Perhaps Santana’s comment is why the crew felt justified calling themselves The Taliban. ![]() It’s because United States has been going over there trespassing, stealing their stuff… now they make it seem like they came over here and bombed us for nothing.” Santana added that, “if 9/11 had had never happened, I would have never been able to sing that. Rappers love to push the envelope with similes devised to leave fans open-mouthed at both their function and shock value, no matter who gets hurt in the process. But it also exemplifies that there are no sacred cows in hip-hop. Santana’s response reflected the immaturity of the then-20-year-old and his crew. Maybe if they did, something like that wouldn’t happen. A lot of New York people don’t have that. Not that I support him or what he did, but in order for him to do that, it had to take courage and love for what he believed in. In 2002, Santana told NME.com the following about the line: I feel my Diplomats are my team and I’m going to do whatever it takes for them, for my people, the same way as he did for his people. The line was taken out of the version of the song that appeared on Diplomatic Immunity album, but not before causing controversy. Reminds me when I was dealin’ the ‘caine.” Atta is believed to have piloted one of the planes into the World Trade Center on 9/11. On “ I Love You,” Juelz Santana was empathetic to 9/11 victims with lines like “broken pieces of towers left as their graves.” But in the original version of the song, he rhymed, “I worship the prophet, the great Mohammed Omar Atta, for his courage behind the wheel of the plane. ("I'm the realest thing popping since Osama bin Laden, so pay homage.") ![]() On the group's masterful double album, Diplomatic Immunity, they had a song called " Ground Zero" where they declared that they made “9/11 music." However, they also called themselves “the Dipset Taliban” and “Harlem’s Al Qaeda” and compared themselves favorably to Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. ![]() The crew played up patriotic imagery with an eagle as their logo and heavy red-white-and-blue fashion. (Juelz Santana dropped memorable verses on Come Home With Me singles “ Oh Boy” and “ Hey Ma” which pegged him to be next in line for a solo deal.) And he had officially debuted his crew: The Diplomats, aka Dipset, with his friend Jim Jones and hungry young MC Juelz Santana. By that point, Cam’ron’s Roc-A-Fella debut, Come Home With Me, had established him as a star. He would drop Diplomats, Volume 2 later that year. He dropped Diplomats, Volume 1 in early 2002, a project that is often given credit for launching the golden era of mixtapes in the 2000s. He later achieved modest success as a solo artist, going gold with his debut Confessions of Fire - which spawned the minor hit " Horse & Carriage." But after a frustrating stint with Sony's Epics Records, he forced himself off the label and signed to his childhood friend Dame Dash’s Roc-A-Fella Records in December 2001 - two months after the 9/11 attacks. Cam’ron's rap beginnings came in the '90s, as a member of underground rap group Children of The Corn, alongside Big L, "Murda" Mase, Herb McGruff, and Cam'ron's late cousin Bloodshed. He was just a fledgling rapper looking for a break. In September 2001, Cam’ronwasn't yet a rap icon. No act better exemplified this than Harlem collective The Diplomats. Hip-hop had a more complicated relationship: one part patriotic, one part provocative. The terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, were a unifying moment for most of the United States. I'm mad the coke price went up, and this crack won't sell.” It was a very different response, offering commentary on the drug market that the average political pundit probably never considered. Bush decreed that “one of the worst days in America’s history saw some of the bravest acts in Americans’ history.” And rapper Cam’ron said “I ain't mad that the Towers fell. Instead, we have emerged stronger and more unified.” Former President George W. New York City Mayor at the time Rudy Giuliani said that “the attacks of September 11th were intended to break our spirit. In 2001, two hijacked planes crashed into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, killing nearly 3,000 people and injuring thousands more. ![]() No act better exemplified this than Dipset. Hip-hop had a more complicated relationship: part patriotic, part provocative. The 9/11 terrorist attacks were a unifying moment for the US.
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