With all the chaos surrounding the Harlem Diplomats, it’s easy to get lost in the Mix, but one affiliated act keen to get their voice across is UK duo SAS. More commonly recognised as part of the Dipset family, SAS member Mayhem recently spoke to Duke Da God’s Dipinthemix.com and set the record straight for their fans. He spoke about the Eurogang Movement, the obstacles SAS faced in their career and shed some light on to the reasons for the end of the friendship between SAS and Juelz Santana. Dipset fans will also be interested to hear SAS’ take on the infamous Dipset break-up and what they feel could have been done to prevent the situation deteriorating. In this Exclusive interview for Dip In The Mix find out what SAS have planned for the future and how they feel about how they’re perceived as well as much more:

DITM Rhe: For anyone still unfamiliar with SAS, can you give us a brief introduction?
 
Mayhem: SAS are a North London duo, Nigerian, British Born we're young fly and flashy. We came out through Roc A Fella and The Diplomats but right now we're going ahead with our crew Eurogang.

DITM Rhe: How did you guys get signed to Roc A Fella?

Mayhem: Well, we met The Diplomats in London in 2003, Jim, Juelz and Cam. And they had a lot of jewellery on them. We wanted to get down with them anyway but they had a lot of jewellery on so we was like listen, out here's a bit greasy so we'll hold you down and we'll come through whatever you need, just call us. So next day, Jim called us we came through and held them down. They did their little Top of The Pops thing and we came back to the hotel. Then they recognized that they had met us before when we were with Kanye in 2002. I remember, Kanye introduced us to them as his artists. So when they remembered all that, they took us to the hotel room. Jim had a G4 in his room, we recorded 3 tracks with Juelz and Jimmy and by the end of the night they made us Diplomats. And then they left. And that's how that came together.

DITM Rhe: You started distancing yourselves from Dipset and you made it clear you weren't signed to the Diplomats, why was that?

Mayhem: Because... this is it, not a lot of people know but we had cases which prevented us from being in the States because they started finger printing at International airports from '04. We couldn't be in America from '04 till the end of 2006. We called Jim's office, we spoke to Jim about the cases and everything. We spoke to their manager and they weren't trying to help us in anyway whatsoever. So, at that point, we risked deportation by going over there and turning ourselves in. We beat the cases eventually. It got to the point where we sent one of our A & R's over there to ask Jim, if we beat our cases or if we risked coming back to America, what type of situation can we get? Is it worth our while us handing ourselves in and risking deportation and going to jail? And he was like "Whatever they wanna do... whatever they wanna do, they can do KOCH, they can do Major, whatever deal they wanna do". So, we turned ourselves in and luckily we beat the case. They were going to deport Mega but they had no evidence against him so they let us go because we were artists. We went to Jim and Jim said he was gonna get us a situation, get us a chain, a crib, a car... but then, none of that came. And Cam wasn't around these times, this is when Cam first went AWOL. We weren't seeing Cam like that, he wasn't around. But when we DID speak to Cam, he tried to do what he could for us. But that's when he didn't pick up his phone, you know how Cam is when he dissapears. So at that point, we put the Diplomat brand out there in Europe, made it poppin', we beat our cases, and no one had a deal for us. They didn't take us to ONE label...Jim and Juelz. They didn't take us to ONE meeting. So, at that point we thought: No, we can do better by ourselves. Everyone in England had the perception that they signed us and gave us a lot of money so we got hate for it. And when we shot videos, it was a case of "Oh why haven't they got 20 G videos and why dont their videos look like Diplomat videos?" They didn't know we paid for everything ourselves. We never received even a $100 from them. Bad situation.

DITM Rhe: I understand if you cant get too into it, but people want to know. What exactly happened in London?

