Keri Hilson sells 94,000 copies

People thought Keri Hilson would do rather poorly in sales but turns out the girl did fairly well. According to Nielsen Soundscan, in her first week Keri Hilson's In A Perfect World has sold 94,000 copies debuting at number 4.

Though these numbers are not an indication that her first studio album is flying off the shelves, it still shows that she has built up quite a following. Can she go Gold before the end of the month? We'll see.

Right behind Ms. Keri, Jim Jones moves 42,820 units of his album Pray IV Reign landing in the top 10 at number 9. With the confidence that Jim displayed you would think his album would have grown wings and flown into the hands of his fans. Judging by his sales, it just goes to show that a humble mouth is a better one. Seeing that Cam'ron is not interested in dealing with Jim, he will have to step his game up to get the approval of the once Dipset fans.

A Sneak peek at Jim Jones' documentary

Check out the documentary that chronicles the life of Jim Jones' brought to us by Vibe...



Isn't it interesting how Jim can be so well mannered when he wants to be?! I love it when we get a look into the lives of the artists that contribute to music, it allows us to get a better understanding of who they really are.

Jim Jones is ready to do business with Cam'ron

Jim Jones sat down and spoke with Flex of Hot 97 about his new ventures and the fact that he's been a little selfish in reconciling with Cam'ron.

He also said that he was ready to speak with Cam'ron and "do business".



This is great news. A lot of people have been waiting for the two of them to get back together and kiss and make up. However, it seems really opportunistic of Jim. His album drops today and judging by what he said and the reason why he wants to get back with Cam'ron it is mainly for business purposes (M.Y. summation of course).

I guess they need to start somewhere why not start on a business stand point. Let's see how this turns out.

A Message From Jim Jones: "F*ck a blog, we rob"

Dear Jim,

In the good words of Flavor Flav...Wooooowwwwww.

Sincerely,

M.Y.

Video: Did Cam'ron really speak to Jim Jones?

I am confused. Cam'ron recently sat down with MTV and told them that he and Jim had finally spoken after a long drawn out feud between the once BFF's, but now Jimmy is saying nay to said conversation.



Obviously someone is lying. Why would Cam say he spoke to Jim if he didn't? Could it have been for much needed promotion to get the media hounds going bonkers over a Dipset reunion?

OR

Is Jim just messing with us? I mean, he didn't sound like he was in the mood to talk on the radio show in the clip above.; or maybe the feud is helping his name stay relevant until his album drops, assist in sales if you may. I guess we will have to wait and see how this goes.

Video: Jim Jones-Na Na Nana Na Na

Here is the new video from Jim Jones for his song "Na Na Nana Na Na", I feel like I'm in grade school typing that.

Jim Jones - New Music - More Music Videos

I have to give it to Jim, he has a lot more character in this video and I am finally seeing him as a seperate entity from Dipset; however, I really do not like this song. I see someone is not feeling the recession, kudos to him all of us would be so lucky.

The lighting in the video is very creative but it has been done before. I believe Kanye did this at numerous performances, and the falling money is super cliche; though I would sell my cablevision remote to be even in the next room of where that was happening.

I give this video a yummy B for entetainment and wishful thinking for 3 minutes, if only money did fall out the sky.

Cam'ron finally talks to Jim Jones!

In a feud that has lasted more than a year between two friends that everyone thought would never have a fall out, is coming closer to the end now that Cam'ron and Jim Jones have stopped acting like little school kids and actually exchange words.

Cam'ron recently revealed that after a long time of not speaking, he and Jim Jones finally broke the ice,

"Hell Rell and J.R. Writer, they always check in. Everybody has been reaching out. I've been the one kinda saying Cam is going to take time do Cam. But Hell Rell and J.R. definitely been reaching out. I called [Freekey Zekey's] phone four or five days ago and Jim picked up Zeke's phone. Me and him spoke for about 10 or 15 minutes, but me and Zeek speak all the time. I haven't spoken to Juelz."

So how did the conversation go?

"It was cordial. He knew it was me. He said we was gonna holla — maybe we'll put something together. But in the immediate future, I'm just doing Cam. But you never know what can happen down the line. I called Zeke's phone and I guess Zeke gave Jim the phone to pick up. We just talked, asked about each other's family. He said he's on a promo tour. He'd be back soon. That was that."

Is this the end of the split between Cam'ron and the rest of the Dipset crew? Hey you never know. Let's just pat them on the back for having a "pleasant" conversation. Soon they will be the best buds they once were.

Inside the pages of XXL magazine

Talk about juicy drama! The March issue of XXL gives just that. Finally the Dipset crew speaks out on the abrupt departure and missing Cam'ron and the dismantle of the group. The revelations in the interview goes to show that loyalty truly isn't everything.

