Since the Diplomats first got noticed, Jim Jones was respected as a street entrepreneur, but rarely recognized for his song-making. While “Certified Gangstas” relied on plenty of lyrical help for the first album, “We Fly High” marks Jones’ first big unassisted hit. The Uptown anthem has bled its way onto the charts all over the country, and everybody’s “ballin’” because of it.
As proof, for the second week in a row, the white-hot New York Giants will take the field to their personalized rendition of “We Fly High”. Like the G-Men, the Dipset Capo chronicles his hopes of climbing to the top, his competition, and how he’s gonna get money after the game ends, like Tiki Barber.
We Fly High (RMX)
AllHipHop.com: So what’s good Jones?
Jim Jones: Everything’s going good right now, on a promo tour blowing this album [up] and promoting the “We Fly High” and the balling [slogan]. You know we go hard out here.
AllHipHop.com: What’s good with this “We Fly High” version for the New York Giants?
Jim Jones: Shouts to Osi [Umenyiora] and [Michael] Strahan, they shackling and tackling football players and for they celebration they doing the balling dance. They said the song puts an adrenaline rush in them, nahmean? So what can I say?
AllHipHop.com: So are they going to start rocking those colorful belts too?
Jim Jones: Ugh, I don’t know if they gonna rock those belts during game, but if they want to get fly, they can cop a couple thousand dollar belts and get fly with it.
AllHipHop.com: Where do you cop the belts?
Jim Jones: It’s Juelz’ and mine belt company. It’s called PB & JJ’s.
AllHipHop.com: When did you get that jumping?
Jim Jones: A couple of months ago.
AllHipHop.com: What do you think of Tiki Barber’s possible retirement next year?
Jim Jones: Man, you know after you put that work in and you get your paper and you do what you came to do, everybody wants to rest. It is what it is. It’s no rest until you get a break. So I guess he hit it and made his number, so let that man rest.
AllHipHop.com: So have you already started thinking about retiring yourself?
Jim Jones: Umm, I don’t know. I’ll probably resign from this job and do something different.
AllHipHop.com: What do you have in mind?
Jim Jones: Whatever the green things is at.
AllHipHop.com: So what’s the album looking like?
Jim Jones: Oh, the album Hustlers P.O.M.E. (Product Of My Environment), it’s a beautiful thing. Pardon me for saying I’m balling so hard, because we are making a couple of dollars. I haven’t forgotten where I came from, nahmean? We still ain’t getting no opportunities out there, they ain’t giving us no jobs. Most of my n***as got felonies on their chest. We [are] forced to do things that other people wouldn’t. The rent still got to be paid and Black people still need to be fly, and things need to go on and that’s what the album is about, that hustle. <
C#### Santana executive produced the album with me. I got the whole Diplomats on there, Killa Cam, Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey. He’ll be home Thanksgiving. I got Weezy on there; I got the R&B singer Rell on there. We going in.
AllHipHop.com: Did you have any indication that “We Fly High” was going to be so big?
Jim Jones: Ah man, I had no idea that “We Fly High” would be like that. I knew it was a good song. I knew what it would do in New York, but I didn’t know that it would touch the entire country like it did.
AllHipHop.com: Loon been talking greasier than cheese steak meat about you and the Dips since he scrapped up with .40 Cal, any words for that situation?
Jim Jones: I think Loon pulled out a shovel on him, but .40 Cal still handled his ass. But that’s hearsay, that s**t don’t mean nothing to me, ya dig?
AllHipHop.com: Speaking of .40, any reason why he dropped his album on a real small label like Cleopatra rather than going through your Diplomats Records imprint through Koch or your Byrdgang label through Asylum?
Jim Jones: He did a mixtape, that wasn’t his album. He still Dipset Byrdgang, he got few thousand for that, [so] why not?
AllHipHop.com: Also Styles P has been running with the title of hardest out and Hell Rell been making mention in his rhymes he the hardest, how do you feel about the competition?
Jim Jones: Look man, this game is built on the best of competition, smell me? Everybody feel like they’re the realest or the hardest out and that’s what they rhyming about. I congratulate both of them for feeling they the hardest out. They both do beautiful music, so go hard.
AllHipHop.com: What’s good with Max B? He recently got pinched on a robbery charge?
Jim Jones: Ugh, Max B, that’s [a case of] mistaken identity. He’s been caught up on some bulls**t, he’ll be home in a minute, a quick one, nahmean? He got lawyers on the case and that’s that, so we good.
AllHipHop.com: You said earlier that Zeek is getting out Thanksgiving?
Jim Jones: Yeah, Freekey coming home for Thanksgiving, he’s going to get to eat some of that Turkey and all of that. So we’re getting ready for Zekey to touch down right now.
AllHipHop.com: So what’s his coming home party looking like?
Jim Jones: Man, an extravaganza! [Laughs] November 3, I got a big Thanksgiving bash in the city, we going to party hard!
Allhiphop.com: On your new song “Alarm.” You spit, “Well I heard Mike Jordan came back to ball again (Werd)/He might meet Iverson, crack and fall again (it’s them stiff knees)/ Yes I am Balllin’/Executive n***a like Kev, Lyor and them (Capo).” Do you think Jay-Z is done?
Jim Jones: I was just talking about Jordan…
AllHipHop.com: Come on Jones, don’t front for me…
Jim Jones: [Laughs] Hey, like I told you this game is built on the best of competition, and I am an aggressive competitor nahmean? I am going to put it out there. I am not going to put it out there distastefully, if you listen to it, it was about the art. At the same time I’m living fast. We don’t live for the old folks.
AllHipHop.com: So what’s next after this album?
Jim Jones: I’m going to start filming two movies after this album. I got two feature films I been asked to be apart of, so I’m about to start my acting career.
AllHipHop.com: Last time you and me kicked it during your promotion of Diary Of A Summer you dropped a jewel on me about the hood getting you high and the game making you famous before they make you rich. What’s your jewel for today?
Jim Jones: Aye man, it ain’t nothing. Just get it together out there. I keep telling people that the game is in a state of emergency for a few reasons. So if you don’t have some integrity about this underworld secret society, or this industry of ours, we finna loose it all, nahmean? They keep putting people on our back, and they got us under surveillance because we young, Black, and we rich. And they can’t stand that. Money begets power and they don’t want us to have any power, you know what I’m saying, so when I say “stop snitching,” I don’t advocate any violence or any crime, I’m just trying to tell you don’t do the crime if you can’t do the time. There’s people out there that live illegally and that’s all they got, and this ones for them, ya dig?