 
Mayhem: Basically, it was a show they were all supposed to do in '04. I dont know the logistics of it I think there was a closing contract, I dont know what happened. But when we did get to America, we did bring it up. We confronted Big Joe about it, infront of Juelz and it got heated to the point where us and Big Joe were going to fight. So you would have thought that if Juelz was going to come to London he would have done the research. Because I know Cam. If Cam was going to come to London, and do a big show like that he would have made sure everything was good over here before he came. Or he would come out here with the necessarry security. Juelz just let it go in one ear and out the other. He didn't come with the necessarry security. He just came out here with three guys, two of them his friends. He just came with like a $100 a night. So, when it came to the London thing, and he sees 50-80 people infront of the hotel...they weren't equipped for that situation. And we weren't equipped for that situation cos we didn't know they (London Goons/Promoters) were coming. At the same time, the people weren't coming for us, they were coming for them and we weren't trying to let anything happen to Juelz. So we were the ones on the frontline. Juelz stayed in his room while we stood infront of the hotel surrounded trying to talk them out of it. But they weren't trying to hear nothing. They just wanted THEIR money. They were like, either give us the money or a chain or something worth the money and we'll leave. That's all they wanted, they wanted their money because they felt they had been cheated.

DITM Rhe: So, was there any chain snatching as rumored?

Mayhem: Nah, none of that. None of that. Not while we were there anyway. Because Juelz didn't even come out of his ROOM. He didn't see them. He was upstairs and we were downstairs. By the time Juelz came downstairs, he was with the police. Then when he got to the front of the hotel with the police, the group surrounded again but they couldn't do anything because the police were there. I was standing right next to Juelz, that's on my mother's life, I was standing RIGHT next to him waiting for someone to reach on him or do whatever. He went back in the lobby of the hotel and the next thing we see, he left out of the side exit. He left us there, surrounded. And then they must have caught up with him afterwards.

 
DITM Rhe: Freekey Zekey showed up on tape talking about SAS having fake guns that night, would you like to comment on that?

Mayhem: Yeah, Freekey has never been to London. Freekey don't even know what happened over here so he should NOT be talking about anything that happened over here. I'm quite surprised as well at him for jumping out because Freekey used to be the one that was concerned about what was going with us. When he had his deal, he wanted to take us on promo tour. He was the one that took us in the back room and really saw what was on our mind and what was going on and how we were getting on and how we felt about the situation. Because he understood, he came out of jail and he was trying to climb to the top the same way. He came out of jail the same time we beat our case and came into the country, so he felt like he missed the whole wave like we did. So to see him getting at us about fake guns... number one, why is he even talking about gund on the internet? Why would you even be on the internet? You dont know what happened over here. I dont know nothing about what he was talking about. I have to live here. Hip Hop police is serious. And over here, you cant get a fancy lawyer to get you out of that shit. So, I was dissapointed. He was the president. He was the guy that was supposed to hear both sides of the story. Not just pick one side. It's like, you're the president. Act like the president. Dont act like some... you're acting like on of Juelz fake goons, jumping out on us like that. So yeah, I was dissapointed. I was looking at Zekey like, this guy cannot be serious!

DITM Rhe: What's your status with Juelz right now?

Mayhem: We'll NEVER be friends. That's it. To tell you the truth, I'm gonna air it out now. I'm gonna air it out now for Dip In The Mix. And this is exclusive for all of you, he told them South London guys that he would get them all Def Jam deals. That they were Skull Gang. And that if they wanted a chain, they should come and get my Diplomat chain. That's what he told them. They actually called me up, Juelz actually got them to call me up and tell me to bring The Diplomat chain up. And I told him, "Suck my Dick". I told him to suck my dick or come and meet me somewhere else outside of the hotel. The hotel was right outside the airport, and you know how airports be. So, we were trying to get them meet us anywhere else in London. All of them, the South guys and Juelz so we [could] meet up and do what we were gonna do. But they weren't trying to meet us anywhere. But that's what he was trying to do. He was trying [to be like] "Oh I'm you guys friends, get them niggas, take their chain, you can replace them", that's how he tried to do it. And over time that's why you saw Tana [South London guy] dissing us and then my people ran into his people and he kinda understood that Juelz was making him like a fool. So the situation with us VS them is not there no more. And now you see everyone's trying to get at Juelz. Because everyone kind of figured what he was trying to do.

DITM Rhe: Do you think Juelz will be successful with Skull Gang?

Mayhem: No, I dont think he will. Because he's not a boss and he doesn't know what he's doing. He's going to ruin a lot of people around him and they're going to figure out sooner or later that he's got them in a fucked up situation. Because, at this point, he shouldn't even drop them first before he drops. But, he's using them as momentum for his own album. And that's what they're going to realize.

DITM Rhe: Were SAS supposed to be on Skull Gang as well?

