JUELZ SANTANA SHOULD HAVE MORE THAN 4000 SOUNDCLOUD FOLLOWERS
I like making the statement that The Diplomats are the latter-day equivalent of the Wu-Tang Clan (which might warrant an article of its own). Not just because of the large the number of members/spin-off groups, but the strongest comparison point between the Wu and Dipset comes from the fandom and cult following that both rap crews have. Wu-Tang stans paved the way for Diplomat stans. Both groups have an iconic logo. Every group has standout members, and if we’re comparing them Staten Island boys to these Harlem boys, then it is fair to say that Juelz Santana is to Dipset what Method Man is to the Wu.
Maybe the distraction of Love & Hip Hop has obstructed the public view of Juelz Santana’s recent moves, but the modern-day rap-game legend that is Laron James has lowkey put out a EP’s worth of new, original music. You might not have heard those songs however, and that is because Juelz only has about 4000 followers on his SoundCloud account — the official & exclusive home of his latest music.
Juelz Santana closed out 2016 with a new song every Monday throughout December. The first two tracks featured new sets of verses that were given the ‘freestyle’ title. Then a track with Dave East featuring a surprising hook from Bobby Shmurda & Rowdy Rebel all over a Jahlil Beats instrumental that feels six-months too early. Then Juelz put up a grizzly winter-feeling track with good raps from avant-garde rhymers Jadakiss, Redman, & Method Man (along with a personalized intro from Busta Rhymes). After that brought a much-needed solo track in ‘Santana Bandana‘ right before flipping the “Juelz Santana” namedrop by Drake on ‘Hype‘ for Santana’s new track ‘Drizzy Voice‘. Judging by the frequent interactions between Drizzy and Mr. San-Tana, A! I would say to look forward to collaborative songs from the two.
Juelz was digitally tardy for the first time the second-to-last Monday of January; having not released a new song (or music video) for a week straight the first time since November. Not one to shug responsibility, Santana bearing gifts to the first day of February by releasing two tracks. While one is just a remastered version of ‘Ol’ Thing Back’, all the veterans verses were stripped and newcomer from HighBridge Don Q was added to the track (which fell right inline with the inspiration behind the song). The second new track is a feel-good track called ‘One of Those Days’ which feels built for play on terrestrial radio and shouldn’t be ignored.
All self-proclaimed Dipset stans should support anything Juelz does as he appears to be the only go-between with Jim Jones & Cam’Ron; making all the collaborations with him very important. Collaborative songs can’t happen without these new songs Juelz Santana releases doing well.
Go follow Juelz Santana on SoundCloud..all this music he put out lately should translate to more than the 4000-something followers the account has at the time of publishing (early February 2017). Maybe people are thrown off because he doesn’t have the SoundCloud Pro star icon. Don’t let Juelz saving a few dollars a month with the free account fool you; all these tracks are early-promo of an upcoming mixtape.
