lessons, Cocaine lessons, to supply the towers, OH!
Also Juelz seems to think Manhattan is the only borough on an island? Interesting, especially when one of the boroughs is literally called Staten Island.
Jim Jones gets in on the 9/11 fun with the line
Ayo, my Dipset Taliban/We on these streets like the wars on them streets of Afghanistan/Better yet of Pakistan/To America, Harlem’s Al Qaeda
A theme present over the whole album. They constantly call themselves “Dipset Taliban” and describe themselves as “Harlem’s Al-Qaeda” or “Harlem’s Taliban” throughout the whole album. Hilarious. For the classic rock fans too, the beat is based around the Jefferson Starship song.
A couple 9/11 lines on this one, including my favorite
I’m the realest thing popping since Osama Bin Laden
Also this one that goes on for a while
I ain’t mad, that the Towers fell/I’m mad the coke price went up, and this crack won’t sell/I’m mad I gotta grind harder, hit the block harder/Get some new workers, buy some new product/Get my clientele back, shit I might as well black/Burn the town down one more time, what the hell scrap
Juelz doing 9/11 two
Anyway that’s all the big 9/11 lines I can think of. There might be more, and the whole album is filled with adlibs like Un Kasa starting off the album with “Taliban BITCH.” And it’s a great example of early 2000s chipmunk soul production, mostly Heatmakerz handling production iirc, but also Just Blaze and Kanye (pre-Nazi arc) make appearances. Just a fun album overall.
Dipset are also well known for their mixtapes, many of which are affixed with a little stamp reading “Taliban, Fuck Da Man, I’m Da Man.” If you see on that cover, there’s also plane flying pretty close to those two connected towers…