Cam’ron

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Way back in 2023–back when people just started feeling safe enough to go back outside and Job Corps could still shape the minds of young folks who’d lost their way—Cam’ron realized something that all hustlers do: Why keep giving it away for free when he could be making money off of it?

“I was arguing with n*ggas about two hours over the phone about sports,” the “Oh Boy” rapper said during an interview with Revolt TV. “When I’d get off the phone I would look at it’d be like two hours and 25 minutes and I’d be mad, and I’m like, I need to put that energy somewhere where I can make money because sports and politics are never going anywhere.”

And Cam’ron gave the world: It Is What It Is.

And it was good. 

It was a middle ground between sports talk and a barbershop convo feel. It didn’t have the pretentiousness of other sports shows in which former professional athletes sit around and tell you just how much you don’t know about sports. It was just a rapper, and his friend and fellow MCand reformed pastor, Ma$e, kicking it about sports. It used the language of the streets mixed with the knowledge that just about every common fan has and the result was a success. Cam and Ma$e even wear suits. 

He once argued masterfully that Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin was a virtuoso of code switching, who could speak both the King’s English and the language of the street. And Cam was worried that incoming quarterback Russell Wilson and his proximity to suburban living might ruin the rapport that Tomlin had with his team. 

Of course, Cam didn’t say it this way.

“Mike Tomlin is very well spoken. He says the right things. You can tell he’s a great head coach on the sidelines, but you can tell that in his off time, he’s a n*gga-n*gga. Russell Wilson ain’t no n*gga-n*gga,” Cam said. “Don’t f*ck real n*gga shit up.” 

It was a brilliant articulation of the duality Black men and the difference between those who identify with the cause and those who caution against it. 

In 2024, Cam would host a more laid back, casual conversation show Talk With Flee. A one-on-one style show in which the Dipset Cam would wear his chain, du-rag and bravado. If It Is What It Is is Cameron Giles then Talk With Flee is Killa Cam. 

And then something started changing. The language from the two shows almost began merging and the conversation on the more buttoned up telecast started to become a bit less tactful.

Then the Diddy RICO trial began and Ma$e, (who has to know more than he’s ever let on considering he was one of Sean Combs’ Bad Boy artists during at least some of the allegations,) became noticeably uncomfortable or dismissive around the subject. 

The freak-offs between Diddy, his then girlfriend singer Cassie, and sex workers became a joke, because like most of the rest of America it was jarring to learn that Diddy, one of the most prolific and vocal contributors to Hip-Hop in the past 20 years was in a cuckold relationship, in which he allegedly not only liked watching other men with his then girlfriend, but was willing to pay male escorts to be with her while he watched.

And then Cam had one of the male escorts, a man that goes by the name “The Punisher,” (né Sharay Hayes) onto Talk With Flee and it didn’t take long for the conversation to go all the way left. 

“Was the p*ssy good?” Cam questioned, referring to Cassie.

And this is where the language of the street and the brashness of Hip-Hop become a disservice to the show and a crutch for Cam. There was an opportunity, a very real opportunity for Cam to have an honest conversation about sex work, sexual abuse, and sexual trauma. 

This conversation required a level of sensitivity that I don’t think Cam has, or at least hasn’t exhibited. Cassie maintains that her relationship with Diddy wasn’t just physically abusive but sexually abusive. She’s claimed both in her civil suit and during her testimony that the cycle of abuse included threats made to her and her family. She noted that she couldn’t turn down Diddy’s sexual demands even though she found having sex with random sex workers disgusting and humiliating. She claimed that Diddy would threaten to expose her sextapes and make her “look like a slut” by releasing the videos.

“I feared for my career. I feared for my family. It’s just embarrassing. It’s horrible and disgusting. No one should do that to anyone,” said Cassie.

And Cam somehow took all of this trauma and sexual abuse and found a way to reduce it to the worst question possible. He made a horrific situation worse for no reason other than a cheap laugh at a sexual assault survivor’s expense.

Just a few days later while discussing possible rape charges against New Orleans Pelicans forward Zion Williamson on It Is What It Is Cam took aggressive, derogatory shots at an adult entertainer. 

After news that an unnamed woman filed rape charges against Williamson, Moriah Mills (who had a relationship with Williamson,) claimed that she was considering taking legal action against the Pelicans star. 

Cam didn’t just make disparaging comments about Mills’ claims, he…I’ll let Cam explain it. 

“B*tch, you was mad he got another b*tch pregnant and you was upset,” Cam said. “You do porn. N*ggas cum on your face for a living.”

He also noted that Mills should “Shut the f*ck up” before calling her a “C*m-bucket sl*t.”

And if that wasn’t bad enough, he fell into a common trope in rape culture in which he noted that if Mills was telling the truth that there should be “scars and bruises” proving that she was assaulted.   

“I just wanna see a little evidence with these accusations,” he said.

“I’m not saying she doesn’t have evidence, I didn’t do any due diligence on this topic, I just read it and was like, ‘Whatever, here we go again,’” he continued.

It’s this dismissive attitude from men that leads to sexual assaults going unreported. As it stands, rape is the most under-reported crime with some 63% of sexual assault victims suffering in silence.  

I’m not expecting the “Suck It Or Not” rapper to be a changed man on his new medium, but there was a real moment here for an adult conversation from an almost 50-year-old man to show that he’s grown up. Cam’ron is not a stupid man. He’s not only survived being a cassette tape rapper in a streaming world, but he’s thrived and clearly mastered a whole new domain.

But these conversations that he’s having are sensitive and require a bit more context and nuance from a man who is closer to getting his AARP card than he is his next platinum plaque. 

But something tells me that Cam’s going to ignore this missive and keep that same energy, and maybe I’ve been ignoring the obvious, because at this point, It Is What It Is.

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