Donning a neon highlighter-yellow bomber jacket (I later discovered his matching shoelaces), Cam was right in the pocket and never left it for the near-hour he performed.Īs a devout fan who’s seen him three times prior, I can say I left wholly satisfied with the set. He walked out to the epic operatic samples of the “Killa Cam” beat from his magnum opus Purple Haze.

| courtesy of the artist | Thanks to Ardmore Music Hall running a tight ship, the Dipset leader hit the stage right around 11pm as planned, without much delay before doing so. Now to wait for the show to begin.Ĭam’ron | photo by Reji B. Even though the soundcheck was the first time all three of us actually rehearsed for this show, my mind was greatly eased by how well they both knew the music. The sound was even better than I remember The Blockley’s being, and the engineer actually turned my voice up in the monitors when I asked him to (a rarity at rap shows). The Blockley was my favorite venue in my city, so I had a pretty high standard for its new suburban incarnation.Īfter sound checking with my DJ Jim Redz and my drummer “Jer-Z” Mason, I was feeling great. I’d never played there yet, as they just recently started booking hip-hop, and I was excited to do so. Fittingly, three years later I was booked at the new venue run by the same folks who brought us The Blockley, The Ardmore Music Hall, located right outside the city. | courtesy of the artist | This was not my first time doing a show with Cam’ron I rocked with him in 2013 at The Blockley, formerly in West Philly (R.I.P.). Therefore, it was a no brainer for me to accept when I was offered an opening slot on the PA stop of his “Killa Season 2” tour. While I won’t say Killa Cam has been a direct influence on my personal musical style, he’s certainly one of my favorite rappers to listen to. The man has hits upon hits, and even at age 40, still has some of the best crowd control in the game. He’s worshipped by 30 and 40 somethings who came up in the Dipset era, still wearing leather Pelle Pelle jackets and oversized fitteds with pride but he’s also fully embraced by the younger hipsters who love his music for its tongue-in-cheek wit. His first piece, a behind-the-scenes account of his gig opening for Cam’ron in Ardmore, is below.Ĭam’ron is unquestionably one of the most beloved figures in hip-hop. | courtesy of the artist | EDITOR’S NOTE: Philly rapper Voss has grabbed our attention here at The Key for his onstage charisma and lyrical wit, so when he hit us up pitching some musician’s-eye stories for the site, we were all ears.

Camron killa season tracklist