Back For The First Time

05/22/2002 7:00 PM, Yahoo! Music
Adell Henderson

Back in 1998, rapper Cameron Giles, aka Cam'Ron, seemed to have had it all. His blazin', gold-certified debut album, Confessions Of Fire, convincingly introduced the then-new Untertainment/Epic Records music venture. He then went on to drop "Horse & Carriage," his signature single featuring the slow flow of high school homie Ma$e, who had already became a household name as a member of Sean "P. Diddy" Combs's notorious Bad Boy family. Not many would have expected anything less then a bright future for Killa Cam.

Then the music stopped. Lance "Un" Rivera, CEO of Untertainment, somehow managed to lose his distribution deal, and Cam was passed over to an incompetent Epic staff that had no clue as to how to market and promote the uptown rhyme fanatic. Then the friend and artist Cam once knew as Ma$e Murda retired after finding God and losing his desire to rock the mic. Then, after releasing the hot single "What Means The World To You" (from his solid sophomore album, Sports, Drugs & Entertainment), Cam'Ron knew in his heart that this time he had to strike platinum--not just gold.

So he sought help from his childhood friend Damon Dash, CEO of Roc-A-Fella Records, who'd actually managed Cam and Ma$e at one time. What started out as a simple attempt to ruffle Epic's feathers soon snowballed into Roc-A-Fella happily buying out the remainder of Cam's contract. "I been working with Dame a couple years before I got over there," explains Cam'Ron. "So when I got out of my deal at Epic, it was kind of a smooth transition, 'cause we been working together a couple of years before that, so it's all love. It's like going to the Lakers."

While feuding with Epic, Cam had managed to lay down enough tracks with partners-in-rhyme Jimmy Jones and Juelz Santana (collectively known as the Diplomats), halfway completing what would become the cocky MC's current LP, Come Home With Me. Production-wise, the new album features the musical prowess of DR Period, Ty Fyffe, Kanye West, and Daz as well as Roc-A-Fella trackmaster Just Blaze (who orchestrated the bangin' first single, "Oh Boy"); but even after joining the roster of one of the hip-hop game's most respected teams, Cam still refrained from going cameo-crazy, mostly only exchanging verbal intercourse with Roc-A-Fella family members like Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, and his Diplomat troop.

New label, new album, new beginning. Not exactly a second chance to make a first impression, but with two gold records under his belt and his best work yet to come, Cam feels there's nowhere to go but up. "Some people look at me like a new artist, but to me, I'm not," says Cam. "I just keep working, stay in the studio, and whatever perception people have they can keep. I'm going to continue to do the same thing. I'm happy to be apart of an all-star cast."