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Jay-Z and Cam’ron have a bit of history. Rather than volatile incidents or a war of words, their feud has always stemmed from beats. Hov landed a hit in 2001 with the Kanye West-produced ‘Izzo (H.O.V.A.)’, which was one of the most successful records on his The Blueprint album. However, Ye initially told Cam he could use the beat, only for Jay to claim it two weeks later.

Speaking on the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast, Cam said, “I was mad at Kanye for a long time until I got to Roc-A-Fella. I had a real attitude with him. Before I got to Roc-A-Fella, he would play beats for me when I had my deal with Sony and Epic. He played this beat for me [and I was like], ‘Oh, nah. I want that one.’”

He continued, “I wrote the song that night. I did the song. I said, ‘Cool, we’re gonna work the paperwork out and get this together.’ Two weeks later, I heard, ‘H to the Izzo, V to the Izzay.’ [I was like], ‘Is this the fucking beat you just told me I could have?’ He gave it to Hov and I was pissed.”

But this was just the start of their issues. Years later, Cam’ron signed to Jay’s Roc-A-Fella Records, and in 2002, he released his hit single ‘Oh Boy’ with fellow Dipset member Juelz Santana, which appeared on his Come Home with Me album. The platinum song peaked at number four on the Hot 100 and was nominated for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group at the Grammy Awards in 2003.

However, there’s a lot more than what meets the eye. ‘Oh Boy’ producer Just Blaze originally played the beat for Jay, who asked him to hold it for a later date. Jay’s engineer, Young Guru, claimed Cam asked Blaze for the beat, but he remained loyal to Jay’s wishes.

Some time went by, and Jay never used the beat, so during a studio session with Guru when Blaze wasn’t there, Cam seized the opportunity. He recorded over the instrumental and quickly sent it to radio stations before anyone could stop it.

After the song came out, Jay was still fond of the beat. He recorded a verse for a potential remix and gave it to Cam’ron. Feeling bitter, Cam immediately deleted the verse because Jay allegedly did the same thing with a verse he had previously recorded for Peedi Crakk.

“I’m a very, very, petty man, but looking back on that, we should’ve kept it,” he said. “And whether we used it or not, we should’ve had it.” Speaking of his feelings then, he recalled thinking, “‘I don’t ever want to hear it again.’ We ain’t gon’ find it nowhere. ‘Erase it’ was just my mentality at the time.”

Jay reportedly voted against Cam becoming president of Roc-A-Fella, and the pair went on to diss each other on various occasions. Nowadays, the pair are on good terms, having reunited for a historic Manhattan show at Webster Hall in 2019.