Cam’ron Explains How ‘It Is What It Is’ Podcast Came To Fruition
Harlem native, Cameron “Cam’ron” Giles came up in the entertainment industry as a rapper but has recently made a splash with his childhood friend, hip-hop recording artist, Mason “Ma$e” Betha producing and hosting their podcast, “It Is What It Is,” with Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson moderating. Instead of talking about hip-hop, which seems to be the route many rappers have taken lately (Joe Budden, N.O.R.E., Gillie Da Kid, Fat Joe, Willie D, etc.), the duo chose sports. The show has done so well that after broadcasting for only a couple of months, it was announced in August 2023, that the guys signed a deal allegedly worth eight figures with Underdog Fantasy (a sports betting platform). The show was recently nominated for a Webby Award for Best Sports Podcast.
The “Horse & Carriage” lyricist mentioned that he’d be speaking on the phone with a friend and they would have extensive arguments surrounding sports and it was so intense that by the time they hung up, two hours had passed. After questioning himself, he had an idea.
“All the sports shows to me were pretty much the same and you had different personalities on shows, but the formats were pretty much the same. So what I did was I said I’m going to invest $250,000 into this project. I didn’t even have to spend 250,000, but that was the number that I said I’m gonna max out on. If it works, it works. If it doesn’t, it doesn’t.”
So, instead of taking the route of a simple setup at home, he decided to take some of that money and build out a professional studio and then do the show in the same vein as having conversations with his friends. Oh and wear a suit on set.
“I remember we did the first episode and people were like, why are they letting Cam talk like this on ESPN? And I’m like we not on ESPN. We was on our platform, but it looked like a professional setting. And it took off. I did 3-4 episodes by myself.”
But, after inviting Ma$e as a guest, his Harlem cohort loved it so much that he asked if he can “go half on it?”
After telling Ma$e yes, they did several episodes and momentum built, and after initially being offered $1,000,000, he felt that more could be given. As the numbers went up he was ready to make a deal.
“When they got to like, $6 million, I was like, ‘Ma$e, it doesn’t make sense not to do the deal.’ But, he had a real number in his head and he said ‘Cam, we got to do it so we did 30 (episodes) and we ended up doing a $20 million deal.”
On a recent episode of “It It What It Is,” Cam’ron mentioned that the duo was asked to walk Mike Tyson out for his boxing match against Jake Paul, taking place in July, according to HipHopDX. But, they turned down the offer. He also stated the offer was made before Tyson’s recent health scare.
“They offered us the walkout with Mike Tyson,” he said. “This was before this incident and I’m like, ‘I’m not sure if I want to do that.’ Now, I’m probably not going to do it.
“‘Cause I don’t want n**gas blaming me for nothing when n**gas don’t win. Like when Devin [Haney] lost [to Ryan Garcia], n**gas said, ‘Why he wearing Balenciaga sneakers?’ […] If we walk Mike out and Mike don’t win, I don’t know if I need that type of pressure.”
Cam’ron Explains How ‘It Is What It Is’ Podcast Came To Fruition