Twitter is going nuts after rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine confirmed that Jim Jones is a member of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods. Making things worse, he referred to Jones as a “retired rapper,” despite Jones having released new music more recently than his accuser.
While social media continues to make jokes about Jim Jones’ reaction to having been snitched on, some aren’t sure who he is. Here’s what you need to know about the Harlem rapper.
Who is Jim Jones?
Born Joseph Guillermo Jones II, Jim Jones is the co-CEO of Diplomat Records alongside Cam’Ron. In addition to being a rapper, he’s also a music video director and has worked on videos for artists including Juelz Santana, Remy Ma, Cam’Ron and more.
It’s worth noting that Jim Jones seems far from retired. In fact, he released his sixth studio album titled El Capo, featuring Rick Ross and Dave East, on May 31.
Fans of Love & Hip Hop: New York will remember Jim Jones as one of the main stars back when the show first began. He was featured on the VH1 series and even scored a spinoff with longtime girlfriend Chrissy Lampkin.
What fans of the series may not know is that there might not be Love & Hip Hop without Jim Jones. It was back in 2006 that he went to VH1 producers and asked for a reality series to be made about his life. An 11-minute tease of Keeping Up With The Joneses was produced, but with VH1 unsure about the show, his manager at the time, Yandy Smith, went to Mona Scott-Young, who is now the force behind Monami Productions and Love & Hip Hop, asking her to help reshoot and reshape the show.
Since then, he’s gone on to star in even more reality TV, including Chrissy and Mr. Jones, his Love & Hip Hop spinoff, as well as a recent stint on WEtv’s Marriage Bootcamp.
Jim Jones’ music career
Jim Jones’ debut album, On My Way To Church, was released in 2004 with Harlem: Diary of a Summer following right behind it in 2005. Certified Gangstas featuring Cam’Ron, Bezel, and The Game was his biggest hit from that time, reaching No. 80 on the Billboard R&B and Hip Hop charts.
In 2006, Jones put out another album, Hustler’s P.O.M.E., which featured appearances from the other members of Dipset, as well as Lil Wayne. This album was considered to be more commercial than the others and even contains Jim Jones’ biggest single to date, We Fly High.
Two more albums came after that, Pray IV Reign and The Rooftop. Then, in 2010, Jim Jones released a mixtape titled The Ghost of Rich Porter which featured Cam’Ron again after the two spent years feuding with each other. The Diplomats were reunited with that mixtape and both Cam’Ron and Juelz Santana were featured on the track, Salute.
In 2011, Jones released another studio album, Capo, then took a bit of a break until his next studio album, Wasted Talent, in 2018. That was the longest break Jim Jones has taken between studio albums, though he’s always had other projects, including his reality TV ventures, going on in between.
In 2019, El Capo was released, marking Jim Jones’s sixth studio album and proving that he’s not actually a “retired rapper.”
Jim Jones and Tekashi 6ix9ine
Jim Jones has managed to make his way back into the news after Tekashi 6ix9ine reportedly told prosecutors that Jones is a member of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
It all went down after Tekashi was played a recording of Nine Trey godfather Mel Murda and Jim Jones during a phone call. In that call, Jones is said to have told Mel Murda, “He not a gang member no more. He was never a gang member. They going to have to violate shorty because shorty is on some bulls**t.”
It was after that when prosecutors asked Tekashi about Jim Jones’ gang designation only to be told “yes” when they asked if Jones was a part of the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods.
It’s not surprising that Twitter has gone nuts after all of this came out.
Judge: You’re still looking at 5-10 years
6ix9ine: Y’all know Jim Jones? pic.twitter.com/rpWz9yHXOH— jai/Dr Umar Disciple (@jaidvn) September 19, 2019
6ix9ine really just made Jim Jones trend No. 1 in the COUNTRY
— XXL Magazine (@XXL) September 19, 2019
Jim Jones hearing his name being dropped in the #takashi69 trial pic.twitter.com/lQNOLhe6re
— 3rd Coast Sports Head ???? (@mccauley713) September 19, 2019
So far, Jim Jones has not commented on Tekashi 6ix9ine’s testimony or his alleged affiliation with the Trey Nine Gangsta Bloods.