ou probably know Cam’ron, and if you don’t, the best way to get introduced with him is his third album and first on Roc-A-Fella, Come Home With Me. There you’ll get a couple of good songs and a fair introduction to his protégés, the Diplomats. Also known as the Dip Set, this group consists of MCs Cam’ron, Jimmy Jones, and Juelz Santana, and hype man Freeky Zeeky. They all appeared on Come Home With Me, and they all did reasonable job. However, when they get extended face time on their new group album, Diplomatic Immunity, they fail to develop on their promising debuts and fall flat, producing a bit too much less than engaging filler.


This, is a pretty decent album, but it doesn’t live up to expectations—especially considering that it was released six months after it was originally scheduled. Usually that sort of delay implies that an artist or group have been working on improving the album’s content. In addition, although this is their first album, each of the three MCs has had a lot of time to work on and improve their lyrical content. The Diplomats released four full mixtapes of new material, with each member getting plenty of time to experiment, tinker with, and perfect their rhymes. All that considered this album shouldn’t seem rushed, but it certainly does. Cam’ron’s lyrics are worse than on either of his last two albums. Although he’s always been considered slack, lyrics like “Hey yo lock my garage, rock my massage / Fuck it, bucket by Osh Kosh B-Gosh / Golly I'm gully, look at his galoshes / Gucci, gold, platinum plaque collages / From collabos, ghost writing for assholes / Want to use my brain, than give Killa mad dough / It's all good, increase Killa cash flow / Increase my fame, that's why Killa smash hoes” on “I Really Mean It” show that he’s even lazier here than ever.


In addition, Jim Jones seems like he’s regressed, although—to be fair—he gets much more exposure on this album than he ever has before. By contrast, Juelz Santana seemz like he’s improved a lot since we first saw him as a babyfaced MC on “Oh Boy”. In particular, his lyrics on “Ground Zero” are extremely impressive: “Yo, yo I speak pain, I spit power, talk courage, breathe flowers / Follow me thru the debris of these towers, the rain, the sleet, the street showers”. The best songs on the album are the ones that focus on Santana and Cam’ron, like “Who Am I”, where Juelz performs most of the rhymes, and Cam’ron’s solo “Purple Haze.” Sadly, however, because the solo (or mostly solo) tracks are the best on the album, it’s clear that each member of the Diplomats is better off on his own. Although they are basically a family, it doesn’t appear like they have the cohesiveness and chemistry to be a really successful group.


The real strength of the album is the production. Even though the Roc The World production crew, Kanye West and Just Blaze, don’t pump out the majority of the tracks, the Diplomats still do an excellent job of choosing beats. A lot of the songs feature the currently popular trend of including vocal samples in the production. For example, the aforementioned “Who Am I” has a nice O’Jays’ sample that just adds to the mostly mellow beat and atmosphere. Just Blaze does the same on “Dipset Anthem”, as well as the album’s best, “We Built This City—an upbeat, fast-paced track, influenced by the Starship song of the same name. Both “Ground Zero” and “Let’s Go”—which features a Marvin Gaye sample—deliver excellent production and pretty decent lyrics, too. Overall, the production is pretty good and the Diplomats have few. There are, however, a few songs that don’t sound completely original, but they still do their job fairly well.


The main problem with Dipolmatic Immunity is that this is a double album. Very few double albums have been filled with completely good tracks. Here there are more than a few on each disc, and the ratio is pretty decent. “I Love You” is actually an ode to New York City, done a bit tougher and blatantly more frustrated than most 9/11 tracks. “The First”—which sounds very Bone Thugs-influenced—is a bit generic subject-wise (drugs, basically), but the Diplomats switched their formula up, and at least tried something new. Even the “Hey Ma” remix isn’t too bad, although it breaks the cardinal rule of remixes and remakes: it doesn’t top the original. One song that does top the original is the re-imagining of Master P’s “Bout It, Bout It”: “Bout It, Bout It 2003”. The song is pretty similar to the first two versions, but every one of the Diplomats is lyrically better than the No Limit Soldiers.


Unfortunately, each disc also has its share of filler. The first disc has merely average tracks such as “Real Niggas”, “Beautiful Noise”, and “Gangsta”, along with a few more filler tracks, four pointless interludes, and a below-average freestyle. The second disc has a much better ratio, with only “My Love”, “What’s Really Good”, and another below-average freestyle disasppointing. More consistency would have been welcome. Nothing is outstanding, and there is a lot that isn’t worth listening to.


This is only priced as a single album, and it should have been one. Eliminate the filler and keep the good stuff and this would have been a pretty damn good album. However, as it stands, it’s an okay album with a lot of filler that seems really rushed. Spend more time in the studio, Dip Set, and you guys might be capable of creating something really great.