Capo Status

It was bad enough that Jim Jones somehow managed to win in a rap battle against Jay-Z ("Brooklyn High?" Pfft!), let alone the fact that Hustler's P.O.M.E. is a much better album than Kingdom Come, but the new video for the remix to "We Fly High" cements it for me: Jim Jones is the new King of New York.

If you haven't already, check it out over at the Rap Up, as well as a new Nas video, from that Blood Diamonds movie, that appears to have a budget roughly 10x the shitty clip for "Hip-Hop Is Dead" - yet another reason why Jay's position atop Def Jam Records should be reconsidered in the new year.

Interestingly enough, the new Jim Jones video calls to mind the classic video for the remix to Craig Mack's "Flava in Ya Ear," featuring the last real King of New York Biggie Smalls as well as the likes of Busta Rhymes and his weed carrier Rampage the Last Boy Scout and LL Cool J.

[Diddy himself, who dances around in both of these videos, already ripped it off once before for the remix to G-Dep's "Special Delivery" with Ghostface, from that We Invented the Remix album.]

There's no bit with Diddy clinking two bottles together (which is dangerous) and quoting from the Warriors, but then "We Fly High" already has that "Mr. Cool" bit tacked on to the beginning of it. And, for what it's worth, the Dirt Angel does quote some of the gibberish LL spit in his verse, back in 1994.

Another idea that was apparently too bad to leave back in 1994: rappers letting their weed carriers spit on other people's remixes. In this case it's T.I. and his recently-promoted bag manager Young Dro. I guess it just wouldn't have been right to not let him rap on a track featuring the likes of Jim Jones, Diddy, and Baby.

Speaking of weed carriers, having Juelz Santana rap over the shit from Biggie's verse on the "All About the Benjamins" remix struck me as overkill. It was one thing when he did it on the answer record to Jay's "Brooklyn High," but here it struck me as rather distasteful, especially since the verse itself kinda sucked balls.

Otherwise though, this new Jim Jones video is a riot and a half and drives home, for me, the fact that Jim Jones is the new King of New York. Jay-Z may have sold six times as many copies of his new shit sandwich of an album, but as of right now it's the Dirt Angel who's winning the battle for the hearts and minds of today's jig youth.