A Harlem native, Dominican rapper J.R. Writer grew up listening to Big Pun, Big L, Biggie Smalls, Jay Z & Tupac. As a teen he worked the Harlem hip-hop circuit hard, appearing on local access cable television shows and joining every open-mike competition he could. It was at one of these battles that he met Cam'ron and Juelz Santana, members of a crew known asthe Diplomats or Dipset. Cam'ron had just signed a deal with Roc-a-Fella, Santana was unsigned heat, and the first Dipset mixtape was still in the works, so no matter how impressed Cam'ron was with Writer, he was unable to take on new talent at that moment. Writer appreciated the praise but didn't believe Cam'ron was serious when he promised to call back once Dipset was settled. It didn't take long for Dipset to explode, and only a month later, Cam'ron made good on his promise. Soon Writer was appearing on a new Dipset track, "Squalie," which would eventually land on Santana's 2003album From Me to U... LEGEND.