(Sports Drugs & Entertainment) in 19 respectively the former achieved gold status by the RIAA.
Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" Rivera's Untertainment under the aegis of Epic and released his first two studio albums Confessions of Fire and S.D.E. When asked dead-on if the harsh dig at the best semi-retired rapper alive was a blatant publicity stunt, Cam responds, "I don't need a publicity stunt- I'm me." If this underwhelming offering is any indication, such blind self-reference has considerably slowed down Cam'ron's once-unstoppable Dipset Movement.Cameron Ezike Giles (born Febru), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. The spectacle is ridiculously self-serious, showing that the rapper may be drinking too much of his own Sizzurp liqueur. On the limited edition version of Killa Season, there's a bonus DVD that includes portions of a press conference Cam held shortly after his Jay-Z dis first aired. Although the rhymes are basically been-there Camlibs, in such smooth surroundings even the mind-numbing hook- "More killin' killin'/ More killin' killin' for Killa Killa"- sounds fresh. A more realistic exit strategy for the current banging-head Dipset conundrum is represented by "Do Ya Thing (Remix)", on which Cam shows off a hushed delivery, gliding with easy reticence over a jazzy, Earth, Wind & Fire-sampling Chad Hamilton beat that recalls vintage Pete Rock.
"I can't enjoy a movie dinner," he admits, "My son growin' up, I'm lookin' like the movie Thinner." Whatever "truth" Cam's speaking of here, it's probably something he should rely on more often.īut no matter how oddly hilarious and touching "I.B.S." can be, it's likely to go down as a barefaced anomaly. But he follows up the sincere claim with brilliantly candid couplets, making light of his painful condition. Over an uncharacteristically subdued, twinkling beat from Dipset faves Heatmakerz, Cam starts off with the bold pronouncement, "This is a true story." Whether or not that makes the album's other tales less than genuine is unclear- truth is a highly relative term in Purple City. The album's finest moment- and one of the most intriguing tracks in Cam's catalogue thus far- is "I.B.S.", an autobiographical tale chronicling the emcee's bout with the pesky, self-explanatory disease called Irritable Bowl Syndrome. When the stiff beats ease up and Cam (slightly) deflates his chest, Killa Season excels. Carter's fashion faux pas, it's always going to look pathetic when an opponent wins a fight by not responding. Still, no matter how amped Cam gets over one of Mr. Out of its original context, the song can now be judged as something other than a crass stunt, and Cam nails some stinging blows while battling the harsh beat (which earns a couple of pity points for sampling, of all things, the score from Basic Instinct). Exhibit A is "You Gotta Love It", his infamous Jay-Z dis.
Instead of showcasing his trademark never-rushed swagger, Killa Season sometimes finds Cam aggravated, yelling flustered barbs over chintzy Casio trumpets and too-busy hi-hats. The rapper's diminutive Flea moniker also hints at a paranoid inferiority complex that seeps into the record. Yet, a large portion of Killa Season is committed to that aim with bumptious tracks like "Girls, Cash, Cars", "War", and the shamelessly-dubbed "Get 'Em Daddy" all puffing lots of hot-air bluster rather than sounding audacious. Thing is, "Get 'Em Girls" can't be topped. Seemingly, the entire crew is trying to top Haze's signature banger's banger, "Get 'Em Girls", which combines operatic vocals with arch strings and back-broke bass to emit a crippling, avant-garde thump. Aside from Juelz Santana, who actually showed some promising progression on two solo mixtapes and an impressive sophomore album last year, Cam and his cronies continue to release a relentless stream of street CDs with diminishing returns. Since Purple Haze, the whole Dipset machine seems to have fallen into a holding pattern.