If there’s one thing Jim Jones knows about, it’s trends. The Dipset rapper has been a trending topic across social media platforms about everything from his hair to kissing his mother to saving his photographer’s life to even a fight that may or may not have taken place. Now, the seasoned emcee is on wax with a recent release that serves as a reminder that he actually sets the trends.
Jones has partnered with DJ Drama to release We Set The Trends, a Gangsta Grillz mixtape distributed through #VLrecords Empire. The title track and first single features hip-hop phenoms Migos, with the entire project showcasing the talents of varying emcees across regions and styles.
“Everything was all organic — nothing was contrived,” Jones told Blavity. “We kind of covered all the sounds that are running rampant through the country right now. We did this a little different — it won’t be the regular-sonically Jim Jones music people are used to hearing. I chose all the artists I dealt with, which are pretty much all young and upcoming artists, and just followed their vibes, except for a few of them that I put up there for the feeling people like to get from me.”
The mixtape’s featured artists include Dave East, Maino, Fabolous and Doughboy, among others. Jones said he enjoyed matching energies with all of the features.
“For the most part, it’s a young-feeling, energetic mixtape, and I’m excited about it,” he said. “[All of the artists] gave me a lot to work with. Everybody picked records that were dope that I had to follow. I had to pick up my pacing and meet at the medium with what I like to do and with what’s going on in the music industry right now, especially from a New York standpoint.”
In more recent times, Jones has been getting attention for non-music-related things as his name has lit up a variety of blogs creating rumors galore.
“I don’t do blogs and silence never betrayed me, so you figure that out,” Jones said.
One such rumor is that his next album is to be named Prime 112 after the venue where he and rapper Freddie Gibbs allegedly had a physical altercation. While Jones gave no merit to the idea of a fight, he did confirm that his album would not bear any such name.
“That’s all just the media feeding into bulls**t, but the album is dope — shouts to Hitmaka,” Jones said. “Very, very, very dope album — it’s a super vibe.”
Social media was abuzz back in August when Jones’ Diplomats crew took on The Lox for a Verzuz battle that led fans straight to ticket booths ready for a reunion tour. However, no such tour took place, leading to more rumors. While the previously-promised Dipset tour might not exactly be underway, Jones cautions fans to be patient while the crew works some things out.
“[Verzuz] was cool — it felt like an old school concert — very nostalgic,” he said. “[The tour] didn’t work out. Maybe everybody will get it together, but it didn’t work out. This is a whole Cam situation. I don’t really have a say on that. As long as my money is right, then I’ll figure out if I wanna participate or not.”
Independently, however, Jones has a bit of a live performance itch inspired by his new song with Migos.
“Those are the bros, man. I’ve been close with Migos for a minute,” Jones said. “It just felt good to do a record that was dope. It’s not the first record we did, but this record is a little bit different — it felt a little bit special — the way it happened, how organically it happened. I can’t explain it. Takeoff was in the studio with me and said he wanted to do a record, he picked the beat, slaughtered that s**t. Then, I put it on the ‘Gram, Offset seen it and said, ‘now, I need to get on that, bro,’ and then I ended up having a whole Migos record and that s**t is pretty dope.”
Because of the buzz that the song is getting, Jones said he naturally expects to tour soon, but if he doesn’t end up hitting the road, it’s not exactly like he’s hurting for things to do. With so many projects from Cryptocurrency, a fitness center, Quarantine Studios and reporting the weather on Revolt TV, the rapper turned reality star and businessman has become quite the powerhouse across disciplines over the past two decades. He also said he anticipates turning his weather show into something larger someday.
“We in a good space with Drip Report. The more God blesses me, the more I’ll be there. I’m doing the weekend weather right now. Hopefully, we can turn it into a whole news show, so people can understand the culture and the way we speak. And that’s what the weather show is all about — putting in a way that people can understand me.”
Drip Report was recently renewed for a fifth season.
While Jones continues to pursue new music and said he has six records slated to come out over the next year and a half, fans can immediately look forward to his next album (not to be named Prime 112). It’s set to feature music that he thinks might endear him to a more female-centered audience, as well as the type of work for which he’s been known.
“It’s the closest people will get to hear me doing something with the females in mind, but it’s just a vibe, it’s just like life,” Jones said. “Guys need this type of music — I mean, you get in the car and have something to put on and have the ladies go crazy. It still got that authentic trill on there, but for the most part, it’s something I know Chrissy [Lampkin] and her friends gonna love to rock.”
Until then, fans can get their fix by way of We Set The Trends, which is slated to be released in full on Jan. 14. The project marks Jones’ first collaboration with DJ Drama since 2006’s The Seven Day Theory.
