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During a recent interview, rapper Cam'ron shed light on why Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana's highly-anticipated project, I Can't Feel My Face, never saw the light of day. For context, Wayne and Santana first teased I Can't Feel My Face in the mid-2000s, however, the project was never released.
On the February 11 episode of his Talk With Flee YouTube series, Cam'ron revealed what caused the project to be shelved. The rapper claimed the project fell through because of politics involving Universal Music Group (UMG) and Def Jam (owned by UMG).
According to Cam'ron, Universal Music Group (where Wayne was signed) allegedly demanded a 95 percent cut of the project's profits, the reason being that Wayne had yet to turn in his solo album to them at the time.
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“Juelz and Wayne had a project. Def Jam is under Universal, which Lil Wayne was signed to. So when they wanted to put this project out, Universal told Def Jam, ‘Lil Wayne still didn't give us his album yet, so if y'all want to put this project out, we're taking 95 percent and Def Jam, y'all can take 5 percent,'" Cam'ron said.
Cam'ron also stated that he had a joint venture deal with Def Jam, adding that the remaining five percent going to Def Jam would allegedly be evenly split between the record label and him and Santana. He further claimed that Def Jam allegedly refused the deal.
“If the project came out... Def Jam would get 2.5 percent of the album, and me and Juelz would get 2.5 percent... and they said, ‘Cam, we love you, but we’re not doing that,’” the rapper added.
Cam'ron addressed the rumors that he stopped the release of I Can't Feel My Face
During the latest YouTube episode, Cam'ron also cleared the air about the rumors claiming he was the reason I Can't Feel My Face was never released. The rapper told people they could ask Steve Gawley, a former Def Jam lawyer, about the deal and UMG's terms for I Can't Feel My Face's release, and he could corroborate the rapper's claims.
"Shout out to Steve Gawley—he’s now the head lawyer for Universal, at the time, he was the lawyer for Def Jam. And we’re still good to this day. Go find Steve Gawley and ask him that. N***as don’t know who Steve Gawley is, n***as just want to blame Cam,” Cam'ron said.
Cam'ron also said he had no reason to stop I Can't Feel My Face's release, adding that his intention was to make Juelz Santana rich and famous, so blocking his album from being released did not serve his agenda.
“Why would I want to stop making money? My whole thing was to make Juelz a star, to make Juelz rich. However it played out towards the end, it played out towards the end. But Juelz said it: ‘Cam’s gonna make me a star, he’s gonna make me a million.’ We both did what we said we was going to do. Why would I want to stop that?" the rapper added.
Exploring the reasons for I Can't Feel My Face never releasing
As per HipHopDX in July 2022, Lil Wayne and Juelz Santana revealed their then-upcoming project, titled I Can't Feel My Face, in the mid-2000s. However, the LP was never released, as Wayne was arrested and incarcerated for eight months under firearm charges in 2010.
Meanwhile, Santana's recording studio was raided by the police in 2011, causing it to be shut down. While Wayne later claimed it was time for both rappers to "really capitalize" on the project, during a 2012 interview with MTV, I Can't Feel My Face was never released, despite Wayne and Santana collaborating on multiple occasions after that.
Wayne revealed in a 2013 interview with MTV that he had repurposed some elements of I Can't Feel My Face into his project I Am Not a Human Being II. Meanwhile, Santana launched his record label, named after the never-released LP, in 2022.
In a July 2022 interview with TMZ, Juelz Santana said it was "definitely not unlikely" for the project to happen. Furthermore, in a November 2022 interview with DJ Vlad, Santana seemingly confirmed Cam'ron's claim that record label politics were the reason behind his project with Lil Wayne never releasing.
“We didn’t get to put the album out on a major label because there was too much politics at the time… You had Def Jam, Universal, Cash Money, and Diplomats, you know what I’m saying. Four different entities that had to come to one agreement and get on one accord to push a project,” Santana said.
There have been no new updates regarding I Can't Feel My Face at the time of this article.
