![dipset vs the lox tickets msg dipset vs the lox tickets msg](https://cdn-az.allevents.in/events3/banners/50d4043cfb6a9c9d7778228a6c39aa412140310f85c0454e360b023893a60641-rimg-w526-h296-gmir.jpg)
Their demeanor last night was par for the course for anyone who’s been to one of their group or solo shows these last few years-too many people on stage, lapses in engagement and passion-but with a little rehearsing, they could’ve come out like it was 2003 again. They’re a well-oiled machine Cam, Juelz and Jim, for all their history together, have reasonably atrophied a little. The LOX, by contrast, have pretty much always been unified and have been actively recording and touring together again for the last five years. These days they seem to be on solid ground, and appear together often especially if the check is right. They’ve drifted apart, reunited, feuded and reunited again various times. The Diplomats have had a bit of a rocky brotherhood for the last decade or so. (It’s all love though: the match is being spun-off into a small tour, alongside State Property.) It didn’t have to be this way though: here’s what the Diplomats could’ve done differently. It was a rough, at times terse and frustrating night for the Dips, as Styles and especially Jada smelled blood early and taunted them mercilessly while performing both hits and deep cuts with the audience live and at home eating out of the palms of their hands.
![dipset vs the lox tickets msg dipset vs the lox tickets msg](https://www.rollingstone.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/jadakiss-the-lox-verzuz-dipset.jpg)
![dipset vs the lox tickets msg dipset vs the lox tickets msg](https://static.stereogum.com/uploads/2021/08/Jadakiss-1628638480-1000x654.jpg)
What followed was a bloodbath-at one point Jada joked that the match was “25-2”, and he really wasn’t being hyperbolic. Dipset, by contrast, were discombobulated from their entrance, when Cam’ron missed the walk-out cue and staggered out casually nearly three minutes later. The LOX walked into the ring first with big “champ is here” energy and they never let up. What I expected wasn’t a lopsided defeat, but rather that Jadakiss, Styles P and Sheek Louch would come out strong but lose steam midway, while Cam, Jim and Juelz Santana would endure with the steady stream of unimpeachable hits: Diplomatic Immunity is a two-disc with next to no skips, and together the three of them have at least two solo projects that have six heavyweight contenders each. But that’s not to say there aren’t dozens of classic Jadakiss/LOX songs that stay in rotation for me to this day (and while we’re being honest, I’ll readily lap up new projects from both crews Jim Jones’s most recent album is great, check it out). Nostalgia gave Dipset the edge for me, because my high school formative years coincided more closely with their peak (which we’ll call roughly 2002-2006) than the LOX’s (more late’90s to early aughts). Favoring either group in last night’s Verzuz event, where the two legendary New York rap crews faced off in an actual boxing ring in Madison Square Garden (complete with an intro from Michael Buffer) should’ve been a Sophie’s Choice for rap fans. In addition, all three group members rap on the No Way Out track “I Got the Power.The LOX and The Diplomats are unanimously beloved. The LOX is credited as a featured artist on “It’s All About the Benjamins” despite only Jadakiss and Sheek Louch having guest verses. Jadakiss penned Diddy’s verse on the song on Diddy’s debut album No Way Out, which won the Grammy for Best Rap Album that same year. They wrote the hit single “It’s All About the Benjamins” for their friend Sean “Diddy” Combs in 1997. While The LOX never won any Grammys as a group, they did create some Grammy-winning music. Instead, the only Grammy nomination belongs to Jadakiss as a solo artist: he was nominated at the 2005 Grammy Awards for Best Rap/Sung Collaboration for his hit single “Why?” with Anthony Hamilton. The LOX has no group nominations for Grammys. While Jadakiss boasted about The Diplomats not having any Grammy Awards to their name, the same can be said for The LOX. (L-R) Styles P, Jadakiss, and Sheek Louch of The Lox | Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIDAL The LOX and the Grammy Awards