by Cedric ‘BIG CED’ Thornton
March 22, 2024
“You were the first guy to ever pay me what I was really worth, talent-wise, and that just goes a long long way.”
On an episode of Cam’ron and Ma$e’s sports podcast, It It What It Is, Mason Betha, aka Ma$e, credited Atlanta producer and hitmaker Jermaine Dupri (JD) with giving the rapper-turned-preacher his “first million dollars” early in his career.
In January, during an episode of the Harlem childhood friends’ show, Ma$e and Cam had given JD props for how he helped both rappers when they were still fresh in the music game when Cam’ron was signed to Epic Records and Ma$e was a Bad Boy Records artist. The episode, which debuted on YouTube on Jan. 12, 2024, featured the Atlanta “Money Ain’t A Thing” recording artist, St. Louis rapper Nelly, and football expert Maurice Clarett, along with It Is What It Is co-host Treasure “Stat Baby” Wilson.
Ma$e, who arrived late to the episode, came in immediately and acknowledged JD by telling him that he had given him his first million.
“I want to tell you thank you from my heart. You were the first guy to ever pay me what I was really worth, talent-wise, and that just goes a long, long way. And I want you to know if there’s ever anything I could do, anything I could be a part of, I’m forever indebted to you for just allowing me to be rich. You gave me my first million dollars.”
In the program, Cam’ron acknowledged the hitmaker for providing two songs for his first LP, Confessions of Fire.
“When I was young, I was real arrogant because my man Ma$e just sold four million records, and I’m thinking I’m supposed to sell four million records,” Cam said. “And I don’t think I ever gave J.D. his flowers for even doing what he did for me.”
“It meant a lot to me that you did that for me because you invited me to your house, and you didn’t have to do that. So I just want to tell you thank you in front of everybody because I probably never even did it privately, let alone publicly.”
Check out the full interview below:
