Why did Cam'ron sue J. Cole? "The Fall-Off" rapper opens up about his legal battle over $500K royalties dispute

In October 2025, Cameron Giles, also known as Cam'ron, took legal action against J. Cole for unpaid royalties from their collaboration on the 2024 song, Ready ’24. The lawsuit was filed in New York federal court, and it claimed that Cole owed Giles over $500K as unpaid royalties.

The origin of the case goes back to 2021, when J. Cole approached Cam for the song. However, Cam said that he had his terms, which included control over the final song and credits, among others. The song was eventually recorded in June 2022. Cam'ron wrote it, but the song’s release was withheld. In 2024, Cole dropped the song and only gave composition credit to Cam.

Cam'ron also wanted J. Cole to appear on his It Is What It Is podcast, but that never happened. As per the latest update on his case, Cole responded to the legal trouble through his attorney. He said that he never promised to appear on the podcast. As per a court filing from February 10, his attorney Christine Lepera said:

“Plaintiff encouraged and blessed defendants’ use of his performance, as it was to his career benefit. It was only after the release of ‘Ready ‘24’ that he began to demand unreasonable conditions never agreed to by Cole, or an excessive fee inconsistent with industry standards for a featured performance followed by the filing of this lawsuit without notice to publicly disparage Cole as leverage.”

What did Cam'ron say about the issue with J. Cole during a recent podcast appearance?

In his filing last year, Cam'ron alleged that J. Cole refused to honor the agreement. He failed to either collaborate on a single or appear on the It Is What It Is podcast. Besides failing to meet this criterion, Cole released Ready ’24. Meanwhile, through his recent court filing, Cole said:

“Plaintiff asked Cole to appear on his podcast, and he and Cole discussed the possibility of Cole appearing on Plaintiff’s podcast, but no commitment was ever made by Cole to do so nor was there any agreement or condition related to ‘Ready ‘24’ to do so.”

The filing also stated that Cam’s participation in the song was voluntary and there were no conditions. Not only that, but Cam never raised any objection before the song’s release. Moreover, the filing states that he was not even the co-owner of the recording.

Earlier this month, Cam'ron appeared on the Talk With Flee podcast, where he threw light on the ongoing issue. Explaining what happened, he said:

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“Being a man is keeping your word. And, I know everybody is busy and has things to do, but if I give you my word four or five times, I gotta do it. So, on his first project he did, I did an intro for him. I did the record for him for his intro, and I told him, I may need a verse whenever I get a project done. He said, ‘Cool.’”

Cam'ron explained that he finally stopped hoping to get a song with J. Cole. He said that when he didn’t get the song, he suggested doing an interview instead. J. Cole agreed at first and said they could do it when his project came out in June. But when June arrived, the album was delayed, and Cole said he didn’t want to do the interview yet.

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