Juelz Santana is still working on his Regan Era mixtape and upcoming official LP for Def Jam, Born to Lose, Built to Win. But he’s also putting out the debut of his group the Skull Gang in a couple of weeks. The squad has an independent deal through Koch Records, and the video for their first single “I Am the Club” should drop any day.

“I pushed the button,” Santana said on the set of the video for the Gang’s “I Am the Club” in New York. “At the same time, it was that hard work. We did the mixtape; it got a great response when it came out.

“We did a lot of work when it came to the Internet. Koch, they took a liking to it,” he added. “They always did business with me, Jim Jones, CamRon. They wanted that fresh new energy, and at the same time, they saw the vision and believed in it. They wanted to give them a shot. We got the album coming out May 5. It’s real crazy.”

The Gang consists of Richmond Rabb, Un Kasa, Deniro, John Depp, Starr, Riq Rose and his nephew, 10-year-old Ja’Quaye (yeah, little Ja from videos like “S.A.N.T.A.N.A.”).

“Skull Gang album, we here, the album is crazy,” Santana professed. “Collectively, we all come from different areas. Like I tell people, I never try to copy what the Diplomats was. This would have come about even if me and Cam still would have been doing business. … This was destiny.”

- MTV Mixtape Daily