On Thursday, Cam'ron released the video for "10,000 Miles," a track from his upcoming mixtape The Program. The song samples Vanessa Carlton's "A Thousand Miles," the 2001 hit best known for its own triumphant music video centered around a rolling piano.
Cam's "10,000 Miles" is simply the newest rendition of Carlton's song in the 16 years since it's release. The track is a piece of pre-social media music that's lived an unlikely sturdy life as a meme — it was previously immortalized by the 2004 movie White Chicks and a very exceptional Vine from Soulja Boy.
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Carlton, who has enjoyed a career outside of this song and released a new album, Liberman, in 2015, spoke to The FADER about Cam'ron's new song. Over email, she said his version "totally works."
"I thought wow, this totally works! "A Thousand Miles" is hard to sample. People would usually only use the piano interlude part but he uses the verse and chorus piano sections too. That's one of the reasons it works so well. Also it's a dark tale. And that juxtaposition with the seemingly light and pretty piano thing totally works.
This song is universal. When things aren't right at home, everything feels shitty. I liked Cam'ron's [music video]. Especially the part when he was wrapped in that smelly blanket with the french cigarette behind his ear."
When asked about the song's presence in hip-hop and online culture, Carlton put her own success in perspective. "I mean this song is its own thing now," she said. "It has its own career. To have a song that has a role in hip-hop is awesome. I feel welcome. I'm serious though, "A Thousand Miles" needs its own manager and agent. I have moved on and am able to explore different sounds and collaborations. I just sort of respect what happened with this song and let it be its own thing."
Thumbnail credit: Scott Gries/Getty, Violette
