Cam’Ron
Hip-hop star Cam’Ron contemplated hanging up his microphone in 2006 after tiring of the rap game.
The Oh Boy MC has been on hiatus for the past three years, but he admits he thought about quitting even before deciding to take time out from his music career to care for his mother, who has suffered three strokes.
He tells MTV News, "It was a time when I was thinking about that, before my mum got sick. I was like, 'I kinda been doing this for a while. Let me fall back and maybe look into some other things.'"
But Cam'ron realised he would never be able to quit rap because he was always coming up with lyrics: "During that time period (hiatus), I'd be somewhere eating, thinking of some rhymes. Or I'd be in my living room, thinking of some rhymes. I can't stop even if I wanted to stop. It doesn't matter where I'm at - if I'm somewhere sitting still for more than an hour, rhymes start popping in my head. It's just kind of instilled in me."
The result is his long-awaited comeback album, Crime Pays, which is released this week, and Cam'ron is grateful for his fans' support: "I'm just privileged to still be around.”