Cam’ron expressed his gratitude towards Nas for providing him with a platform at the recent Hip Hop 50 event, despite their complex history. The Dipset rapper participated in Mass Appeal’s celebratory Hip Hop 50 Live concert, which took place at New York City’s Yankee Stadium on Friday (August 11).
The concert, which marked the celebration of the 50th anniversary of hip-hop featured a star-studded lineup, including performances by renowned artists such as Run-DMC, Snoop Dogg, Lil Wayne, Wu-Tang Clan, Ice Cube, Common, T.I., and Nas himself. Following the event, Cam’ron took to Instagram to acknowledge the Queensbridge native, commending him for setting aside their past conflicts and inviting him to perform.
In a video posted on Tuesday (August 29), Cam’ron said, “I wanna give a quick shoutout to that n-gga Nas real quick. Queensbridge Nas, yes, Escobar. A lot of people may not know, or if you do know, that was his event, him and his company’s event, Mass Appeal, at Yankee Stadium the other day.” He expressed his gratitude for being included in the Hip Hop 50 event despite their history, recognizing Nas as one of the greatest lyricists of their generation.
Cam’ron continued, “I appreciate the invite from probably the greatest lyricist in our time, in our era. So I just wanna say I’m thankful for that, thank you Mass Appeal.”
Cam’ron reflected on his extensive performance history in New York, including Madison Square Garden and the Apollo, but highlighted that Yankee Stadium was a unique and surreal experience.
“I did Madison Square Garden 10, 11, 12 times, the Apollo millions of times, Beacon Theatre, whatever venue you wanna name in New York, I’ve been there. But I had never performed at Yankee Stadium, and it was a surreal experience. So I just wanna say shoutout to Mass Appeal, shoutout to Nas. Thank you for looking past all the shit we went through in the past. Shoutout to Jungle, all them n-ggas at QB for respecting the artform for one of the best lyricists of our generation, and that’s Escobar. Salute to you, bruh.”
The conflict between Cam’ron and Nas started in 2002 when the Bravehearts veteran publicly criticized Cam’s album “Come Home with Me” as “wack” during a rant on Power 105.1 following his canceled Hot 97 Summer Jam performance.
In a subsequent appearance on the Rap Radar Podcast in 2019, Cam’ron delved into his decision to counter Nas’s remarks with diss tracks, including a fierce freestyle over the illmatic creator’s “Hate Me Now.”
“During that era, we recognized Nas’s stature. Responding with just one song wouldn’t cut it, as Nas could easily retort and overshadow everything. So, we adopted a strategy of overwhelming the situation. Given Nas’s legendary status at that time, we believed it was the most effective approach.”
Looking back, he expressed regret about the extent of the beef, acknowledging that he wouldn’t have gone that far if he knew certain things.
“Do I regret it? Yeah, because I didn’t want to go that far. But, at that particular time in my mindset, and the n-ggas I was running around with, they didn’t give a fuck.”
