It’s been a long, bumpy ride for veteran MC CA$. Over the past few years, he has had a hot single featuring his former partner in rhyme Cook, had an amicable split with Cook, dropped another hit entitled “Put Da Camera On Me,” and had a breakup with the now-defunct Plateau Records.But the Louisiana rapper has not let that faze him.
“Music is my job,” he said. “I really take this music stuff more seriously than a lot of people think . I’m still recording. I just signed with ISG Records. I have a lot of mixtapes coming out.
CA$ is currently working with DJ Witey out of Tenn. and GSU’s own DJ Star. He also plans to burn the wax for DJ Jigga JT of Monroe, DJ Ryno, DJ Mister C, and others. He also has a few new singles about to drop. One of them features Magno and Yung Texas on “Bleed The Block,” while the other is “L’s Up.”
“I’m about to release some of my stuff nationally,” CA$ said at his apartment. “That’s a real good look since it caught on down here. I’m just hopefully trying to expand my market.”
CA$ has had a relatively quiet year for 2007. There was much confusion as to his status, even after he performed the hit “Put Da Camera On Me” at TigerFest for the Block Party event. However, the 21-year-old rapper is prepared to make a strong comeback.
“(’08) is going to be my year,” CA$ proclaimed. “I’m about to put my face on the music instead of people knowing the song. I’m about to start doing more shows and promotions, and I’m going to do some stuff on YouTube.”
CA$ already has a slew of artists he’s working with. He wouldn’t confirm all the names, but he did say that he was working with Hurricane Chris, the same artist who dropped the hit “Ay Bay Bay” in 2007. He also plans to do a city-to-city tour.
While everything is going well now, the rapper did have his own problems. When word that Cook-N-Ca$ broke up surfaced, rumors swirled that the two where beefing. Some even cackled that the rappers were involved in fistfights. Ca$, however, downplays those rumors.
“He’s doing his thing; I’m doing my thing,” he said with a serious face. “That’s pretty much what it is.” CA$ was more open with what happened with Plateau Records, however. CA$ departed from Plateau Records in December of 2007.
“It wasn’t an environment that was ready for music we had,” CA$ said. “For two artists with the potential they have both leave.they just weren’t ready. It was just no passion. There was no passion there. There’s no more CA$ at Plateau Records, and there’s no more Plateau Records. It just died.”
CA$ doesn’t hold any grudges with Plateau Records, as they did help him branch out into the music game.
“Plateau Records helped season me,” he said. “It helped me as far as connections with people I needed to know. I’m thankful for everything that they’ve done. Without them, I probably would’ve been in the same boat trying to catch breaks. I went from a guy that people really didn’t know that rapped to a household name in the area who raps.”
Even though CA$ has a lot on his plate, including driving to Houston to record songs, he’s still focused on his schoolwork.
“You basically just have to know your priorities,” he said. “I’ll be writing my homework and writing my raps on another sheet of paper. My grades are still intact.” CA$ has seen the ups and downs of the business. He knows that rapping is harder than most make it seem.
“The hardest thing about rapping to me is making a hit song that will appeal to the whole world,” he said. “There’s no way to sit down and write a single. You never know what’s going to be a hit until you actually make it and everybody in the hood is listening to it.”
Luckily for CA$, he has never had a bad reaction when the hood listens to his songs.”I’ve never been booed in my life,” he said proudly. CA$ appreciates his fans, as he promises to try to make every mixtape available for download at http://www.myspace.com/cashthenext. CA$ wants his fans to be as happy as they can be.
Whether CA$ makes it or not, one thing is for certain for him.
“A lot of people fall out of the game because they stop rapping,” he said. “I’m going to be rapping all my life.