Juelz Santana has opened up about how the Diplomats’ relationship with Jay-Z’s Roc-A-Fella Records came to an end.
“The world pretty much saw a lot of the tension that was going on,” the 40-year-old said when asked about what led Dipset to leave the label after the release of Cam’ron’s Purple Haze. “Jay and Cam never really… I’m not gonna say ‘got along,’ because it’s like a weird word, ‘never got along.’ Like, we not like kids, but they had a funny relationship. They never really clicked and meshed too well to where it felt like we were truly Roc-A-Fella artists, if that makes sense. Dame [Dash] always showed us that love. … We just never felt like we were truly welcome over there.”
Juelz suggested that he and his Dipset bandmates felt like “the outcasts” of the Roc family. During their time signed to the label, Cam released two solo records, Santana released one, and they released just one group album.
“I think it worked out, I think it was all in God’s plans,” he added, suggesting there’s no bad blood these days and if anything, it was a good move for the group. “I actually ended up staying at Def Jam. … For me, I was already on a major label. So to go backwards would hurt me at that time.” He decided to “stick it out” at Def Jam in order to keep the major label support, but was more on Dame Dash’s “side” than Hov’s.
In the same interview, in an earlier released segment, Juelz spoke about his early interactions with the artist formerly known as Kanye West. “He’s always been that cocky, arrogant, flamboyant guy,” Juelz said of Ye.
Watch the interview above.
