Cam’ron Refuses To Snitch On “60 Minutes”

Posted: April 20, 2007 in: Camron | By: Jason |

Cam'ron recently explained his position on snitching to CBS news correspondent Anderson Cooper in an interview for "60 Minutes."

According to CBS News, the interview which is set to air this Sunday (April 22) at 7 p.m. EST on CBS, is part of a larger story that examins how hip-hop culture's message to shun the police has undermined law enforcement's efforts to solve murders across the country.

In the interview, Cam makes his feelings on "snitching" known, saying that there is no situation that would warrant a person aiding police, even if the rapper knowingly lived next door to a serial killer.

"If I knew the serial killer was living next door to me? I wouldn't call and tell anybody on him, but I'd probably move," said Cam'ron when Cooper proposed the question. "But I'm not going to call and be like, 'The serial killer's in 4E.' "

When Cooper questioned the Harlem-bred MC on why he refused to cooperate with police after an assailant shot and wounded the rapper in Washington, D.C. during Howard University's homecoming weekend, the rapper responded by saying, "Because … it would definitely hurt my business, and the way I was raised, I just don't do that."

When the interviewer voiced his opinion, saying that if he'd been shot that he would want the shooter brought to justice, Cam defended his position by saying, "But then again, you're not going to be on the stage tonight in the middle of, say, Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, with people with gold and platinum teeth and dreadlocks jumping up and down singing your songs, either. We're in two different lines of business."

The story also gets commentary from those outside of the hip-hop community on the matter of snitching. Geoffrey Canada, an anti-violence advocate and educator from Harlem, offers his insight on the matter, saying that he believes that rappers are unwilling to damage their street credibility by speaking to or helping law enforcement officers.

"It's one of those things that sells music and no one really quite understands why," Canada says. "Their fans look up to artists if they come from the 'meanest streets of the urban ghetto.'" He continues, "It is now a cultural norm that is being preached in poor communities … It's like you can't be a black person if you have a set of values that say 'I will not watch a crime happen in my community without getting involved to stop it.'"

The complete interview airs on Sunday at 7 p.m. EST on CBS.