Cam'ron ahh NEW interview

[Elano]

AllHipHop.com: First of all, can explain your time away? We know some things, but a lot of people are assuming as well.
Cam’ron: My Mom had a stroke, she had three strokes in one day, three minor strokes. She’s paralyzed on the left side of her body. I took her to a specialist in Miami. It's about 11 months rehabilitation, transferred her back up here for about 6 months rehabilitation here, made sure she was back on her feet.

You know, during that time everybody was like, “Where’s Cam, where’s Cam, where’s Cam?” People who was close to me kind of knew what was going on already, but then after a while I was like I’m in the process of doing this album. It doesn’t really make sense to come out and say anything without the music coming out so I’m like I’ll take advantage of the “Where’s Cam” situation for another six, seven, eights months. And I then come surface when it's time to put the music out, but it didn’t make sense for me to come out and be like “Aye , Where’s Cam?” and we didn’t have any music to put out. Then, I’ll just be wasting time. When it's time to put music out, we might as well talk about everything at one time

AllHipHop.com: Right right, how’s your Moms? I met her in one of our earlier interviews.
Cam’ron: She’s about 75%, 80% you know. She’s driving again, walking again, running around being the hoodlum that she is. You know what I’m saying? My mom is real street. She’s from Harlem. She won’t ever leave. I done bought her houses, condos. I gotta force her to go stay there, but she’s in love with Harlem though. She’s good. She’s doing much better. She’s not 100%. She’s walking with a cane, but she’s alright. Appreciate that though.

AllHipHop.com: Would you regard this album as a comeback album?
Cam’ron: I wouldn’t, but everybody else is kinda is making like Cam is coming back, Cam’s this and Cam’s that. But at the same time, I don’t think I’ve had that long of a lay off, but I view it as this is just what I’ve been doing. I’ve never stopped recording anyway. You know I have my own studio. When I was in Miami, I was in the studio [after I].made sure my mom was good I go to the studio, but I’ve always been recording the whole time now also. Maybe that’s why I don’t look at it as a comeback album but I would say about 90% of the public eye, people are looking at it as a comeback album.

AllHipHop.com: We saw pictures of you at Six Flags or something like that.
Cam’ron: That’s old footage that’s about three years old. I seen that footage too and I was like I haven’t been to Great Adventures since 2006. I looked at one of the watches and I haven’t had that watch in years. That’s like a 3-year-old picture. People are pulling stuff out of their closets like, “Oh there’s Cam” - .yada yada yada

AllHipHop.com: Let's talk a little bit about what’s going on with Dipset. What’s your assessment of things right now as far as the crew? Is it a crew?Cam’ron: I mean at the end of the day, being Dipset is like being a Smith or a Williams or Johnson. Once you’re Dipset, that’s your name. You in Dipset. You know our communication ... a lot of stuff surfaced in '07. We were distanced from each other two or three years before that. It just wasn’t publicized. We all kind of wasn’t talking. Maybe from time to time, maybe two or three times a year for the last two years before that. So everything kind of was like behind the scenes falling apart. It got in the public maybe 2007, but everybody’s still Dipset. Everybody got a piece of the company so it is what it is.

AllHipHop.com: So you don’t talk to Juelz or Jim or anymore?
Cam’ron: I haven’t spoke to Juelz in I don’t know the last time I spoke to him maybe Christmas ‘07. I seen him outside of the bank and…spoke…I let him out his contract in June. I called Zeke phone [the] day before yesterday. I always speak to Zeke.

AllHipHop.com: So it doesn’t sound like real beef but more like people growing apart.
Cam’ron: Yeah, I would say that time...I was just explaining that to people…once you don’t speak to somebody for two, three or four months, you get your own schedule and you kinda go in your own lane. Especially if you’re doing alright and it's just like time kinda breaks people up. But it's no beef like that.

AllHipHop.com: What about the whole “selling” Juelz back to Def Jam?
Cam’ron: He took that out of context. I said I sold his contract to Def Jam, which I did. You know? I wouldn’t say I sold him. I didn’t call him a slave or yada yada yada. I sold his contract to Def Jam he wanted to get out of his deal and I let him out.

AllHipHop.com: What about Jim Jones? I just heard he had to pay you $10 million to have the use of his rap name?
Cam’ron: No, that’s not the case at all. I never even heard that at all.

AllHipHop.com: Oh nothing like that?
Cam’ron: No, that’s not true at all, nothing at all.

