Cam’ron has indicated his preference to identify as a Black American rather than an African American, citing a perceived lack of connection between Africans and Black Americans. In an episode of “It Is What It Is,” the Dipset rapper explained his choice, alleging that Africans are often hostile towards Black Americans.
“I’d rather fill in ‘Black’ than ‘African American’ [on I.D. forms] because Africans don’t even f*** with us,” Cam told Mase. “[When] you go over there [to Africa], they call us ‘yankees.’ They f*** with us, but we’re not from the Motherland. We’re from America. So I’d rather say I’m a Black American.”
Using the Olympics as an analogy, Cam’ron highlighted that during world competitions, individuals representing the United States are identified simply as Americans without specifying their race.
“When we go to the Olympics, as a country, and somebody Black is fighting from the United States, you don’t say ‘African American.’ You say ‘American.’ You don’t even put a color on it. It’s an American fighter… You’re known in the Olympics as an American. It doesn’t matter what color you are…”
He continued: “The point is, they don’t categorize it when it’s world competition, but when it’s other shit, it needs to be categorized. So I consider myself a Black American. I don’t consider myself an African American. Shoutout to all my friends in Africa. Much love, but y’all don’t consider us real Africans. Y’all don’t.”
Many in the comments seemed to agree with Cam’ron, with one Twitter/X user stating, “Those are #facts. And I’ve been saying that for a long time.” Another person wrote, “I’m glad brothers are waking up. Proud Black American.”
Others found his remarks to be divisive, “The African/Black Americans beef is strange. Europeans and white Americans unite very easily,” wrote one Twitter/X user. Another person added, “We got enough issues to deal with without promoting more division.”
A third person wrote, “The problem is that most Black Americans don’t want to embrace the African in them, doesn’t matter where you live, how you live, you can’t wash away the African in you. A DNA test will always bring you back to the motherland.”
Despite Cam’ron’s stance, other Black American celebrities, such as Lil Wayne and Kendrick Lamar, have been actively tracing their roots back to the African continent. Lil Wayne revealed on Drink Champs that he’s 53% Nigerian and Kendrick Lamar has stated in interviews that he has roots in the Mende and Temne peoples of Sierra Leone.
You can read more about Black American rappers with African roots here.
