cescadj
12-29-2005, 09:12 AM
DA QUESTION IS, WILL CAM EVER REACH PLATINUM STATUS, OR IS HE TOO ILL FOR DA MAINSTREAM?
Check out da praise for killa:
"Cam'ron is a Harlem native whose surreal swagger makes other rappers seem downright diffident. And he ended last year with a disappointment. His fourth album, "Purple Haze" (Roc-a-Fella/Island Def Jam), hit stores on Dec. 7, 2004, even though his record label hadn't yet found a hit single. Sales were slow, and the album seemed to get lost in the end-of-year rush. This year, Roc-a-Fella disintegrated and Cam'ron (who had never been close with Jay-Z, the new president) left, eventually signing with Atlantic. "Purple Haze" could have wound up just one more major-label misfire.
Could have, that is, if it hadn't been one of the greatest hip-hop albums New York has produced this decade. It's full of gruff but nonsensical tongue-twisters and jokes that get funnier the more you listen. All year long, people seemed to be discovering it. (Last week, the indie Web site Pitchfork ranked "Purple Haze" No. 9 on its list of albums of the year.) According to Nielsen SoundScan it has sold a respectable half-million copies. Even without a huge promotional push, some radio stations played "Down and Out," a song from the album featuring Kanye West, turning it into a minor hit.
In a city bereft of stars, Cam'ron looms that much larger. His crew, the Diplomats, keeps pumping out mixtapes; his protégé, Juelz Santana, released an entertaining album, "What the Game's Been Missing!" (Diplomats/Roc-a-Fella/Island Def Jam), which made him one of the most popular rappers in a city that used to have more. Cam'ron himself contributed an astonishing 28-bar verse to Kanye West's most recent CD. And his reputation only improved after a recent incident in Washington, when gunmen opened fire on his famous blue Lamborghini; true to form, Cam'ron drove himself to the hospital and, according to Juelz Santana, declined to cooperate with the investigation.
Cam'ron addresses the shooting on "The Title Stays in Harlem" (dipsetmixtapes.com), a Diplomats mixtape that proves he's still the best rapper in New York. "I been hibernating," he announces, before explaining that his assailants were jealous of his Lamborghini: "They mad my car's like a elephant: the trunk in the front." (He's obsessed with animals, as he has proved dozens of times.) In a song called "Love My Life," he gives admirers some friendly advice: "If you happen to brush shoulders with me, play Lotto; 9 outta 10 times you gon' win."
Check out da praise for killa:
"Cam'ron is a Harlem native whose surreal swagger makes other rappers seem downright diffident. And he ended last year with a disappointment. His fourth album, "Purple Haze" (Roc-a-Fella/Island Def Jam), hit stores on Dec. 7, 2004, even though his record label hadn't yet found a hit single. Sales were slow, and the album seemed to get lost in the end-of-year rush. This year, Roc-a-Fella disintegrated and Cam'ron (who had never been close with Jay-Z, the new president) left, eventually signing with Atlantic. "Purple Haze" could have wound up just one more major-label misfire.
Could have, that is, if it hadn't been one of the greatest hip-hop albums New York has produced this decade. It's full of gruff but nonsensical tongue-twisters and jokes that get funnier the more you listen. All year long, people seemed to be discovering it. (Last week, the indie Web site Pitchfork ranked "Purple Haze" No. 9 on its list of albums of the year.) According to Nielsen SoundScan it has sold a respectable half-million copies. Even without a huge promotional push, some radio stations played "Down and Out," a song from the album featuring Kanye West, turning it into a minor hit.
In a city bereft of stars, Cam'ron looms that much larger. His crew, the Diplomats, keeps pumping out mixtapes; his protégé, Juelz Santana, released an entertaining album, "What the Game's Been Missing!" (Diplomats/Roc-a-Fella/Island Def Jam), which made him one of the most popular rappers in a city that used to have more. Cam'ron himself contributed an astonishing 28-bar verse to Kanye West's most recent CD. And his reputation only improved after a recent incident in Washington, when gunmen opened fire on his famous blue Lamborghini; true to form, Cam'ron drove himself to the hospital and, according to Juelz Santana, declined to cooperate with the investigation.
Cam'ron addresses the shooting on "The Title Stays in Harlem" (dipsetmixtapes.com), a Diplomats mixtape that proves he's still the best rapper in New York. "I been hibernating," he announces, before explaining that his assailants were jealous of his Lamborghini: "They mad my car's like a elephant: the trunk in the front." (He's obsessed with animals, as he has proved dozens of times.) In a song called "Love My Life," he gives admirers some friendly advice: "If you happen to brush shoulders with me, play Lotto; 9 outta 10 times you gon' win."