![]() ![]() ![]() He was faced with a crisis decision where he had an opportunity to avenge the death of a loved one, but he made the right choice by not sinking deeper into an unredeemable, cesspool of the glorification of young blood being shed and other wrong doings. Moments and occurrences in the film that was intended on being serious, life altering in the life of Cam'ron, turned out to be hilarious. Allow me to start with what worked in this film: the unintentional comedic moments? That's right. However, the film, like all films, whether it was a straight to video production or a theatrical release, deserves my critique on why this film sucks. ![]() One of the joys of living in NYC has always been catching the latest sounds from passing traffic and parked cars, and as much as Diplomatic Immunity cuts like the Freeway-featuring “My Love” and the immortal “Dipset Anthem” were made for the club, city denizens can practically feel the wait for the light to change when hearing these songs to this day.I would be wasting my time and anyone else's time on sitting here, typing in the details that makes this film a steaming pile. To music listeners of a certain age, the Heatmakerz were NYC rap radio, full stop: their blend of futzed-with soul samples, tight hi-hats, and basslines so regal they practically deserved coronation sound frozen in amber 15 years later. When he was on, he was on, and his standout verses on Diplomatic Immunity can be seen in retrospect as a moment of self-prophecy when it came to his pure verbal skill.ĭiplomatic Immunity was also a showcase for production team the Heatmakerz, who carry credit for the lion’s share of the record’s production work – and how. When it came to New York City rap in the 2000s, Cam’ron’s run was impressive in how he worked in controlled detonations, like 4th of July fireworks over the East River. The record’s overall legacy has obscured that it actually saw release at a time shortly before Cam’s real big break: his third solo album, Come Home With Me, which dropped a year previous and sported the huge singles “Oh Boy” and “Hey Ma.” But just a year after Diplomatic Immunity would come Purple Haze, his crowning critical achievement that paired the pinks-and-purples of Kanye West’s College Dropout-era production style with the type of spitting that sprayed forth like a dripping thesaurus. In other words, vibe-setting music, if you’re seeking a vibe that includes one-liners like this: “This cat think he sling / Cause he got a pinky ring / Rinky-dink diamonds / They don’t even make your pinky bling.” That’s Cam’ron on the Jefferson Starship-sampling “Built This City,” and his dizzying verbal dexterousness is in pure abundance on Diplomatic Immunity. Anyone with even a passing interest in hip-hop that roamed the streets of Manhattan in the 2000s surely remembers picking up a cheaply-printed Diplomats mixtape from a street vendor (DJ Kay Slay’s Volume 5 from 2005 was a personal favorite), and Diplomatic Immunity was the practical street-legal version of this approach.Īs a whole, the record’s not so much the kind of thing you sit around and listen to in one go as it’s something to keep in your car’s CD changer (if it still has one), or in the background at a party. This largesse harks back to an era in which rap records ran long and languid, but its rambling feel also speaks to the Diplomats’ effectiveness when working in the mixtape format. Their lyrical legacy has been deeply felt through the 2010s, from Das Racist’s smartly stupid hipsterisms to the tricky wordplay of Long Island spitter Roc Marciano and Action Bronson’s pure WTF-worthy audaciousness – but there’s never been a group quite like the Diplomats since, either.ĭiplomatic Immunity was very similarly a product of its time as well: even by today’s stream-busting standards, the collection is large and in charge, spanning two theoretical CDs (remember those?), 27 tracks, and a run time that’s just 15 minutes or so shy of The Shape of Water. A practical showcase for the versatile and at-times dizzying rhymes of Juelz, Cam’ron, Freekey Zekey, Jim Jones, and the then-incarcerated Hell Rell (who still manages to turn a memorable appearance over the prison phone on the beatless “Hell Rell (Interlude)”), Diplomatic Immunity arrived at the perfect time to cement the Diplomats as NYC’s tough-talking court jesters, a quintet effortlessly switching between barbed bars and punchlines so sharp they still draw blood. ![]() Indeed, irreverence – the willingness to say anything, make any joke or turn any phrase, regardless of how profane, potentially offensive, or perplexing it might be – defines Diplomatic Immunity as a whole. ![]()
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