AllHipHop.com: So a lot of people respect and believe in the Dipset movement that you all built through the years. Is it possible we’ll get a reunion or another group album or anything like that?
Cam’ron: If the money is right, I’m willing to talk about anything, man. Business is business. If the money is right, we can definitely sit down and talk.

AllHipHop.com: It won’t be like people sleeping in the studio together or anything like that though?
Cam’ron: I doubt it, you know? You know, you never know what happens when you get around people you grew up with and love and have that reunion. But. to be honest, if the money is not right, it doesn’t make sense to do it.

AllHipHop.com: But the money probably would be right. I mean look everybody’s looking forward to this day – a Dipset reunion.
Cam’ron: My price is different, man. You know what I’m saying? My price…I don’t really want to throw numbers out there. But I don’t know what the right money is for some people, but I know what the right money is for me. And I don’t know if they willing to give that up.

AllHipHop.com: Okay, so do you regret saying that Juelz was doing syrup (Sizzurp)?
Cam’ron: No, regret it for what? No, that’s the truth. I’m not going to sit and lie. What happened is, everybody had their side of the story. Eventually I’m going to tell my side of the story. Not just with Juelz, [but] people in general. Basically, the only reason I haven’t been talking yet, because it doesn’t make sense to talk and no music is coming out. Second of all, I’m not going to get up and blog just to be blogging. If you gonna do it, it's got to make sense about doing it.
I don’t regret it, because it’s the truth and really what happened severed our relationship. I never said that I wasn’t his friend. I never said I’m not messing with him. It's like if your little brother is doing something you don’t approve of. He took it how he wanted to take it and went whatever way he wanted to go with it, but I don’t regret it cause it’s the truth. And I’m not gonna be fake and not say nothing about it. People who don’t say anything about it - those are the people that’s fake. And those are the people that are yes men and not gonna say anything.

AllHipHop.com: Do you still consider Dipset friends, family?
Cam’ron: Definitely, you know at the end of the day like with Jim, I known Jim since I was like 4 or 5 years old. I met Juelz when he was 15 or 16 years old so I knew Jim a little longer. But Juelz I still consider him family, whether he’s mad or he don’t wanna be my family or he don’t wanna be my friend. I still consider him like my little man. Well he’s not little no more, but but I consider him like my man.

[Elano]

AllHipHop.com: What did you think of Jim when got down with 50 Cent for a little bit?
Cam’ron: With me, that’s kinda what definitely put everything on the back burner. When things are back behind the scenes, it wasn’t a problem fixing things because the public doesn’t know. Once you know me and 50 Cent got a problem and you’re being seen in the public with him, that kind of made me be like “Okay I understand this is gonna get public.” So I shied away from that and get back in Cameron lane. But that’s kind of what severed it for me, you know? Everybody has their side. They may have a different opinion. Cam didn’t do this, Cam didn’t do that. But once you [Jim Jones] knew me and 50 Cent was in the middle of a whatever [rap beef], I didn’t think for Dipset [to show allegiance to 50 Cent] was a good look. So that’s why I had to shy away.

AllHipHop.com: I read about Jim Jones allegedly wanting to do a fake beef with you or something like that?
Cam’ron: What happened was - that’s when me and Jim’s relationship kinda simmered down - one day we was plotting and scheming in the crib on stuff that we should do to make the movement bigger or plotting for marketing strategy. I don’t remember exactly what our little 2 man meeting was about in my house in Fort Lee, New Jersey, but he just basically bust out and said maybe me and you should just act like we got a problem and just act like we beefin' and make up and all this stuff. I was like, “Nah, you buggin…That don’t really make sense. Why would you confuse the fans? You know that would be confusing the fans.” And he was like, “Yeah you right, we shouldn’t do that.”

It doesn’t make sense, but I kinda took that as why would he even say that? So I gave Jim his space and I was thinking like to myself, “Jim wants to do his own thing, I’m gonna back up and let him do his own thing anyway cause to me that didn’t really make sense.” I kinda took that as you wanna go off and do your own thing. There’s another way to do it [promote and market Dipset] without acting like we have beef, you can just go off and do your thing

AllHipHop.com: You think this is a fake beef?
Cam’ron: What do you mean? I don’t do nothing fake at all.

AllHipHop.com: No, on their side of things, Like Jim might be waging a fake beef.
Cam’ron: I just spoke to Jim two days ago. I called Zeke phone and he picked the phone up so I don’t really know who’s beefin’ with who or who says it’s a beef or whatever the case may be , if it's beef , I don’t know about it, you know what I’m saying? [Editor’s note: Jim Jones has refuted that he and Cam’ron had this conversation.]

