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K Camp isn’t one for false modesty. In his eyes his recent success on the hip-hop charts is long overdue. Since his he made his debut in 2010 debut ‘April 27, 1990 — A Star Is Born,’ he knew this day would come.
Recently, The Boombox had a chance to speak with the Atlanta native about his significant — and seemingly overnight — climb to the upper echelon of newbie rappers and he hesitated — but only for a second. “I knew I was gon’ pop sooner or later,” he tells The Boombox. “But, I seen the s— coming. I ain’t gon’ lie, I seen it coming, but the way it’s coming in is crazy. I’m blessed, I work hard and everything is seeming to fall into place perfectly.”
The 24-year-old went from being a relatively unknown artist to having 2 Chainz as a feature on one of his biggest hits to date, the deliciously flippant ‘Cut Her Off.’ The track is based on one particularly disappointing evening.
The night ‘Cut Her Off’ was recorded, Camp was set to see a certain young lady who had a boyfriend. He’d just purchased some Lime-A-Ritas from a neighborhood gas station when she flaked on him. “Folks be thinking [‘Cut Her Off’ is based on] the craziest story but it was really just one of those nights where things ain’t play out too well,” he admits with a chuckle. “She was flexin’ with that ‘meow’ so I cut her off. That’s it. And made a song about it.”
With his previous track, 2013’s ‘Money Baby’ still fresh on our minds, it was essentially a no-brainer for Tity Two Necklace to co-sign the young star by hopping on the official version of ‘Cut Her Off.’ “DJ Teknique set that up,” he shares. “He called me and said that he’s proud of our campaign. He knows how long I’ve been working. Next thing I know, I had that verse emailed to me that next day and we ran with it.”
After having bubbled under the surface for close to a year, K Camp watched and worked diligently as the national demand for his music came to a boil. Within 30 days of ‘Cut Her Off’ dropping, the rapper released his latest project ‘In Due Time’ and basked in the glow of signing to Interscope only a couple months later. Inking with that particular label had been a life-long dream primarily because of its longstanding legacy in hip-hop.
Then there are the perks — the X-rated exploits on Miami balconies with pretty girls and birthday celebrations in the Dominican Republic. When it’s brought to his attention that the brashness of ‘Cut Her Off’ is potentially conflicting with his demeanor, a sort of sticky-sweet Southern hospitality, he plays coy. “People think I’m mean?” he ponders aloud. “I can be, you know what I’m saying? But it depends on whether or not I rock with you or not. You on my good side. then we’re cool.”
There’s a lot more for K Camp to do as the ball continues to roll and even more stars hop onboard.‘In Due Time’ was hosted by DJ Drama. His team started pushing the Wale-assisted ‘Off the Floor’ in April. Still, the young spitter isn’t close to meeting his mark. “I don’t even know when that’ll be,” he shares. “When I get with [Lil] Wayne or Andre 3000, then I can be like ‘Okay.’ But shouts to everybody that I’ve worked with. I rock with their campaigns.”
In addition to setting himself up for success, there’s an entire team he runs with — The Slumlords — that has supported him from the start and K Camp is determined to bring them along for the ride. “We always have a plan,” he divulges. “That’s why things have been happening like this — we just plan months ahead. The next goal is to kill the summer and we’re already in the process of doing that. Then we can venture off and do other things that’ll bring new income to the squad.”
It’s not just talk — the rapper genuinely supports his team. Most recently, Slumlord member and close friend Sy Ari Da Kid dropped his ‘Ultrasound 2 — The Birth’ mixtape and K Camp was spotted kicking it at the listening party at a small club on Atlanta’s northside. “It’s so important to me to be a team player,” he says. “Since I was a kid, that’s been my dog and we have great chemistry in the studio. Anybody I f— with personally, I want them to win.”
The desire to strive for higher ground isn’t lost on K Camp as his accolades grow — even if he’s primarily respected for his club records. He’s more than that, songs like ‘Blessing’ from the latest project, show a deeper side to the rapper than expected. “With ‘In Due Time,’ I wanna be known for the ‘Damn Right’s and the ‘Think About It’s,” he says. “The club is cool. The club is easy because I’ve been doing it for so long and I’m always in clubs so I always know what’s going on but I don’t wanna be known as no club artist. I wanna be known as a dope artist period.”
