The 30 Best Cam'ron Songs

Cam'ron is an underrated rapper with a slew of hits that sometimes get overlooked due to his long hiatus and laidback demeanor but here are his best songs

Cam'ron
Image via Johnny Nunez/Getty
Cam'ron

Cam’ron is an extraordinary writer. There are the sly, knotty word games that eventually became his trademark (“beige coupes, suede roofs, send him up to Jesús”), the wrenching realism (“I ain’t have no fresh clothes, or jewelry with the XOs/my house had asbestos”), the scathing asides (“It’s hot here—ask Mase, he ran to Atlanta”). Beyond the acute tricks, he’s a master of tone: in his raps, the second person might be you or a plump executive or Stephon Marbury or a rival dealer or Jay-Z, but whatever the case, Cam conjures the atmosphere in mere seconds. He’s an auteur—that is, when he’s not an All-American basketball recruit or a Technicolor fashion plate.

l6bqwuOj

You’ve seen the pink Ranges, the goofy Instagram videos, the finger-wagging in Bill O’Reilly’s face. But in truth, Cam’ron was one of the most important stylists of the 2000s. His work dates back further—if you’re unfamiliar, you should lose an afternoon wading through the Children of the Corn vaults and associated radio freestyles on YouTube—but by the time of the Iraq War (well, that Iraq War), Cam and Dipset were at the height of their commercial and cultural power, crafting molds that would be filled in New York and online for the decade to come. (His influence can be seen especially in the work of Lil Wayne, undoubtedly the most consequential rapper of the 2000s.)

While this list is not comprehensive—no list could be, given the breadth and depth of Cam’s work from 1997 through the present—it's a succinct sampling of his best material, pulling from his various solo albums, his work with Dipset on the Diplomatic Immunity series, and a handful of collaborations rarities. It reveals not only a supremely gifted rapper, but someone whose work has endured sea changes in hip-hop and stood the critical and popular tests of time. —Paul Thompson

30. The Diplomats, "Bout It Bout It...Pt. 3" f/ Master P

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

What made Jay Z a consistent, immutable pop force was his ability to identify new sounds and fold them into his style, chasing trends while preserving the myth. Cam's interactions with out-of-towners were always different, and, in a way, more considered. His strongest Obama-era single, "(I Used To) Get It In Ohio," is unassailably Midwest, and "Bout It Bout It, Pt. 3," the No Limit collab from Diplomatic Immunity, sounds like a genuine cultural exchange. There's that "Bounce through, an ounce or two" second verse, the cool specificity re his Ohio runs, the triumphant verse from Jimmy. "Bout It" was a Moment, one that truly solidified the Harlemites as, well, diplomats. 

29. "Double Up" f/ Juelz Santana

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

28. "What Means The World To You"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

27. "Halftime Show Freestyle"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

26. "Bigger Picture (Remix)"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

25. "It's Nothing" f/ Juelz Santana

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

24. Kanye West, "Gone" f/ Cam'ron & Consequence

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

23. "Dial M For Murder (Remix)" f/ Ja Rule

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

22. "Suck It Or Not" f/ Lil Wayne

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

21. "D'Rugs" f/ Brotha

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

20. "Get 'Em Daddy" f/ Hell Rell

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

19. "357"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

18. "You Gotta Love It" f/ Max B

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

17. "Get 'Em Girls"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

16. "Dipset Forever"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

15. "Killa Cam" f/ Opera Steve

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

14. "Pull It" f/ DMX

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

13. "Glory" f/ Noreaga

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

12. "I Just Wanna" f/ Juelz Santana

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

11. "Losing Weight, Pt. 2" f/ Juelz Santana

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

10. "Where I'm From" f/ Dutch & Spade

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

9. "Hey Ma" f/ Juelz Santana

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

8. "That's Me"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

7. DJ Clue, "Fantastic 4, Part 2"f/ Nature, The Lox, Fabolous, Cam'ron

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Cam's unforgettable opening barrage on this posse cut makes this one of his best, hands down:

 

—Brendan Klinkenberg

6. "Harlem Streets"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

5. "Down and Out"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

4. "Horse & Carriage" f/ Mase

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

3. The Diplomats, "Dipset Anthem"

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

2. "Oh Boy" f/ Juelz Santana

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

1. "I Really Mean It" f/ The Diplomats

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Latest in Music