50 Cent and Cam’ron Argue on Hot 97 in 2007 – Today in Hip-Hop
XXL celebrates 50 years of hip-hop with this moment:
Feb. 1, 2007: As 50 Cent was promoting his third studio album, Curtis, in 2007, the Queens, N.Y. rapper sat down for a radio interview on this day with host Angie Martinez on the Hot 97 radio station in New York. After Angie and Fif discussed his music and business moves, Angie urged fans to call in and ask the “Candy Shop” rhymer some questions. What happened next was one of those hip-hop moments that can’t be made up.
Dipset leader Cam’ron and the general manager of Koch Records, Alan Grunblatt, called into the station, and after Angie asked 50 if he had any problems with Cam, the rapper said, “We don’t have no problems, we good.” At that point, the G-Unit leader spoke with the Koch GM briefly before uttering the now-famous line “Put Cam on the phone” repeatedly.
50 Cent and Cam’ron proceeded to get into it over the fact that the G-Unit head had previously called Koch Records a “graveyard.” The conversation got heated as Cam and 50 began arguing over the stats of their opposing imprints, comparing Lloyd Banks and Jim Jones. The Harlem rhymer argued that several artists on Koch have sold more records than some of the G-Unit signees.
After Cam’ron started swearing on air, Angie had to cut the argument short, but the drama didn’t stop there. After continuing to beef for a short period, the two New York heavyweights eventually put their business disagreement aside. In a case of hip-hop egos, this hilarious moment birthed the phrases “Put Cam on the phone” and “Curtisss.”
Nine years after their radio tussle, 50 Cent and Cam’ron squashed their feud on Aug. 9, 2016. The two rappers went on Instagram to show the world that their beef was over by posting photos of themselves having the last laugh.
In the end, it was a wild moment that will forever be remembered in hip-hop radio infamy.