Money didn't mean a thing when it came to Cam'ron choosing to move forth with his podcast It Is What It Is.
The Harlem rap veteran and founding Dipset member recently chopped it up with Complex about his journey into sports media alongside Mase. During the lengthy conversation, Cam tackled going the independent route for their shared podcast instead of partnering with a larger platform or relying on sponsorships.
Cam revealed that he initially decided to spend a quarter million to see how much effort his new role would take. "We was probably at $90,000 or $100,000 when offers started coming in. And I started learning the business ’cause I didn't know about podcasts and how much money was out there partnering with people," he said.
The "I Really Mean It" artist later sought out financial advice from Wallo and Gillie Da Kid, co-hosts of podcast Million Dollaz Worth of Game, both of whom also helped him end his years-long feud with Mase. Also lending their help were former NBA players Kevin Garnett and Gilbert Arenas, with the latter giving Cam "a lot of game on how to stay independent, how to make money."
"That's the reason we didn't rush," Cam added. "I have to give a lot of credit to Mase as well because you know when you had $100,000 put in and somebody may offer you $3 million you're like, ‘Bet, let's do it.’ Mase was like, ‘Nah hold up, let's not do that.’"
The wait and Mase's quick thinking paid off, as offers grew substantially and reached over $13 million. "And I'm like, ‘Yo, n***a, we about to do something," Cam continued. "One of the people had got up to $13.5 million and they didn't call for a couple of days. So I called Mase and was like ‘Yo, n***a I know you ain't fucked this up cause if it's $13 million and we don't get this done, you owe me $6.5 million n***a.’ He ain't gonna never admit it, but I can hear the panic in his voice. But then it got a little higher and then we was like, nah cool."
The self-investments for It Is What It Is have paid off since the podcast was established on Cam's Come and Talk 2 Me network. In August, Cam and Mase reached a massive eight-figure deal for 18 months with sports betting brand Underdog Fantasy.
