July 21 In Hip-Hop History: Cam’ron Drops His Debut Album

Cam’ron may have gotten his start in the music industry in the early ’90s, but the Harlem native’s reign in the rap game formally began once his debut album hit the streets.

On July 21, 1998, Killa Cam delivered his first album Confessions of Fire via Untertainment/Epic Records. Cam’ron’s 19-track project features collaborations with Noreaga aka N.O.R.E., Jimmy Jones, Kelly Price, Usher, and Charli Baltimore with production from Swizz Beatz, Trackmasters, Jermaine Dupri and others. The long-awaited debut LP arrived following the success of his previously released tracks “357,” which was featured in the 1998 film Woo, and “Horse & Carriage” featuring Ma$e.

“Horse & Carriage” remains one of the stand-out records on the album along with “Glory” featuring N.O.R.E. and the cheater’s anthem “Wrong Ones” featuring actress Tichina Arnold. Yet, the Trackmasters-produced hit is also a catalyst for the grueling beef that ensued between Ma$e and Cam that began right before the album dropped.

Once the song began to make moves on the Billboard charts, Cam decided to shoot the music video and asked Ma$e to be in it. The Bad Boy artist, who previously rapped in a group called Children Of The Corn with Cam, tried to charge him $40,000 to appear in the video. Cam wasn’t trying to pay all that so he found a look-alike to appear in the video instead. His solution to his problem didn’t seem to sit well with the Harlem World rapper.

In the years since the video dropped, Ma$e and Cam’ron have fired shots at each other in person and on wax. Cam unleashed on Ma$e several times on songs like “Take Em To Church” and “It’s Killa.” Even after he left music in 1999 and became a pastor, Ma$e has managed to return to the game and hit back with “The Oracle.” Nowadays, both MC’s remain civil but Ma$e has claimed that he’s still not cool with Cam.

Listen to Cam’ron’s debut album Confessions of Fire below.