Jim Jones has declared that contrary to popular opinion, he and his Dipset brethren started the rap group mixtape wave — not G-Unit.
In a lengthy interview with the Flip Da Script podcast, Capo cleared the air over who kicked off the wave of mixtapes from rap collectives that dominated the streets in the early 2000s.
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“Let’s get this right and I’m going to keep it all the way a buck,” Jones said. “We started the mixtape movement, right? And it wasn’t a crew mixtape. We were making real albums and putting them out as mixtapes. G-Unit was doing replays of other people’s beats and making mixtapes.”
He continued: “It was a big difference. We was using our mixtapes as albums to promote our real albums, and off those mixtapes, we were taking singles that the people started loving and started putting them on our real albums.
“But even in that, we put the Dipset mixtape out first before G-Unit put their mixtape out. Now go Google it.”
The Diplomats and G-Unit both released their first mixtape in 2002, with Diplomats Volume 1 coming out before G-Unit’s 50 Cent is the Future that summer. Both tapes would lay down the path for the groups to reach superstardom and elevate the leaders of the respective groups, Cam’ron and 50 Cent.
Although Dipset may have bragging rights when it comes to dropping first, they can’t say they released more mixtapes than 50 and his crew. In total, The Diplomats dropped eight mixtapes, with their last one, American Dream, coming in 2015.
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G-Unit, meanwhile, released an insane 33 mixtapes, and the most recent, the DJ Whoo Kid-hosted The Lost Flash Drive, arriving in 2016 The Queens, New York collective’s mixtape run is also memorable for their beloved G-Unit Radio series, which came with 25 different editions.
The first four G-Unit Radio mixtapes helped build hype for 50 Cent’s groundbreaking debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, which was released in February 2003. Fif celebrated its 20th anniversary on Monday (February 6) by reissuing the album on vinyl.
The Power mogul announced that for one week only, fans can purchase a “personally autographed” vinyl of Get Rich or Die Tryin’ for $399 via his website. The unique offer also ties in with Hip Hop’s ongoing 50th anniversary celebrations.
“20 years ago today, I dropped the largest debuting hip hop album of all time,” 50 wrote on Instagram. “Here’s Your chance to Own a piece of History! Get your Autographed ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Albums Today. Available for the next 7 Days.”
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50 Cent also reflected on his 20-year partnership with Eminem and Dr. Dre, who both played a pivotal role in the success of his blockbuster debut.
“When you have a team like this it’s hard to lose, I’m so blessed to have worked with the best ever,” he wrote on Instagram. “You can re-write a book, you can re-write a song but you can’t re-write history. The 3 headed monster EM, DRE and 50cent. Boom.”
