Cam'ron
Cam'ron | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Harlem, New York |
| Years active | 1998 – Present |
Cameron Giles, (born on February 4 1976) better known as Cam'ron or Killa Cam, is a platinum selling rapper from the Harlem neighborhood in New York City. Cam'ron is the head of the musical group The Diplomats also known as "Dipset." He is as famous for the use of powerful figurative language in his rhymes as he is for his use of unintelligible lyrics that don't seem to make sense no matter which angle one looks at them.
Early career
Cam'ron began his career in the late 1990s, rapping alongside Big L, Ma$e and his cousin Bloodshed in a group called "Children Of The Corn." The group dissolved after Bloodshed's death in a car accident in 1997. However, Cam'ron continued to rap, and he eventually gained the notice of The Notorious B.I.G. (by Ma$e), who was so impressed with his skills that he introduced him to his manager, Lance "Un" Rivera. Cam'ron signed to Rivera's Untertainment label distributed by Epic/Sony, and released his first solo album, Confessions Of Fire, in July 1998. The album included hits like "3-5-7" and "Horse And Carriage," featuring his former friend, Ma$e. Unfortunately, Untertainment folded in 1999, and Cam'ron was absorbed into Epic Records (his distribution label).
S.D.E.
Cam'ron achieved notoriety for his 2000 release from Epic Records under Tommy Mottola. Reportedly physically assaulting and threatening numerous Sony Records (Epic's parent label) employees, Cam'ron sought an end to his contract due to his record company's lack of promotion for his second album released in 2000, entitled S.D.E. (short for Sports, Drugs, and Entertainment). It featured songs such as "Let Me Know" and "What Means the World to You." The remix of the latter featured an all-star line-up of Southern rappers such as UGK, Trina, and Ludacris. The album was considered an underwhelming follow-up to his debut and achieved lackluster sales. Juelz Santana also made his first appearance on S.D.E.
Roc-A-Fella
With his release from Sony Records, Cam'ron moved on to sign with his childhood friend Dame Dash in 2001, who had already been managing him and Roc-A-Fella Records. In 2002, he released his third and most successful album, Come Home with Me, along with the biggest hits of his career, "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma," both featuring Juelz Santana. These hits catapulted Cam'ron to a platinum album.
Due to his unexpected success, Dash even went as far as to propose naming Cam'ron Vice President of Roc-a-fella, but Jay-Z rejected the idea. He went on to star in the Damon Dash produced film, Paid In Full in 2002. Cam'ron then teamed up with his fellow Diplomats: Jim Jones, Juelz Santana, and Freekey Zeekey, to release the Diplomats' debut, Diplomatic Immunity, in 2003.
Later music projects
Cam'ron's frequently stalled fourth album, Purple Haze, was released on December 7, 2004. The follow-up from Cam'ron's group, The Diplomats, Diplomatic Immunity 2 was released on November 23, 2004. As of April 28, 2005, Cam'Ron left Roc-A-Fella Records and joined the Warner Music Group under the Asylum Records imprint. He has gained himself a pretty strong following that is often called a movement. That movement has extended as far as Portland, Oregon, where the 2005 PolitiCorps fellows of the Oregon Bus Project adopted "Hey Ma" as their official theme song.
Killa Season, Killa Cam’s new album, was released on May 16th, 2006 opened successfully at #2 on the charts. Cam'ron also has a DVD by the same name. This DVD will have almost every Diplomat in the movie excluding Freekey Zeekey (who is in jail). Several tracks off of Cam's new album include the first single "Touch It Or Not" aka "Suck it or not" (feat Lil Wayne). "Do Your Thing" as well as "I Love My Life" and "Something New", "Wet Wipes"
Shooting
In the early morning of Sunday, October 23, 2005, Cam'ron was shot three times after a botched carjacking in Washington, D.C.. Cam'ron was leaving a popular nightclub after performing earlier Saturday at Howard University and stopped at a traffic light at the intersection of New York Ave.-- New Jersey Ave. in Northwest D.C. Shortly after midnight, a passenger of a nearby car threatened Cam'ron to "give up" his 2006 Lamborghini. Cam'ron resisted and the gunman then shot him. Cam'ron was struck twice in his right arm and once in his left as he was holding the steering wheel, but he was able to drive himself around going the wrong way on streets and flashing his lights, trying to get a police officers attention because he didn't know where he was at or how to get to the hospital, until a fan finally drove him to Howard University Hospital for treatment. His assailants are still unidentified.
