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September 20, 2017

Are Cam’ron and Jay-Z Throwing Subliminals At Each Other?

 What’s up guys, Frazier here for Complex News and it’s starting to feel like 2006 in here because...Cam’ron and Jay-Z might be beefing again. I’ll confess to this one slipping past me, even though I’m the Professor of Jigga Studies in these here parts. But, you know on “Moonlight,” when Jay says “Look I know killers, you no killer”? Well, I took that to just be a general OG check to the new class of rapper to “stop walking around like they made Thriller.” Or, if we wanna tag a subliminal on it, the first target that comes to mind is Kanye. In his notorious Saint Pablo tour screed against Jay, Ye specifically mentions that he knows Hov has “killers” at his disposal and to please not send them for his head. But no, recent activity seems to support that the line is a sub for none other than...Killa Cam. Of course, Dipset were one of Jay-Z’s most notable beefs. Their issues stem from the Dips time signed to Roc-a-Fella, when their addition to the label got swept up in the debilitating relationship between Jay-Z and Dame Dash. As such, Jay didn’t quite welcome them with open arms. That slight eventually festered into full-blown disses from Jim Jones and Cam. While they never attacked Jay together, in 2006 Jay traded bars with both of them on various songs. Cam notably went hard at Jay on “You Gotta Love It,” which Complex just ranked as his 18th best song ever. Chancletas haven’t been viewed the same since...he even alleged Jay had something to do with the recent shooting attempt on his life. Cam went so far as to bring Beyonce into it, poking fun at how he quote had “the thing singing bout slingin crack” on his second album. He later enlisted JJ from Good Times to play a caricature of Jay in his video for “Suck It Or Not.”  Jay hit back on Rick Ross’s “Hustlin” remix and got even more direct across the album he dropped that year, Kingdom Come. At one point he says “Y’all respect the one who got shot, I respect the shooter.” Then, on the diss track “Dig a Hole,” he gets at Cam’s sales: “THe only time you went plat, my chain was on ya neck that’s an actual fact” and then brings up the shooting: “Outside of the league, that’s not what you do/niggas throwin Roc signs outside of ya coupe.” Jay would go on to aim Roc artist Tru Life at the Dips and go about his business, and the beef subsequently died down. Then during a little bit of reflective flexing on Drake’s “Pound Cake,” Jay’s “Cam made millions” line made Killa perk up. On a, in my opinion, classic Funk Flex freestyle shortly after that song dropped, Cam replied.   Catch that Solange line? Still, there didn’t seem to be much life in the beef. If anything, Jay’s been making up with one foe after another, even bringing Jim into the Roc Nation fold. And he doubled down on that sentiment in his recent Rap Radar interview, saying he has zero interest in rap beef at this age and state of his career. Still, 4:44 has several lines that could double as subliminals to at least Kanye and God knows who else...Jay is storied for giving dudes half a bar in clever subs. Whether those lines in “Moonlight” were for Cam or not, he’s making them about him. In a recent IG clip in the studio working on his new album, Cam plays a song that almost 100% features response bars to Hov. He flips the “Killa” line and even flips Jay’s “Thriller” reference as well. Then before things get out of hand Cam says “I’m done with that tho, I ain't beefing with the family man.” Watch for yourself. We’ll see what Cam says when the full song drops, but where do we go from here? Jay is considerably less active but still, the Dips remain one of the few hecklers able to actually get under his skin and provoke a response, several even. Jay’s 4:44 tour starts soon, maybe he’ll have a few words for Cam on stage? Or give him half-a-bar or two on his next feature verse? It’s always fun to watch Jay in merciless mode and Cam in a beef is guaranteed entertainment, see: Curtis! But th

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