Before reading the interview I'll be honest, I thought that there was some real grimy activity going on in the foreground. But now that I've read it I think I understand both sides; I do however feel there are some thing's that were chosen to remain a secret, but that's just me I happen to be very suspicious of shady characters.

This interview was a little different. Vanessa Satten (the person that conducted the interview) interviews all of the remaining members of Dipset; they consist of Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, and Freekey Zekey.

What's great about it is that there are different parts and sides to said drama and that makes for a buffet of answers. Here are a few excerpts from the XXL interview.



Juelz Santana on his contract issues with Cam'ron,

"It was a bad deal. He owned so much of my sh*t and everything, he just practically, owned more than what I owned, and it got to a point where I just wanted to get the situation right. I didn't want nothing back. And it's like he wasn't trying to get it right. He wasn't trying to give me what I felt like I was owed. It's like he directed us, and when we got to brick by brick. All he was doing was directing us, and when we got to the top of the building, he don't even wanna share the sandwiches. It's lunchtime now. He wanna give us pieces of a sandwich, and he got one big hero, and we getting pieces. Like, 'Come on now. The building is built. You gotta respect us on another type of level'. And as far as clearances... I was running in that same lane Wayne was running in. But I couldn't...Nike, I did that commercial-that got pulled. I'm still damn near in some shit with them. Just wild shit he didn't clear. I was on over half those remixes that Wayne was asked to be on. Not that the asked Wayne before me, or they asked me before Wayne, but, you know, me and Wayne had the whole I Can't Feel My Face"

Juelz on having a fake title on Diplomats,

"Yeah. It's, like, Cam is still Diplomats. We was all put in a situation where Cam told us we had roles that we never really had. We had invisible roles. And it got to a point where we was like, Damn... To be honest, Jim was never the capo, like on paperwork. I was never the [vice] president. Cam owned everything."

Freekey Zekey on why he can't mend the relationship between Cam'ron & Jim Jones,

"Cam needs to humble himself and be like, 'F*ck it, we here, let's rock out'. That's my honest opinion. And Cam know I love him. This is basically my shout-out to him".

Jim Jones on why he and Cam fell off (subliminally),

"I don't know. Somebody told me that you never know who your friends are 'till y'all have money. And I don't know what he meant by that, when he told me, but a bit of it makes sense, because when you broke, you thick as thieves, and you do everything together. But when you get money, you seem to get jaded."

Jim on being the pillar of Dipset,

"I was one of the pillars to hold the whole thing up. I did what I had to. I did what we agreed I would do. That would be take care of the business and whatever else I had to do to make Cam'ron famous and make us some money. And once Cam got famous enough, then he would be able to make us all artists and make us into something that would be relevant to making some paper. That's what went on...I don't know if I always aspired to rap. I don't know that that was my thing. I just knew that I had it. I just had something in me since I was younger that-since school, since high school".

Jim on loyalty,

"Loyalty becomes a bad thing when the person-or anything that you're being loyal to--doesn't have the same love, respect and loyalty for you. If they just use your loyalty and have an ulterior motive for you, then what good is it? it's just crazy that you'd be willing to put your life on the line for something you believe in... And that person or that thing doesn't appear to do the same thing, or doesn't have a way to do the same thing, if it came down to it. So it was like, hmm".

Jim on possibly jinxing the feud *eyebrow raised*,

"I think I might have jinxed us. Me and Cam was talking a long time ago about somebody that was breaking up. I was saying that would be kind of crazy if we was to break up but fake it--like, act like we was mad at each other and then get back together and make all this money off of it. And Cam was like, "Why would you say something like that? Don't start talking no stupid sh*t." I'll never forget that. And now I'm like, What the f*ck, is this an ill paradox? I be thinking about that sh*t all the time. Hopefully, we could get this money, 'cause Lord knows there's a lot of private jets".

Interesting, I know! I don't feel that crazy after reading this interview when I said I thought the break-up was a marketing ploy, who knows I'm probably still bugging, or am I?

I believe that Cam left for more reasons other than the falling out between he and Jim. If you can remember, he was shot in October of 2005 twice by unknown carjackers trying to steal his car at a stoplight and might have still been going through some other personal issues. Either way I see why the group may have needed to back stab Cam; they had to eat...right? Luckily, we get to get all sides of the story because conveniently enough, Cam'ron is the cover boy for XXL's April issue. We will finally get the full spectrum of the truth.

This issue of XXL is on stands now! Make sure you pick up your copy.

Jim Jones and Co. does XXL

Fresh month, fresh off the press mag covers. In this edition, Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, and Freekey Zeky all grace the March issue of XXL.

Is this the future of hip hop?! *shutters at the thought*

Side Order: We can say whatever about ol' Jimmy boy, but the man is doing big things. I think the overall agenda is to take Cam's spot as the leader of Dipset. Got loyalty? We'll see...

