I Don't F**k Wit Cam No More (No Homo) (Crime Pays - Cam'ron)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Crime Pays - Cam'ron
Date:	03/09/09 (36 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A few big tunes

Disadvantages: Inconsistent

After a three-year gap of material, and a break-up of his record label, Cam'ron returned in 2009 with his sixth album. "Crime Pays" has the artist return without the aid of the likes of Juelz Santana, Freeky Zeeky and Jim Jones as The Diplomats feel apart due to things largely to do with himself, and so here you have him working with pretty much unknown names in the field to try and work his way back into the game to show how Harlem can bring it back for Hip Hop in 2009.

1. "Crime Pays" (Intro)

2. "Cookin' Up"

Off a pretty dull opening cut, you see that with this one he is backed by some heavy beats which immediately bring you in and force you to take notice of what he's about here as he moves right in towards the kind of thing you expect from him with the rather predictable Gangsta Rap material to begin the return record from him.

**Four Stars**

3. "Where I Know You From"

Moving it along a little you find that Skitzo (the man behind the majority of the beats here) gives him some more appealing beats to go on as he jumps onto something which appears to take on a little mid-nineties West Coast synth to guide it through and have him excite the listeners thorough this (as his rhymes aren't likely to do this). He rhymes about nothing and it doesn't have any point whatsoever.

**Three Stars**

4. "F**k Cam #1" (Lude)

5. "Never Ever"

With some lifted beats which bring up the mood, you see that here he performs one which you can't really complain about as you see that he chooses to take a bit of a step back to go for some party rap done in a pretty original way. However it could be taken as a way to back out of the material where he is forced to bring any sort of quality with his rhymes.

**Three Stars**

6. "Curve"

Moving things on quite a bit as he jumps right into this one, you see that here he chooses to turn his attention towards the girls which he doesn't like. It is a different one from him and has him on some heavy beats, which appear to be prevalent through the majority of the record. I wasn't all that into it, but it doesn't stand out here.

**Two Stars**

7. "Silky"

Making great use out of his "No Homo" phrase, you have a jam here which has him switching things up quite a bit to show that he, just as many others in the game, haven't neglected the past in Hip Hop as he jumps on some classic '70s material to guide him though as he is seen to lift the mood quite a bit through this smooth groove.

**Four Stars**

8. "Get It In Ohio"

Bringing the hardcore beats back into the album, you see that here the rapper turn his attention towards the "4th Coast" (of Hip Hop) - the Mid-West, but personally I don't really see how this element actually comes into it as he comes with some generic East Coast Gangsta rap material to keep the flow.

**Four Stars**

9. "Who"

Here you find a track which has him clearly taking influence from the Dirty South in the way that the thing is constructed, and just how it has been made to sound as he attempts to get down with the popular ends of the time to get people moving to his material. It is a heavy one due to the production, and little else within it is saying anything.

**Three Stars**

10. "Grease" (Lude)

11. "You Know What's Up"

This is a track on the album which doesn't really do all that much and it does more to show the lengths he will go in desperation to pull out a reaction form the listeners with unnecessary nasty rhymes which use lots of popular hype lines and do little more than this for the whole thing as he works with a pair of unknown R&B acts.

**Two Stars**

12. "Spend The Night"

This one has the artist showing just how far he is taking things to try and capitalise on the commercially-popular acts of the time (those such as Akon, Ne-Yo and Flo-Rida) as he gets on some faux-Euro-Dance beats to see whether this will fit in with his material, and it clearly didn't to any degree whatsoever.

**One Star**

13. "F**k Cam #2" (Lude)

14. "Woo Hoo"

Although there is great inconsistency in what he does, you find that here he bounces right back where the material makes a twist towards the engaging party jams. Here you have him bringing back the breakthrough years where he hit the world with tunes such as "Oh Boy" and "Hey Ma" with this tune.

**Four Stars**

15. "Chalupa"

Here you have one of a few bangers which are performed in the Gangsta rap style, and I felt that much of this was once again down to the beats which he has to work with as the pounding bass which you get from it is just perfect to improve the sound of his flows and what they tend to offer.

**Four Stars**

16. "Cookies-N-Apple Juice"

This was a relatively highly-popular joint from the album and one which has him working at the best of his ability on some hardcore beats which have him jumping on top of many things which are surprisingly put together in an effective way, considering the fact that it seems to squeeze in lots of popular techniques of the time into one recording. It is a big one and although his rhymes don't really have any substance, at times it doe hit hard and show he still has the ability to make big things happen.

**Five Stars**

17. "My Job"

The light Skitzo production comes back for this one, but here it doesn't really do that to impress or to show any originality form the artist as it has been over-used by this point. I felt hat this meant that it prevented the listener from engaging with the track as a result and so put a massive downer on it as we move towards the latter end of the release.

**One Star**

18. "Homicide"

You find that he is able to quickly recover off the one which you got prior to it as for this one you see once again that he rides more of Stikzo's southern styled beats to make sure that people are brought in and are interested by just what you get from it as he gets back to the general Gangsta Rap in a pretty plain way.

**Four Stars**

19. "F**k Cam #3" (Lude)

20. "Got It For Cheap"

The dramatic beats which you get form this one are something designed to make you really take notice, but the way that it is cut up in early bars means that it prevents you from getting the full experience to be taken over by the beats and accept his rhymes, and I felt that this as part of the reason as to why this one was going down as well as it potentially could have.

**Three Stars**

21. "Get It Get It"

This one has some deep production to it to attempt to bring out more of the most popular stuff from the album and so it seemed once again to be a little desperate from him as he uses them at a time when he tries out rhymes which deal with a little more diverse rhymes, but with such a confused contrast being built up in it, it doesn't really make all that much sense.

**Two Stars**

22. "Bottom Of The "P***y"

In the final proper joint on the album, you see that here you have a tune which has him taking down a very different style as he takes things down as he jumps of production which uses a piano loop and lots of light synth to show just how well he can do this sort of thing, but I felt that it just showed how pointless his rhymes are.

23. "F**k Cam #4" (Outro)

This is a highly-inconsistent album form Cam'ron as he switches his style up frequently and gets on a few original approaches to production at times and this doesn't always pay off, leading to fluctuations in the quality of it. I wouldn't recommend it as having him work with essential no one shows how much the Hip Hop world needs (well-known) featured guests to make albums effective.

Summary: Cam'ron's sixth album