Cam’ron was at a DJ battle in 2013 and Miss Info had to explain who A-Trak is, according to the Harlem, New York emcee. Approximately a year later, Cam’ron and A-Trak are set to release a collaborative project, the Federal Reserve EP.
“This is something brand-new to me,” Cam’ron says in an upcoming Complex cover story. “I didn’t even know nothing about this world or this culture. [Miss Info] mentioned he was one of the biggest people to do it. So when Dame called me and said we should do an EP together, I was like, ‘Let’s do it. Sounds good.'”
Dame Dash was the connection between A-Trak and Cam’ron at the time. Dash has been an important figure in Cam’s career for years, particularly because Cam isn’t always in the mood to deal with parts of the entertainment business that Dash helps with.
“I’m type bipolar,” Dash says. “My mood swings change, so sometimes I may want to do something, sometimes I may not, but being that A-Trak knew Dame, it was all good. To be honest, sometimes I get in my shell and I don’t want to do stuff, and sometimes I’m real active. After getting to know A-Trak, I’m really happy that I did do it. Now if he ever calls me direct, I’ll answer the phone.”
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A-Trak and Cam met at the rapper’s home where Cam’ron says he decided he would cook.
“I think the first time they came over I was cooking lamb and steak and all types of stuff,” Cam says. “I don’t like to have sessions where everybody’s just sitting in the studio waiting. The studio’s in my crib, so I would cook some lamb, then go lay a verse, then come back upstairs and cook some steak and lay a verse, then come back upstairs and cook some shrimp and lay a verse—so we was just cooking and recording all night. It was a pretty cool atmosphere for me.”
A-Trak says Cam’ron was intentional about all of this.
“I remember Cam was real vocal about that,” A-Trak says. “[Cam was] like, ‘Look, we’re going to record. We’re going to do songs. But also, we’re going to chill, cook some lamb, and then it becomes easier to connect musically.’ One thing that’s cool is that this is all centered around music.”
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The duo filmed a promo video for the cover story, which can be found on HipHopDX.
Cam’ron and A-Trak announced their collaborative project in January with an Instagram video clip.
