Me personally, it’s always been a love/hate thing with Cam’ron’s music. One minute he’s killing it with joints like “I Really Mean It,” and commercial songs like “What Means The World To You” and the next he “Gets computers ‘putin’” on mediocre joints like “Get Em Girls.” What the hell is that supposed to mean anyway? But one thing that can’t be denied is that this man will always remain relevant one way or another. His influence on the culture can’t be denied (y’all youngn’s know y’all went shoppin’ at Hello Kitty outlets to have the latest pink stuff) and his style is as unique as they come. But that proves to be his gift and his curse hence my love/hate relationship with the man.

But you have to give this man his props when he’s saying slick rhymes like, “See, my story’s 6 thousand-six hundred and sixty six pages/wages/I rolled 6 aces/and at the same dice game I caught 6 cases/all over big faces…” on the classic “Banned From TV.” And I really don’t care what anyone has to say, he killed it harder than Juelz on “Dipset Anthem.” But sometimes it seems like he gets bored with the rap game. I mean, “I Used To Get It In Ohio” sounds like something he threw together to meet his hip-hop quota or something.

For good measure DJ Laser threw Cam’s ex-Capo’s “Frenemies” joint. You have to wonder why Jim would deny the phone call between him and Cam ever happened. This is the same man who said, “I got your back forever! Dip Set!” on “I Really Mean It.” It’s a shame how easy this game can corrupt friendships. He denied Cam the same way Peter denied Jesus three times before the rooster crowed. Laser also threw in some of Cam’s forgotten freestyles like the one he spit over Jay’s “Can I Live” beat and the banger he created over Dr. Dre’s “Outro” instrumental (Cam ate that beat like Benzino did that shorty’s ass on his sex tape—with a vengence!).

But regardless to whom or what, Cam is one of the few artists in the game that can say he’s self-made. He didn’t come into the game with a super-producer at the helms and he sure as hell didn’t branch off of someone else’s success (Ma$e gave him a hook for “Horse & Carriage” but that was it). Whether you like him or not, Cam’s always gonna be relevant because he’s Harlem’s hip-hop OG. DJ Laser put together a good compilation of Cam’s best work—minus the commercial hits—to remind us of this.

Hottest Joint: “Clue Freestyle”

Weakest Joint: “Get ‘em Girls”

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