Disco de Jim Jones: “A Dipset Christmas [PA]”

Jim Jones has recently taken the helm of DipSet, and put himself in the media spotlight, which was completely unexpected, considering the fact that Cam'ron and Juelz Santana are, or at the very least, were, two moderately popular commercial emcees. Cam'ron's hardly even involved in Jimmy's products though, and it appears that Jim Jones has virtually stolen the entire Jay-Z beef from him since the release of Hustler's P.O.M.E.; Juelz Santana, on the other hand, plays second fiddle to Jones, just as he has to Cam'ron for years. The funny thing about Jim Jones being the most visible member of DipSet at the moment is, simply, Jim Jones is not a rapper; something he's profusely admitted in the past. In fact, Jones has basically turned himself into the East Coast counterpart of Young Jeezy; whether you're a fan of the Snowman or not determines how you interpret that statement.

The first five tracks, all Christmas based, are actually decent tracks from Capo Status. If Everyday Was X-Mas is my personal favorite of the five, as the best is infectious, and Rell provides a soulful chorus. The rest only moderately succeed because of the Christmas theme, and Jones' quirky charm, but the first half would be much better if it wasn't weighed down by lackeys, who're are, presumably new Dipset recruits. It would've been much more effective had Jim used established DipSet acts such as the aforementioned Cam and Juelz, or even Hell Rell and J.R. Writer, but Jones chose no-names like Stack Bundles and Mel Matrix for whatever reason.

The second half of the album contains songs that have absolutely nothing to do with Christmas; the first of these five, We Get Money, is actually quite decent; it'd have been a standout on Hustler's P.O.M.E., but on this concept album, it just doesn't fit. Track seven finally does recruit a Dipset emcee with a fanbase, 40 Cal, but he doesn't do anything to help out the lackluster Too High; it isn't bad, again, at least not for a Capo song, but it isn't exceptional by any means. City Boys has a hot beat, but the return of unknown guests brings the track down even further; plus, Jimmy's adlib game is just ****ing grating on this track. Even Jeezy doesn't get this excessive with his adlibs. The We Fly High remix is probably the only reason anyone picked up this album to begin with; and it's the only track that will warrant multiple listens once the other tracks grow tiring(which, unfortunately, will not take long). However, Jimmy's guest list for this remix is borderline attrocious; choosing T.I. was a very wise move, and his short verse is the best found on the entire album, but Diddy, Jermaine Dupri, and Baby, on one song, verses preceding one another? That's just torture. Luckilly, Young Dro brings the track back to mediocrity in the lyrical department, and the song ultimately succeeds in being catchy, and a decent successor to last year's breakthrough single. Max B's solo cut, "Letter To The Game," doesn't have much of a purpose whatsoever however, and judging by his current status with the law, this will likely be the only solo track we ever hear from Max; though this may sound harsh, I doubt anyone will miss him.

In the end, Jim Jones' DipSet Xmas isn't quite as corny as one may expect, but it also isn't nearly as charming as the premise may lead one to believe. It's alright for die-hard DipSet fans, but everyone else will want to skip this, and just download the We Fly High remix.