Mayhem:  I would say yes and no. Because. We beat the cases and were staying with him at that time. He was hospitable enough to let us stay at his house and we respected him for all that. But then, it got to the point where we didn't want to stay on his couch no more. So we dissapeared and went to Queens because we've got friends in Queen. By the time we came back, he has Dipset Skull Gang like we had Dipset Eurogang. We were looking at him a bit like, woah what are you doing over here? But we thought he was going to revolve it like, him, us and Bezel. That is something that could have worked. Bezel already had a little bit of buzz, we were already internationally known, the swagger was there. It kind of was cohesive. But then we saw he wanted to sign this guy and that guy and this person over here... he had 10 artists at one stage. So we were like, we're not down with this. We could't go from being on Dipset Roc A Fella with him, to just being Diplomat down to Skull Gang. We were like, no we're better off doing our own thing. So, when went to go and see Cam, and we found Cam again, we asked Cam straight away, "What's going on with you and Juelz?", "Juelz said this this happened". We didn't fake or nothing. And we TOLD Juelz we were going to see Cam when we saw him. We came to Juelz [and said] "Go see [Cam] man, his door is open for you whenever". [Juelz said] "Ah, I dont wanna go see him, I'm not gonna go see him. It's like, you can't be yourself around Killa, you can't be yourself around him". You see what happened is, Cam made Juelz rich so now Cam hasn't been around for a year or two, Juelz has formed all these new habits with the Robitussen or walking around throwing his weight around. He knows if he's around Cam he can't do the new demeanor he's got. Becuase Juelz ain't the same guy he was before. He's different now. And he knows Cam will snap him quickly like, "Come on, snap out of it!" So, he doesn't wanna go around him. He was literally scared to go to his house. He did NOT want to go there. I was like, come on we'll go there with you, what are you scared of...Cam's not gonna pop off on you, just go there! He would NOT go there, he would NOT. So, The Diplomats would probably have been reunited right now, if he would have went to Cam's house at that time. Because I know sooner or later, Cam would have figured it out with Jim. Because right now, it's Juelz who's the one speaking out against Cam the most, Jim really wants to make the thing happen. They would have been together, if Juelz had gone to his house the time we went there.

DITM Rhe: Would you say Juelz is scared of Cam'ron?

 Mayhem: Yeah, he's scared of Killa. He's scared of Cam. I've seen that, because when you say you cant be yourself around a person... I said to him, "Well, what are you talking about, we can be ourselves around Cam!" What I noticed with Cam is, he'll only treat you the way you will allow yourself to be treated. If you say something dumb, he'll tell you you said something dumb. If you dont say nothing dumb you're not gonna look dumb. He's just going to treat you based on what type of person you are. If you're acting stupid or doing something he doesn't like, he's going to tell you that. But if you're moving correct, he's not going to say nothing to you. He's not a bully, he's not a guy that picks on people. Dont do no fuck bullshit and you wont look crazy.

DITM Rhe: Do you know what exactly happened with Juelz and Cam?

Mayhem: Yeah, I kind of know the ins and outs. Not really for me to say because that's their business. But I think, Juelz is trying to make it look like a way. For instance, the Nike situation. Juelz told me [Cam] was suing Nike and he was pissed off because he's ruined his credibility with Nike. But Cam told me he sued Nike because they gave Just Blaze a million for the beat, they offered Jeezy a 175, Jeezy turned it down and said "I'm not doing this for a hundered and seventy five when Just Blaze has got a million for the beat" and Juelz took 15 G's or something, or 20 G's. So he felt like Juelz had been exploited. So if he would have won the 10 mil he was suing Nike for, he would have gave Juelz 5 mil. So, what the fuck is Juelz complaining about?

DITM Rhe: Do you think they will reunite?

Mayhem: I dont know. Too much has been said out in the media like Cam said. At this point, Juelz [takes] every opportunity to make it look like Cam was doing him wrong, that the contract is crazy. When, you DRIVE A BENTLEY, You have a PHANTOM, You live in a MANSION, You have your own studio which is like an appartment in itself. There is no NIGGA that has got two albums out that's moving like that. There is NONE. From that era, no little nigga's, no way. None. Cam put him on two of his BIGGEST hits. The reason you can do so many shows is because you're on them hits and you still perform them everywhere you go. So whereas people were dropping albums, and after a year their performances were finished, Juelz toured for FOUR YEARS, THREE YEARS on tracks he's done with Diplomats. So you can't do it like, "Well, I've made this much money now, so I should be able to make all the money by myself". Nigga he BROUGHT you into the game, there's always a guy above you. There's always a next guy ABOVE you.

