Cam’ron is one hip-hop’s best storytellers.
Cam’ron has quietly grown into one the game’s treasured OGs, having experienced an epic career spanning across decades. To this day, Killa remains a force behind the mic, and his recently-announced Purple Haze 2 looks to be a fitting continuation the 2004 classic. In honor the upcoming project, Cam hit up the Hot 97 studios for a lengthy and interesting conversation with Ebro and Peter Rosenberg. It doesn’t take long for the gems to begin stacking, as Killa advises young crews to make sure to settle their internal differences on the low. “Lack communication destroys the nation,” he says. “Ya’ll gotta talk to each other…People will say me and Jim aren’t speaking, when I just got f the phone with Jim!”
The conversation shifts to Cam’s time with Children Of The Corn, his formative clique with Big L and Mase. “Me and L was from the same block,” says Cam. “Me and Mase got cool in high school…Big L & Mcgruff was the rappers, I was a basketball player rapping for a hobby. Then he got a deal, and it was like oh shit.” Though Big L’s deal didn’t allow the creative freedom the crew might have enjoyed, it did lead to a few new opportunities. Eventually, Mase connected with Biggie’s people, and the rest was history.
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Around the 34-minute mark, Cam opens up about his relationship with Jim Jones, explaining how their friendship evolved. “Jim lived in my grandmother’s building, I’d see him from time to time,” explains Cam. “Then his grandmother passed away, God bless the dead, so he had the free crib at seventeen, eighteen. That was vital…We used to go to his house and rap, and we told him ‘you gotta learn how to do this shit, we all doing it.’ We’d teach him formats, and he started practicing.”
“He kept practicing,” continues Cam, praising Jim’s intelligence. “Now, is super nice. Jim is like “The Shawshank Redemption,” he kept knocking the shit down and that n***a super nice. I’m a writer. Jim don’t write his rhymes down. He goes in the booth, and all that shit is in his brain…Jim learned how to build his own relationships and politic with other people. That n***a super smart bro. If he wasn’t doing music, I’m pretty sure Jim would be running a big corporation.”
For many more gems from Killa Cam, be sure to peep the full interview below. Look out for Purple Haze 2, set to drop on December 20th.