Mase feud
In 2004, Cam'ron came into headlines after a dispute with his former friend Ma$e. After returning to the music industry after a five year religious hiatus, Ma$e conducted an interview on the New York City radio station Hot 97 where he described his falling out with Cam'ron and the current status of their relationship. Ma$e claimed that confusion over $50,000 he asked to receive for an appearance in the "Horse and Carriage" music video caused the demise of their relationship. This fueled a heated on-air debate between Cam'ron's right-hand man Jim Jones and Ma$e. Jim Jones declared that Ma$e was "fabricating" in the autobiography he wrote in 2001. Also, Jim Jones was upset that Ma$e used people's real names in his book, exposing them without giving them their proper publishing fees. Furthermore, Jones said "you wasn't giving us no money, so we went out and got money" when Jim Jones and Cam'ron went on tour with Ma$e, and that now they don't need Ma$e anymore because they are the "Sizzurp boys, quarter billion, ya aint heard?", in reference to The Diplomats Purple Sizzurp liquor business. Jim Jones went on to reveal that Ma$e actually left Harlem not because he was answering a higher calling to become a reverend, but because he was scared out of town by the murder of his two friends, Pop Lotti and Baby Mane. Jones claimed Ma$e was "ran up out of Harlem" because there was "money on him," meaning someone had put a bounty on Ma$e's head. Jones goes on to tell Ma$e that "you need to be nervous to be in Harlem still, cuz I'm here" and threatens that Ma$e better "have them boys with the badges on them" (police) with him when he next encounters him, because "I [Jim Jones] will do it to you, [Ma$e] Duke." Jim Jones informs the audience that he never liked Ma$e, as he crudely refers to him as "Betha," Ma$e's last name. Subsequently, Ma$e and Cam'ron engaged in a verbal debate that ended in Cam'ron hanging up the phone, disgusted by Ma$e's alleged lies and insincerity.
Feud with Jay-Z
Cam'Ron also has a current feud with Jay-Z. In 2006, Cam'ron released a diss track called "You Gotta Love It", in which Cam accused Jay-Z of stealing Roc-A-Fella records and Rocawear clothing from Dame Dash. He also claims Jay stole Kanye West from Dame, since Kanye left Dame to follow Jay. In addition to this, he also claims that his shooter was an associate of Roc-A-Fella, and that Jay-Z was in love with female rapper Charli Baltimore. He also ridicules Jay-Z for wearing sandals with jeans in a New York newspaper. In the March issue of XXL magazine, which features Cam'ron on the cover, the Harlem native sheds light on where things began to fall apart with Jay-Z. "The real problems began when Jay went away and Dame was talking about making me president. When Jay came back, he had an attitude," Cam told the publication. "He said to Beanie Sigel something to the effect that he didn't feel comfortable with what Dame was trying to do."
Released simultaneously with "You Got To Love It" was a second track, "Swagger Jacker." In this track created originally by DJ DAT of the Bronx, Cam'ron outlines numerous instances where Jay-Z has performed lyrics originally recorded by a bevy of other rappers, most notably the late Notorious B.I.G. In the song "What More Can I Say," Jay-Z states, "I'm not a biter, I'm a writer/ For myself, and others/ I say a Big verse, I'm only bigging up my brotha." He is referring to the fact that he has referenced several lines from deceased rapper Notorious B.I.G. (I say a Big verse), and that he is not trying to copy or emulate Biggie's style, but rather to just glorify his admiration for one of his favorite rappers and one of his closest friends, Biggie (I'm only biggin up my brotha). However, there have been moments where Jay-Z has mimicing Biggie's (including his famous I'm A Hustler line) or once good friend L style on many tracks and has even used rhymes once spoken by his former nemesis Tupac lines.