Oh but wait! There's more?

So, I was surfing the Internet minding my own cyber business when I stumbled upon the left-out portion of Jim Jones interview with Complex at rap basement. He is clearly delusional. I don't know what ha ha Dame's been feeding this guy but whatever it is, It is high time for Jimmy to go on a verbal diet and quick. He can do better than Jay-Z?!...but you really suck! It baffles me how someone can be so cocky and so wack all at the same time SMH.

Anyhoo catch the entertaining and "huh" infused rest of the interview that didn't make it in the mag. To read a snippet of the interview that appeared in Complex click here.

Complex: You said that at one point, Jay-Z was your favorite rapper and then he went out “like a dud.” When did your perception of him change? 


Jim Jones: When he went from being a boss to an employee and he had no reason for doing that. I took a job with Kevin Liles and them because I had all the reason in the world to do that—I’m a hustler and I wanted to learn the whole game from the inside out. At that point, when Jay went corporate, he already knew the whole game. Roc-A-Fella was on a roll that nobody could probably stop, ever. So when you downshift and you go from wanting to run your own ship to being on a crew on somebody else’s ship, I don’t care how big the ship is, it’s not the same. You lose the power. You lose the equity, and to me it’s like you just sold your soul. You fell into the loop. And you supposed to come from the street—we’re supposed to always set our own precedent and do it the way we wanna do it.

Complex: I see…

Jim Jones: That’s why he made so much money and sold so many records. Not to be a part of their world; you always have to do it your way, and let them come to our world. Convert to their world and you’ll never get business done that way. You have to have a business mind but for the most part when it comes to your artistry and who you are and your persona—it’s like, shit I ain’t changing for nobody, why should I? As long as this billing is coming in, you should be happy and I should be happy.

Complex: How do you feel about Jada going to the ROC. Does that surprise you?

Jim Jones: I don’t know, some people got to do business moves. Some people don’t have enough power to do things in their own regard, so they do things to create some type of hype. Some type of niche that would reel people in to get people to look at them. I guess he felt that him doing the Roc-A-Fella thing would give him that. Me, myself, I don’t think it would’ve given him anything whether he would’ve done a deal with a real label or not. [Roc-A-Fella] is not even a real label no more. Like I told you, L.A. Reid owns it. You smell me? They sold it. That’s why Dame is in here with us—he made money off that. Who owns it?

Complex: Are you cool with anyone from Roc-A-Fella?

Jim Jones: There isn’t really any Roc-A-Fella. Wheres Roc-A-Fella signed to? Who owns Roc-A-Fella? Jay don’t own Roc-A-Fella. L.A. Reid owns Roc-A-Fella and there’s no Roc-A-Fella artists. Not even Jay, for that matter. He hasn’t sold any real incredible records for him to be saying that he’s the best in the world. People are selling circles around his sales, but his publicity and his star power has overcome anything. Then you know, he got the Beyonce factor, which is a great factor for him.

Complex: Have you ever run into Beyonce?

Jim Jones: Nah, we don’t deal with that. That’s a different part. We stick to what we’re doing. Smell me? We don’t violate that. Gangstas don’t do that. No women no children. Smell me?

Complex: Going back to Dame getting money, there have been reports that he’s in financial trouble…

Jim Jones: For us, it’s a joke to even be here, and to say he’s having financial troubles…meanwhile we’re living multi-million-dollar lives. I tell people, my house is pretty big. Most people call it a church, but Dame’s apartment is bigger than my house. So, I keep asking people, if that’s the case, how broke can he be? It’s just the media, it’s what they get paid to do. They don’t promote the positive.

Complex: This year, it seems like Dame has been really focused on trying to make you a star. Some people have compared his drive to the way he pushed Jay-Z at the beginning. How do you respond to that?

Jim Jones: Shit, that’s a great comparison. If you look at it, Dame did alright for Jay-Z. That old nigga has cake, he’s paid. So how bad can that be? Dame made history, he started Roc-A-Fella records, and I’ve seen it. I watched the first Roc-A-Fella fitted he had on his head that he made from a 3rd Avenue store when it was just stitched on and shit. He’s a historical person, he’s done it and he’s done it well. He not only did it with Jay, but he did it with Kanye; he set a precedent for niggas that want to become something in this game, who come from the street and want to make a lot of money. Dame is a beast—when I was younger, I always admired his hustle. I can do more. I don’t need to use rap as a crutch for the rest of my life. I can rap and I can do the business, I can model and do the business, I can own a production team. It’s a big difference over here, [Jay-Z] can’t do that. He’s not that savvy, not that fly, I don’t think he’s that handsome. All he has is a gorgeous flow—my momma raised a gorgeous child.

