Three The Hard Way (pause)

Time flies especially when one of your aliases is "The Fly Boys." It's been 10 years since the Cam'ron, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and the rest of that "hooligan gang" the Diplomats (a collective of Harlem hustlers and goons) released their double disc effort, Diplomatic Immunity. Since then they've gone through more then their fair share of label drama, beefs, break ups and make ups. To celebrate the fact that they were able survive the turbulent rap game, they are commemorating the 10 year anniversary of Diplomatic Immunity with a concert tonight at B.B. King.

Of course such an event deserves some shine so we compiled a list of their best songs as a group. No solo spots, just songs where at least two of the three star players rocked out together. Say it with us now... DIP SET! DIP SET! DIP SET! Owwwwwww!

See also: Live: Dipset Brings Pandemonium To The Best Buy Theater

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Drake w/ J. Cole, Waka Flocka Flame, Meek Mill, 2 Chainz, French Montana
Nikon Theater at Jones Beach
Saturday, June 16

Better than: That other suburban rap mega-show.

Well over halfway through his set, having already given the crowd a festival's worth of openers and played everything but his biggest hits, Drake turned to the crowd: "New York, let me show you how much I love you." Four hours in, his Club Paradise tour had bridged the gap not only between openers Waka Flocka Flame and J. Cole or genres like rap and R&B, but also across a wide range of demographics, seating spoiled 16-year-olds rocking "Self Made" tees side-by-side with old-school heads who first heard surprise guest Busta Rhymes on "Scenario," and not "Look at Me Now." But regardless of that, Drake was right: The show's most exciting moments were still yet to come.

At concerts like this, all those demographics share a desire to believe that their performance is particularly special, realer than all the others and put on just for them. Drake, once awkward in these settings, now knows better than to spoil the fun, spending a long ten minutes moving through the crowd singling out the girl 300 feet away in the red tank top and the couple in matching YOLO hats, but as he spun across the stage to the descending piano chords that anchor "Take Care" or called upon The Weeknd's Abel Tesfaye for some unexpected crew love, it was hard to believe that audiences in Akron or Saratoga saw the same thing.

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The Diplomats & Vado
Best Buy Theater
Friday, September 30

Better than: Waiting for the next big NYC hip-hop collective to appear.

"It ain't over! Fuck y'all talkin' about?" Cam'ron emphatically declared at one point during Friday night's celebration of the Diplomats' debut Diplomatic Immunity. He was right. The Diplomats—Cam, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana and Freekey Zekey—have managed to reign as one of NYC's definitive hip-hop groups, despite in-fighting and a relatively limited body of work.

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The year in music, circa 2010, started at the Cake Shop, with a shred-down to the New Year courtesy of Siren Festival MVP-to-be Marissa Paternoster and her band Screaming Females. After a tour through the NYE fetes of the Lower East Side and Williamsburg, that night ended amidst a marathon show at Bushwick's Shea Stadium, right around the time the Blastoids' drummer poured paint on his kit and started splattering away.

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Ay! All photos by Jesse Serwer

The Diplomats
Hammerstein Ballroom
Friday, November 27

Better Than: Byrd Gang, Skull Gang, Purple City, U.N., Dipset West

It seems a little silly, really, this Dipset revival. When times grew lean for the Cam'ron-led crew a few years back, the support staff--from Jones on down--convinced themselves that they didn't need the brains of the operation anymore. This turned out not to be true, of course, and it took Cam'ron getting back with the old gang--right as he was enjoying a rebirth of sorts with new ally Vado--to make people care again. "Salute," the first and, thus far, only track issued by the newly reconstituted crew, is noisy, fresh and kind of undeniable. New York rap doesn't have much else going for it these days, so what the heck.

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Photo of Jim Jones covering "Six Pack" at Death By Audio by Rebecca Smeyne.