AllHipHop.com: Have you ever consider starting a new Dipset movement with different artists?
Cam’ron: I got different artist. I don’t really want to say their name, because we’re in the process of doing paperwork and I’m not a person who counts their chickens before they hatch. But it's about to be something that’s about to pop off real major, it's gonna be hot.

AllHipHop.com: Okay, what about [former Dipset manager] Big Joe? He’s supposed to be doing a tell-all book.
Cam’ron: I heard about and I don’t know nothing about it though but I heard about it.

AllHipHop.com: He’s talking about he’s gonna expose everybody.
Cam’ron: I’ll be looking forward to it, you know, I’ll check it out, I don’t know nothing.

AllHipHop.com: Is that considered snitching or is that just a book expose?
Cam’ron: I don’t know, because I don’t really know too much about it. I was just catching up on all this internet s**t today since I been in the office. There was something about Puff offering them some money not to put it out or something - but I don’t know. I wish him the best of luck.

AllHipHop.com: okay, okay, um, do you talk to Dame still?
Cam’ron: I spoke to Dame for the first time maybe about a month ago we spoke for about an hour, spoke a couple more times and we gonna get together before the month is up.

AllHipHop.com: You have a song that discusses the recession and the impact on jobs and things like that…have you felt the impact [of the recession]?
Cam’ron: No. What happened was, I have a female friend who’s just complaining about her job and she has to got to work and she isn’t getting paid what she wants to get paid. And she’s working 10 hours a day to make ends meet and I basically flipped the coin. It’s like you got people out there that’s looking for jobs and can’t find a job. These people are up two, three, four and five times a week looking for jobs and can’t find a job. The song really originated from me listening to my home girl complain about her situation and I kind of put the other side of the story to it.

AllHipHop.com: Somebody wanted me to ask you what’s your favorite color.
Cam’ron: I know everybody act like I’m a Crayola [crayons] box like [they say] “What’s the color for next year?” It isn’t like I thought about a color for the year, but you know I don’t know it’s...I don’t have a color right now. I’m kinda like in the red phase.

AllHipHop.com: Last question, why rap? What motivates you to keep doing it?
Cam’ron: You know, it's funny you asked that, somebody asked me that also. About two hours ago I was thinking I don’t really wanna do this anymore. I was like maybe I’ma just chill out. I’ll chill out [for a while] and I’ll be in my house eating or smoking a blunt and I’ll be watching TV and I‘ll just start f***ing thinking of raps in my head. It's like I’ve been doing this so long it's kind of instilled in my body so its like, even if I wanted to stop, I couldn’t stop. So that’s kind why I’m still doing it, because even if I wanted to stop I’ll still be doing it.

AllHipHop.com: As far as 50 what are your thoughts now?
Cam’ron: I mean everybody knows I’m back, I’m back in the building, everybody knows that I’m back. Whatever was said when I wasn’t here, cool, but I’m back and you know I have no problem addressing any problem when a problem comes to me. It doesn’t matter who it is, but right now I see he got beef going on with Rick Ross right now. That’s going on, but I’m here. Right now it's quiet. I’ll let them finish doing what they’re doing and when it comes around to me - if it gets to me - I’ll be ready.

AllHipHop.com: Do you got anything special in a new beef with 50 Cent? Anything like that?
Cam’ron: [Pondering] It doesn’t really take me long to think. I don’t hav  e to sit there and have shit loaded up for any rapper. If I got a problem, I’ll go to the studio tonight and shoot a video for it tonight and put it out tomorrow. I got my own cameras, my own lights, my own studio, and it will get done. It isn’t like I gotta prepare, like “Yo, if I’m beefin’ with Nas, let’s have 12 Nas songs. If I’m beefin’ with 50, I gotta…if I’m beefin’ with Jay.” No, I just go do it. I’m a quick thinker, I’m from Harlem, it happens that quick like.

AllHipHop.com: When you and 50 Cent were beefing, it seemed go to a different level. Like he would do a funeral for you with an obituary and you did the video where you jumped out the casket.
Cam’ron: Well you know it's creativity at the same time too. I just used what he did to get my s**t poppin’ and I said Curtis, [then] he named his album Curtis. We both were battling off of what each other was saying. What you gotta realize is that too when it comes to beefin’ 50 is smart too. I’m a smart guy too. I use very good strategy, but you know it's like when Rick Ross called him Curly, so 50 Cent does the “Soul Glow” thing. I was like this guy uses stuff that people use to his benefit and I would do the same thing no matter who it was against.