In 2006, Cam'ron held a press conference to discuss his possible jail term and addressed the Jay-Z beef. Since he was convicted on a weapons possession in 2002, he needed permission to leave the state. Cam stated that he always gets permission but his trip to D.C. was a last minute decision. When asked about the reason behind the whole Jay-Z beef, he said the final straw was the Jay-Z "I Declare War" concert. He went on to say that Jay was attempting to find Jim Jones's catholic school pictures and footage of Cam and Jones getting jumped. He also went on saying that part of his agreement from being released from Roc-A-Fella/Def Jam, was that he could not talk badly about the label or its employees or he would be fined $100,000.
It is said that Jay-Z responded to Cam'ron, although he never mentions his name, in the remix of the Rick Ross' song "Hustlin", which also features Young Jeezy. In the "Hustlin" remix, Jay-Z refers to his style of dress on island resorts as well as mentioning the circumstances in which Cam'ron was injured in the car jacking. Cam'ron responded with a verse from an unofficial remix of Yung Joc's "It's Goin' Down". Rumor has it that Cam'ron will address Jay-Z's decision to pull Foxy Brown from the Mary J. Blige track, Enough Cryin' (for which Blige invented an "alter ego", Brook Lynn) on a future track.
Feud with Lil Cease and Junior Mafia
In 1999, Cam'ron and Jim Jones were involved in an altercation with Brooklyn emcee Lil' Cease, the protege of the late Notorious BIG, and members of his crew at the Rucker Basketball Park in Harlem, NY. For unknown reasons, a scuffle between Jones and Junior Mafia erupted during a televised basketball game, which resulted in several injuries and a visit to the hospital for Jones. Cam'ron was also at the event, but wisely stayed out of harm's way. Later that day, a police report was filed on the incident.
A videotape of the incident came to light in 2006 on a DVD highlighting the NY rap scene. Narrated by Lil' Cease himself, he explains step for step the proceedings of the altercation, and also points out Cam'ron running away and leaving Jones to flee the scene by foot and jump over a fence to escape assault.
Discography
For more information see Cam'ron discography.
| Album cover | Album information |
|---|---|
 |
Confessions of Fire
|
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S.D.E.
|
 |
Come Home With Me
|
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Purple Haze
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Killa Season
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Singles
| Year | Title | Chart Positions | Album | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Hot 100 | US R&B/Hip-Hop | US Rap | |||
| 1998 | "Horse & Carriage" (feat. Ma$e) | #41 | #9 | - | Confessions of Fire |
| 1998 | "Feels Good" (feat. Usher) | - | #54 | - | Confessions of Fire |
| 1998 | "357" | - | #88 | - | Confessions of Fire |
| 1999 | "Let Me Know If U Wanna" | #99 | #22 | #2 | S.D.E. |
| 2000 | "What Means The World To You" | #83 | #30 | #34 | S.D.E. |
| 2000 | "My Hood" | - | - | #44 | S.D.E. |
| 2002 | "Welcome To New York City" (feat. Juelz Santana & Jay-Z) | - | #55 | - | Come Home With Me |
| 2002 | "Oh Boy" (feat. Juelz Santana) | #4 | #1 | #1 | Come Home With Me |
| 2002 | "Hey Ma" (feat. Juelz Santana) | #3 | #7 | #4 | Come Home With Me |
| 2002 | "Boy (I Need You)" (Mariah Carey feat. Cam'ron) | - | #68 | - | Charmbracelet |
| 2004 | "Girls" | - | #77 | - | Purple Haze |
| 2004 | "Get 'Em Girls" | - | #99 | - | Purple Haze |
| 2005 | "Down And Out" (feat. Kanye West & Syleena Johnson) | #94 | #29 | #20 | Purple Haze |
| 2006 | "Suck It Or Not" (edited version renamed "Touch It Or Not") (feat. Lil Wayne) | - | #62 | - | Killa Season |
Movies
- 2002: Paid in Full
- 2005: State Property 2
- 2006: Killa Season (Not released in theaters)
2006/early 2007Killa Season 2{Not realeased in theaters}