Juelz Santana of "Oh Boy," and "Hey Ma," fame knows what a good woman can do to a man. Take Avril Lavigne for example. Santana's feelin her music so much so that he claims "She turned me into a skater boy for a minute!"

When it comes to rap, though, Santana feels it's time for a changing of the guard. "I think right now it's time for that new era, the up and coming artists. Perfect timing for the new people, bad time for the old people as you can see the record sales aren't lookin good for too many older people except the super super stars."

The 18 year old Harlem native is a member of Cam'Ron's "Diplomats" click, and record label. How he met Cam two and a half year ago, however, is an interesting story. "My cousin brought Cam through one day when he (Cam) was sleepin in the car. He told me to come downstairs, woke Cam up, and was like 'that's the man I was telling you about,' and he told me to rap. I was in a group called "Draft Pick." He didn't like my partner, but next thing you know I was in the studio."

Santana is currently working on getting his former partner a deal, but in the meantime he's anxiously awaiting 2003. The Diplomats album, "Diplomatic Immunity" is set to drop in March, and Santana's solo album is set to drop in April. Never lacking for confidence, Santana feels both albums will be a success, saying "I'm on two of the biggest songs ever, most radio spins ever, and it's not like I'm dryin out."

The crossover appeal of "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma" was something nobody initially anticipated, though. Santana notes "Oh Boy was a real good look for me. I knew it was gonna be a good song to listen to but I didn't know it was gonna be that big. It wasn't set up to be a crossover song like that."

Already with Avril Lavigne on his wish list of who he wants to work with, Santana adds that he'd also love to collaborate with Eminem, but other than that he just wants to stick with his crew. A crew you might see rockin pink as their clothing color of choice. The pink, however, is not indicative of who they are, as Santana is quick to jump an anyone mistaking his crew for being soft just because of their choice of clothing. "If you wanna take it to think a person's soft because they wear pink then test the water!"

How many people will take him up on that request is yet to be seen, but the coming months will be very important for Juelz Santana's career, as both The Diplomats album, and his solo album, will give us a good idea of exactly how long he'll stay afloat in the industry.

Adam Bernard