Photo Credit: Cam’ron (@mr_camron / Instagram)
Cam’ron and J. Cole have settled the strange lawsuit surrounding their “Ready ‘24” collaboration, after J. Cole denied the claims against him.
J. Cole and Cam’ron have reached a settlement in their legal battle, filed by the latter against the former over a supposed verbal agreement in 2021 pertaining to their collaboration “Ready ‘24.”
“Ready ‘24” was released in 2024 on J. Cole’s fourth mixtape, Might Delete Later. The track’s instrumental is a reworking of the instrumental to “I’m Ready,” a 2003 song by Cam’ron’s group, The Diplomats.
Initially, Cam’ron reportedly “contributed lyrics to the introduction and the second verse for Cole’s ‘Ready ‘24,’” which the two recorded during a June 2022 studio session. But according to the lawsuit, Cam’ron claimed that his contributions to the track were “expressly conditioned on” having final approval of the resulting recording, receiving an “appropriate credit,” and the promise of future collaborations with J. Cole.
Cole allegedly “agreed to collaborate on a future recording,” as well as appearing on Cam’ron’s podcast, It Is What It Is. The pair supposedly discussed the matter in 2022—when “the collaboration never materialized”—and again in 2023 when Cole allegedly said he’d “agree to appear on the podcast at a later date.” Finally, Cam’ron claimed they discussed the situation again in 2024, when Cole “repeatedly stated that he was unavailable to appear on the podcast.”
Moreover, Cam’ron claimed he had “not been paid any royalties” for “Ready ‘24,” and should be entitled to “at least $500,000.”
J. Cole denied the strange claims against him, arguing that no formal agreement was ever reached. He asserted that Cam’ron appeared on the track voluntarily for his own career benefit, and only filed the lawsuit later as a vehicle for demanding “excessive fees.”
Little is known about the deal reached, just that the two rappers have settled the matter. Notably, J. Cole was represented by Christine Lepera of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp—one of the bigger lawyers in the music business.
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