During the early morning hours of October 23, 2005 in Washington D.C. the Harlem rapper known as Cam'ron was the victim of a failed carjacking. According to the Washington Post, Cam was shot in both arms after a Howard Homecoming party while waiting at a red light in his royal blue Lamborghini Gallardo, draped out in $200,000 worth of diamonds. The alleged jackers pulled up alongside Cam in a burgundy Ford Expedition in an attempt to take his whip. Cam, who's always up for some beef, cursed them out and sped off.
10 years to the day, I would like to discuss the series of events that transpired after the shooting that cemented Killa's legacy as a rap legend.
Immediately after being shot, Cam somehow managed to get away and drove himself to Howard University Hospital. When he was released, he was met by a gang of reporters and addressed the botched robbery with this classic quote:
"I got shot three times and my album comes out Nov. 22. It was a sloppy job on their part. They didn't get anything," he said. "I still got my car and my jewelry."
He then held a press conference later that night and gave a reporter who asked what the carjackers said to him a play-by-play that only Cam'ron could give:
Mind you, this was all happening after an ugly fallout with Roc-A-Fella. These events even inspired a song on his fifth album, Killa Season: "You Gotta Love It" featuring Max B. On the I.N.F.O-produced track Cam went on a rant that should be enshrined in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:
"First off, you a bitch nigga. Only reason I'm doing this. I'ma just name five reasons real quick, got a 150. First, you stole Roc-A-Fella from Dame. Second, you stole Kanye from Dame. Third, you stole Rocawear from Dame. Fourth, I seen the nigga throw that diamond up before them shots was fired. Fifth, hold on, turn the beat off.
Killa really had people calling Jigga "Joe Camel" and making fun of him for wearing chancletas. Those jokes made people forget that he insinuated Jay orchestrated the carjacking in the rant. Like, Cam was on 60 Minutes talking about not snitching a year after all this went down.
Legendary shit.
He was also still in a sling when he made the video for the "Get Em Daddy" remix, Killa Season's hit record:
As he did on "You Gotta Love It," Killa addressed the shooting in the song's first verse:
"I'm Hulk Hogan, Randy Savage, Bob Backlund/Part-acting, ha ha, who they think they car jackin'/You dump and a dump, I slumped and I slump/They mad my car's like an elephant, the trunk in the front/See ya dude react/ Hud six threw me back/A few they clapped/But I ate those, them shits is Scooby Snacks/I ain't see stars, I'm a G, par/Threw the Lam' in 6th drove to the E.R/Had to make it hot/Feel like Pac, I know it's set up/Them old niggas know I'm bout to take they spot"
It took him about a year to heal from his injuries due to nerve damage, something he addressed in another press conference. He also talked about the then-ongoing feud with Jay Z. Cam took issue with Power 105.1's Powerhouse concert being dubbed by the media as Jay Z's "I Declare War" concert, so he decided to shoot first in anticipation of something that ended up not happening. Instead of taking shots at his rivals, Jay brought Nas out and squashed their beef.
Check the clips below and shouts to the OG Larry Hester who's in the second clip getting a question in:
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Cam milked the shooting by holding multiple pressers and waging all out war on the Jiggaman. Not many rappers can go head-to-head with Jay Z and live to tell about it, especially in those days. That's why Cam will forever be a legendary figure in rap. His gangsta is solidified and he's more official than John Lennon ever was. With that being said, I'll leave you with possibly the greatest Cam'ron related tweet of all time:
