Jim Jones (rapper)

Jim Jones (rapper)

Joseph Guillermo Jones II (born July 15, 1976), better known by his stage name Jim Jones, is an American rapper and original member of The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is Co-CEO of Diplomat Records. Jones is also a noted video director under the name CAPO, for artists including Cam'ron, Remy Ma, and State Property.

In 2004, he released his first solo album, On My Way to Church. The release of his second album, Harlem: Diary of a Summer in 2005, coincided with Jones' landing an executive position in A&R at E1 Music. A year later he was on his third album, which spawned his biggest single to date, "We Fly High". In 2006, he formed the rap group, ByrdGang. He also has his own freestyle inline skating team, Dipskate, which he plans to take to the X Games in the near future. On April 5, 2011 Jones released his 5th studio album, Capo.

Jim Jones was born in the Tremont section of The Bronx and was raised in Harlem. His mom, Nancy Jones, is Aruban and his late father was Puerto Rican and was raised mainly by his maternal grandmother. In an essay for Fader magazine, he stated that his mother would allow him to ride the train from their residence at 176th Street and Jerome Avenue to 110th Street and Lexington Avenue. He attended Catholic school but later began cutting church to loiter and play hooky at the train station. In Jim Jones' The Come Up DVD, Vol. 19, he tells stories about growing up with rapper Freekey Zekey. Jones claimed he would stay at a store a block from the church he attended, and would go in and hang out with the owner; when the owner left, Jones said he took all the money in the register and the candy and would sell it in school; he was later expelled.