Three weeks ago, Dipset capo Jim Jones pulled up at Williamsburg's Death By Audio at around 1:15 a.m. on a Friday night, unfolded his lanky frame out of the passenger seat, strolled through a crowd of befuddled punk rockers, and took the stage with Philly art-rockers Snakes Say Hisss. It made no sense. At the time, all we came away with from Jimmy's surprise performance was a suite of hilarious photographs and a blurry video of Jones rapping "Salute." Now, Damon Dash's Creative Control team have produced a more loving, black and white portrait of the evening. It is equally ridiculous. Behold: made-up gang signs, hipsters making out, a man identified as "David Chang," though we don't think he is, Dame Dash looking bemused, Jones signing an autograph for a girl who looks a lot like Charlene Yi, and maybe the worst version of "Love Me No More" you've ever heard in your life, below.

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Jim Jones gives punk rock the gas face. All photos by Rebecca Smeyne.

These are strange, wonderful times for hip-hop fans in New York. Former Roc-a-Fella mogul and Jay-Z cohort Damon Dash is running a modern day version of Warhol's factory out of a rented loft in Tribeca. Curren$y kills time at Bubby's, down the street (where the other day we dined, in close proximity to Jay and Beyonce). And Harlem's Jim Jones, once and future Dipset capo, will happily jet across the river and crash gnarly DIY punk shows. At least, he did on Friday night, where the impossibly resilient Less Artists More Condos/Under 100 kids threw a party featuring Lionshare, Tough Knuckles (featuring Under 100's Ariel Panero on guitar), Das Racist, and Snakes Say Hisss, who brought Jones out for a supremely awkward and awesome cameo appearance at the end of the night, right before the cops showed up. In the back was Damon Dash himself, looking on with pride--an increasingly regular, though no less shocking, sight at DIY shows citywide. Intrepid photographer Rebecca Smeyne was there, of course; her photos and a bit of crazy-looking video are below.

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If this doesn't say it all, don't know what does

Wyclef's Yele charity has recently drawn a firestorm of criticism, but he's not the only musical figure trying to mobilize folks and funds on behalf of Haiti. There's also an impressive number of benefit concerts and music events happening in the city over the next few weeks, plus a series of ongoing efforts from the likes of Lady Gaga to Clipse to Blink-182. Our exhaustive round-up of the ways artists are attempting to involve their fans, and the general public, in the relief effort, be it downloading a new song (or a great cover of an old one), buying a custom T-shirt, or sending that ever-so-simple text message. Did we miss something? Kindly leave it in the comments.

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HOT 97 belatedly posts footage from Converse's Band of Ballers tournament. The details will be familiar to you by now. But should you be a scout for an opposing team, the video evidence that Asher Roth is terrible at basketball--and that Jones rides a mean skateboard--may come in handy. Also, it turns out HOT 97 will absolutely refuse to film anyone who isn't a rapper and/or video chick. Sorry Matt & Kim, Diplo, and basically everyone else who was there that day. Your legacy will live on in pictures.

Hot 97 & Converse Band Of Ballers Tournament [Rap Radar]

all photos by Puja Patel

The Brooklyn Crew's aggressive (and we suspect, inebriated) group of fans

Converse Band of Ballers
Wednesday, August 12

Yesterday's Converse Band of Ballers was as much of a shit-talking contest as it was a three-on-three tournament. The invite-only event went down at the Church gym in SoHo to a crowd of no more than 200 team friends and affiliates, contest winners, and an overwhelming number of Converse staff members. The All-Star team coaches were Jim Jones (The Jones Family), Asher Roth (The Roth Boys), Diplo (Mad Decent), A-Trak (Fool's Gold), Matt and Kim (The Brooklyn Crew) and Pac Div (... Pac Div). DJ Cipha Sounds was behind the turntables; Hot 97's Miss Info and Peter Rosenberg were on the lighthearted banter. With the exception of Mad Decent's rebellious POPO bros, who both wore neon-print shorts, the teams were, of course, decked head-to-toe in Converse gear--by the number of video cameras on the court, we're sure the game will become an ad campaign for the sponsors. As for the winners, they would go home with bragging rights, a new pair of sneakers and a golden (definitely spray-painted gold) trophy.

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