The Wasted Potential of Juelz Santana
As an artist, Jim Jones’ contributions to the Diplomats’ success as well as his own solo run have been nothing short of great. However, in recent years, I found myself tuning out of his music. The man who made “We Fly High” just hasn’t seemed inspired. It’s actually something that has plagued the whole Dipset crew with Cam’ron suffering it the least and Juelz Santana taking the biggest hit of all.
When I think of Jim Jones in 2015, I’m not reminded of his stellar run in 2006. Instead, a quote from a 2012 guest column is the first thing that comes to mind. “I always told Juelz he could be greater than Jay-Z ever was,” Jim Jones wrote on SOHH. “That boy is super talented. Listen to everything he’s done and what his music says.” It’s the boldest statement anybody has ever said about anybody. Okay, maybe not, but it sure was bold.
Juelz Santana was always one of the stand-out members to me. He was much more lyrical than everyone else, which helped him establish a sound that was distinguishable from the rest. He was what Lloyd Banks was to G-Unit. There wasn’t anybody within Dipset who benefited from the mixtape game as much as Juelz. Back Like Cooked Crack vol. 1 to 3, Final Destination, and who could forget Blow?
In 2007, having forged a friendship already, Juelz Santana and Lil Wayne set it off with the idea of a collaborative album, I Can’t Feel My Face. Anybody else in the game sitting that close to Wayne would’ve collapsed under the weight of trying to keep up with the hottest MC. Not Santana. He proved that he could keep up on records like “Rewind” and “Hot Shit.” It was like when The Rock (Weezy) and Mankind (Juelz) teamed up. Still, it felt like Juelz wasn’t receiving the credit he deserved.
At this point, he was two years removed from his last solo album, What The Game’s Been Missing. Ten years later, he’s still in that position. I Can’t Feel My Face never came out due to obvious label issues, and a third Juelz album never materialized. We’ve had a title of Born To Lose, Built To Win for years now. There was God Will’n, the forgettable 2014 mixtape that was supposed to symbolize a return. All We Got Is Us, a freestyle tape, as well as a God Will’n 2 were announced too and subsequently shelved for unknown reasons.
What happened to such a promising career?
I think it’s too easy to blame his downfall on laziness or being content. Unfortunately, that seems like the best answer. Once The Diplomats split, Juelz felt lost musically. He tried to kickstart Skull Gang, but it never took off. When you’re used to being in a crew, it’s hard to translate when it’s over for some. Even though he found solo success, Juelz was still Dipset. The focus always boomeranged back to them as a collective.
So, could Juelz Santana have been better than Jay Z musically?
Considering the impact Jay Z has had, Juelz Santana would have had unreal expectations to fill. Even if you strip away the businessman aspect, Hov has given us several classic albums, made other artists millionaires, brought us producers who changed the industry, and much more. That’s just the musical aspect. Juelz Santana is a great lyricist, but he doesn’t possess the drive, energy and mind-state to do all of that. Maybe it was Jim Jones telling him he could do this that drove him insane that he couldn’t live up to that hype. Instead of jeopardizing it, he mostly closed his discography to ensure his legacy was more hits and less flops.
It’s really a shame when you replay Juelz Santana’s discography. This is the man who made “Santana’s Town,” “S.A.N.T.A.N.A,” “Make It Work For You,” and a plethora of mixtape hits. He once rapped, “ho selection, a whole collection/ a whole selection, of my ho collection.” He blazed Hot 97 like the fires of hell were opened through his rhymes and that microphone! If only he kept going, he could still be relevant in 2015. But he also might have fallen off harder with worst music to show for it.
Instead, we’re left with a series of “what ifs” and a former shell of Juelz Santana. Where Lloyd Banks will take forever to drop a mixtape, he’ll always deliver. After God Will’n, it was hard to believe in Juelz again. There wasn’t a worthy challenge anymore. He didn’t have to separate himself from the rest of Dipset or prove his abilities alongside the best rapper alive anymore. The only challenge was proving to the fans that he was truly ready for a comeback, but it wasn’t big enough for Juelz Santana to conquer.
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