Beginnings (1994–2001) At 12, James formed the rap duo, Draftpick, with Malik, a neighborhood friend. The group first gained recognition after several performances around New York City, including Amateur Night at the
Apollo Theater, where they won two weeks in a row. The two got signed to
Priority Records when James was 15 years old. They released one single on the label, "Play Ruff", with
Memphis Bleek and
Tracey Lee. In 1998, James was introduced to
Cam'ron through his cousin, and shortly thereafter, took on the name Juelz Santana and became a member of his hip hop collective,
The Diplomats, alongside
Jim Jones and
Freekey Zekey. Santana's first collaboration with the group was the
Trackmasters remix of "What Means the World to You", followed by the tracks "Double Up" and "All the Chickens", on Cam'ron's second studio album,
S.D.E., released on September 19, 2000, through
Epic Records.
From Me to U (2002–2003) In 2001, Cam'ron signed to
Roc-a-Fella Records and released his third studio album,
Come Home with Me, on May 14, 2002, which featured further collaborations with Santana, including "
Welcome to New York City", "
Hey Ma" and "
Oh Boy", which earned Santana his first
Grammy Award nomination for
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the 2003
Grammy Awards. Cam'ron's signing also led to Santana signing a deal with Roc-a-Fella, under the imprint
Diplomat Records. After four mixtapes, the group released their first album on
Diplomatic Immunity on March 25, 2003, which debuted at number 8 on the
Billboard 200, selling 92,000 copies in its first week and eventually being certified Gold by the RIAA. Santana caused a minor controversy before the album's release when he described himself as a "young
Mohammed Atta" on a leaked version of the track "I Love You", just months after the
September 11 attacks. In a retrospective,
Complex named the album one of the classic albums of the decade. On August 19, 2003, Santana released his debut album,
From Me to U, which peaked at number 8 in the
Billboard 200. The album was preceded by the mixtape,
Final Destination, released on June 17, 2003, and the single "
Dipset (Santana's Town)", which peaked at number 70 on the
Billboard Top 100, received a nomination for
Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the
46th Grammy Awards.
''What the Game's Been Missing!'' (2004–2006) Following disputes at the label between Cam'ron and Roc-A-Fella Records head
Jay-Z, the Diplomats severed ties with Roc-A-Fella and
Def Jam and signed to independent label
Koch Records. The group released their second album,
Diplomatic Immunity 2, on November 23, 2004, with new members
Hell Rell,
40 Cal., and
J. R. Writer. On December 23, 2004, Santana released "
Mic Check", the lead single from his sophomore album. The single peaked at number 35 on the
Billboard Hot 100. In April 2005, Santana announced that he had returned to
Def Jam and signed a new joint-venture deal with them. On May 29, 2005, Santana released the album second single, "
There It Go (The Whistle Song)", which became his highest-charting single to date, peaking at number 6 on the Hot 100 and number 3 on the Hot Rap tracks charts. A third single, "
Oh Yes", reached number 56 on the Hot 100 and number 8 on the Rap charts, and a fourth, "
Clockwork" peaked at number 68. On June 30, 2005, Santana was featured on
Chris Brown's "
Run It!", which went to number one on the
Billboard Hot 100 for five weeks. On November 22, 2005, Santana released ''
What the Game's Been Missing!'', his second album. Both the album and the single "There It Go" were certified Gold by the
RIAA.
Unreleased Born to Lose, Built to Win album, Love & Hip Hop: New York appearances (2007–2016) In 2007, rifts and disagreements between the various Dipset members was beyond repair and the group disbanded. In August 2008, it was reported that Cam'ron had sold his contract to Def Jam for $2 million USD, leaving Santana to form the hip hop collective
Skull Gang and label imprint
Skull Gang Entertainment. The group released the mixtapes
Takeover on September 19, 2008, and the Christmas-themed
A Tribute to Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps with
Jim Jones on November 25, 2008, before their debut album,
Skull Gang, was released on May 5, 2009. In 2008, Santana began working on his third album,
Born to Lose, Built to Win. Despite several single releases, including 2007's "The Second Coming" with
Just Blaze, 2009's "Mixin' Up the Medicine" with
Yelawolf and "
Back to the Crib" with
Chris Brown, the album was never released. During this time, Juelz' contributions to
Lil Wayne's
Tha Carter III led to his third Grammy Award nomination, Album of the Year at the 2009
Grammy Awards. In April 2010, Cam'ron and Jim Jones officially announced the end of their feud, and the Diplomats reunited for several singles after signing with
Interscope Records. In 2011 and 2012, Santana made brief appearances on the first two seasons of
VH1 reality series
Love & Hip Hop: New York, alongside other Dipset group members and their significant others. On December 21, 2012, Santana announced the release of the mixtape ''
God Will'n, his first solo project in eight years. It was released on January 14, 2013, with XXL
later naming it the 9th best mixtape of the year. It was preceded by the singles "Bodies" featuring Lil Reese, and "Soft" featuring Fabolous, Rick Ross and Meek Mill. Santana also released music videos for "Nobody Knows" featuring Future, "Awesome" featuring Wale, and "Everything Is Good" featuring Wiz Khalifa, saying that he had shot music videos for every song on the tape. A month later, Santana announced his collaboration with Queens-based clothing brand collective, S.B.O.E (Slow Bucks Over Everything), with the release of the mixtape All We Got Is Us''. In November 2016, Santana joined the supporting cast of
Love & Hip Hop: New York in its seventh season, releasing the freestyle "Up In The Studio Gettin Blown".
Dipset reunion and Love & Hip Hop: New York comeback (2017–present) On November 21, 2017, Santana, Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey reunited onstage for a performance at the Hammerstein Ballroom. In 2018, the group went on a national tour,
Dipset Forever, and released their third album,
Diplomatic Ties on November 22, 2018. In November 2018, Santana returned to
Love & Hip Hop: New York as a main cast member for its ninth season, which chronicled his ongoing legal struggles. == Personal life ==