Complex: You always point out that people dress like Jim Jones, but there’s also a lot of people who dress like Kanye and Lupe. How do you feel about that?

Jim Jones: Shit, more power to them, but I don’t indulge in that world. That world is more of a nerdish-type of world. No disrespect to nobody, but that’s not what we do on this side. I come from the hood, so I get fresh and I get fly and it’s a little bit more comfortable than others. That type of dressing starts to get tight at certain points. That’s not us. But some girls like that, ya dig?

Complex: These young cats are getting their chains snatched left and right. What advice can you give to folks like Yung Berg?

Jim Jones: If you that bold to talk about it, then you should be bold enough to know that there might be consequences to suffer if you get caught slipping. And they said that Berg’s chain was fake too. That Voltron shit. But you know, 95% of the rappers out there are rocking fake jewelry. These niggas got chains and diamonds on bigger than Zamunda. And they don’t have a fucking sale on the SoundScan. With no sales, how can you do shows? With no shows, how can you get real money?

Complex: On your new album, there’s a few songs for the ladies. What type of women are you trying to attract right now?

Jim Jones: Like the one I got at home. Very sexy, intelligent, street-savvy and knows how to put it on when she needs to.

Complex: You keep bringing her up…is this the “one?”

Jim Jones: Yeah, definitely. 


Complex: How long have you been together with her?

Jim Jones: Four years. We’re not married yet. We’re getting there though.

Complex: How many days out of the week do you go back to Harlem?

Jim Jones: Once every two weeks. I’m busy, so I don’t be going there like I used to. I’m trying make a lot of money here and do a lot of things. And above all, when you’re in the hood, you’re subjected to what goes on in the hood and you don’t want to get caught slipping and lose everything you built for making a stupid mistake over a calculated risk. Who wants to end up in jail with millions of dollars over trying to prove a point because my ego was big? I still keep all my niggas around me. And when I’m feeling good and I need a breath of fresh air, you can catch me on 115th, and you catch me on St. Nick. You can catch me riding through with some big cars. But as far as going back to the hood, how many times you get to see the president?

Complex: You’re ad-libs are always on point. I’d say the “Kalina” ad-lib from “Reppin’ Time” is my favorite [Ed. Note: Robert Kalina is Jim’s lawyer]. Which one is yours?

Jim Jones: The ad-libs are part of my music; it explains my rhyme, that’s why I do it. I tell people I’m not the most talented nigga at rapping, I’m talented at hustling and shit like that, so I have to do things that make up for my mis-talent. In my music, I’m explaining things I’ve been through, so the ad-libs explain what I’m talking about. There’s really not one favorite, I just like when I nail them. But “Kalina” has to be one that stands out because it seems like every year for the past 8 years, I’ve been calling his name.

Complex: Are you worried about how your new album sales will stand up against the likes of 50 and Jay?

Jim Jones: They better watch out. The pressure is on them. I got the same amount of advertising power that they’re going to have. Columbia is about to spend some money. It’s going to be a battle for PO’s in the store; it’s going to be a battle. People are going to see me as much as they see them, and I’m handsome, ya dig? I don’t know about them other niggas. Girls like a good picture, so at the end of the day, girls just might buy it because they think I look fly on the cover.

Complex: There was a rumor that there was another part II to “Swagger Like Us” coming out with Jeezy and Andre 3000 on it. How you feel about that?

Jim Jones: When’s the last time anyone has dressed like any of those people? Where are we going with this? I would exclude Andre 3000, because niggas are never going to dress like him anyway. He’s on his own other shit. But for the most part, we set the precedent. Why you think they got me on the cover of Complex for? We about to blow niggas’ minds. These niggas know I can do it, and they can’t and they know girls aren’t going to be mad at it. They’re going to be like, ah man, I can’t even get up on that shit, he’s taking it too far to the point where I can’t be involved. [Laughs]. We’re going to have fun with this one for a bit.

Complex: You also have a fitness DVD coming out?

Jim Jones: I’m going to start shooting soon. I’ve been getting in shape for the past few years. It helps me to not be so frustrated. I’ve got pretty good at it. It’s a billion dollar industry. It’s just another check in my pocket.

Complex: Are you ever in the gym with those meathead dudes?

Jim Jones: These dudes that take steroids, lookin’ like wrestlers? I’m not into all that. For the most part, I know sex sells, so I try to stay in shape. Plus my position in this rap game is a touchy position, so I might have to put hands on somebody every now and then. I got to be on my Ps and Qs. I’ve got kicked out of three gyms already so I got a trainer in my house, I keep it fair. Most of the dudes around me are in shape, and I hate to be the littlest nigga around.

Complex mag cover

Oh jimmy..you're really back huh?! Nice gloves! Click here for more.