Once upon a time, whenever Dipset was brought up, Cam’ron would be the first person that came to mind. After the platinum success of Come Home With Me, The Diplomats were poised to be permanent fixtures on Roc-A-Fella. But after a fallout, Killa Cam was released, and what followed were back-to-back sub par albums and two David & Goliath-type battles with the “Jigga Man” and the individual known as “Fiddy” (needless to say, David didn’t get the best of these battles).

With Cam’s notoriety burning out faster than the people on VH1’s Celebrity Rehab, another member has taken the reigns.

This new face of The Diplomats doesn’t don over-sized leather coats, baggy jeans that resemble “Hammer pants,” and gigantic fitted caps that can double as construction hats.

That’s all been replaced with fitted designer jeans, Ed Hardy zip-up hoodies and t-shirts which display muscular definition, rock star-styled belts with the huge buckles to match, and wallet chains. And the person behind it all is none other than Capo Status AKA One Eyed Willy AKA—Jim Jones.

After the breakout success of his last album, Hustler’s P.O.M.E. (Product Of My Environment) which sold over 739,000 copies and included the summer anthem, “Ballin,’” he’s back with Harlem’s American Gangster. Obviously the rift between he and Cam hasn’t stopped his hustle as the album starts off with an intro/rap. The intro is by Dame Dash, and he utilizes this opportunity to describe just what a “Harlem n***a” is. It sounds pretty cut-and-dry on whom he speaks of without saying [his] name, “You know what I find amusing?” “How much n***as really wanna be like a Harlem n***a.” “How n***as run around calling themselves—American Gangsters.”

After Dame gets that off his chest, Jimmy proceeds to go-in with his verse, “A hustler’s education, screamin’ f**k ya legislation/I may got no license, but the truck got registration/you can smell it in the air/if you in the belly say a prayer/but right now lets circle through the blocks were they dealt all those squares.” "The King" (feat NOE) is an ode to all the kings of Harlem and how they met their fate, via snitching or getting murdered. Jimmy reaches back into his bag and comes up with “Stay Ballin’” (as opposed to just “Ballin’”). The song is only 2:10 long but the instrumental intro lasts about half of that. Nonetheless, when Jimmy actually decides to start rhyming he makes his minute count with lines like, “Who else pack pistols/and collect checks at the end of the fiscal.”

The only thing that really slows the album down; is the four unnecessary Dame Dash skits where he talks about his upbringing. Jimmy adopts 50’s (just as 50 adopted it from Ja Rule) sing-song hook style on most of the songs; and it’s evident on “Love Me No More” (feat Cobe), “Byrd Gang Money” (feat NOE and Mel Matrix), and “Come On, Come On” (feat NOE and Oshy). On a side note: NOE’s vocals sound so close to Jay-Z’s it’s scary; and they’re on full display on “I Gotta Have It.” [Check out Sixshot's interview with NOE]

Even after life, Stack Bundles makes his presence felt on two songs, with of them being “Lookin’ At The Game.” Bundles makes people wonder on what could’ve been with lines like, “My how froze my wrist is/clasp with the flash, can’t pose in pictures/fast with the cash, and I rolls on dishes/and this ain’t Swizz, it’s me b**ches/f**k the money, I do it for fun/on a treadmill n***as couldn’t catch my run.”

At the end of the day, Jim Jones is not the best rapper in the game, and most likely will never be considered within the top ten when its all said and done. But people are drawn to him for his confidence/swagger, and that’s what carries this album from beginning to end. Even though this album lacks another banger like “Ballin,’” its still a decent album from a person that made it cool again to actually buy your correct size when shopping for clothes.