DITM Rhe: What's your status with Cam'ron and would you collaborate in the future?

Mayhem: Last time we were with Cam, we were going to do a whole CD with him called Terminal Three. That's what we were working on. It was going to be an EP or full length and we were going to get a situation because we're not trying to just rap to just to rap. We've worked so hard, we've done a lot of stuff, we've been everywhere. At this point, we're just trying to get a deal and do what we have to do.

DITM Rhe: Do you still consider yourself Dipset?

Mayhem: Nah, I dont. We were never really in the full loop like that because of the charges we had and not being able to get back in America. So we missed out on a lot of stuff they did. I consider ourselves Dipset Europe. I see myself as family though, as far as personally with Cam and Duke and all that. Because we've been through... we met them in 2002/2003.

DITM Rhe: Are you guys cool with Duke?

Mayhem: See why we're cool with Duke is because anything we didn't like we vent on Duke. And Duke would tell us how he feels about situations, and then we would feel better because we talked to him about it. And Duke NEVER been on no bougie shit, EVER. I dont even think it's even in his blood type to be on the bougie shit. For me to call Duke and say Duke, I wanna sit down with you and talk to you about something really important and for him to flog me off like "Oh I'm busy, I'm busy", he would NEVER. I can NEVER see him do that. I can go to his studio, go to his house and check him, whenever. He's that type of person. Duke's cool. Anything that I feel bad I can call Duke and be like Oh Duke I'm hot happy about this, this and that.

DITM Rhe: SAS are more Internationally recognized rather than in the UK, why do you think that is?

Mayhem: A lot of people make music just for the UK, and we make it for the world. We've got a lot of credibility from acutally being in New York and being trough a lot of things in New York. I think the Americans recognize that we can talk about them and stuff because we went high school there, we were in the streets, we did our shit, we were banging over there, so they give us a little bit more credibility then they would other UK acts. And our swagger's completely different from everyone.

DITM Rhe: What's your opinion on UK Hip Hop?

Mayhem: My opinion is that the industry doesn't want UK Hip Hop out there. What's the last UK rapper you hear about getting signed to a major.

DITM Rhe: A grime artist?
 
Mayhem: A rapper. Not even a grime artist, a UK rapper that got signed to a major in the last 10 years?

DITM Rhe: ...

 
Mayhem: See. So, to me there is no Hip Hop scene over here. I mean, underground Hip Hop scene. See, that's why we're not as powerful as we would be because UK is supposed to be our foundation, if our industry supported us like Canada supported us or like America, or like other spots in Europe, it would be crazy. Because when we dropped our Streets All Salute CD that we spent our own money marketing, our CD was popping up in America.

DITM Rhe: What's next for SAS?
 

Mayhem: Eurogang Vol 3 will be out in September. We're working on Streets All Salute 2 but we need distribution. And like you said, because we've got a global audience, we need global distribution. And that's awkward, it's a bit hard. At this stage in our career, as far as us not having a deal, to reach everyone around the world, it's a bit hard. But that's what we're trying to do. Get a digital situation that also comes with physicals and a lot of markets. Because we've got Europe locked, we've got America locked, we've got Asia locked a littl bit and we intend to go back to Nigeria and lock it down by winter.

DITM Rhe: Are you guys going to go back to the US?

Mayhem: Yes, we definately are.  We wasted a lot of time being around Juelz. We were with them for 2 years, we beat our own cases and they wouldn’t even take us to one label. Even when people like DJ Khaled came to see Juelz and Khaled would be talking to me asking me about the UK, he [Juelz] would call him like “Khaled come here!” He’s box us away from people. They didn’t want to see us on. They’d rather take our swag. Look, we went to the True Religion showroom and we’re the ones that brought back True Religion jeans for everyone put it that way. We’re the reason why everyone was wearing True Religion in that studio. The Maharishi and all that stuff.  So you can tell where a lot of the swag’s coming from. He can see me wear something in the studio, no-one’s gonna see me and he would jump on BET with it and try and coin it like it’s his. But we’re not with them no more so they cant steal it.