Crime Pays [PA]

Performer: Cam'ron
Artist: C.O.; Sky Lynn; 40 Cal; Byrd Lady; Skitzo
Distributor: WEA (Distributor)

Notes: Three years after KILLA SEASON was met with mixed receptions, following rifts within his clique and a barrage of industry rumors, the Dipset leader returns with a lot to prove on his long-awaited sixth LP, CRIME PAYS. Lackadaisically boasting over coke-sniffing sound effects that double as percussion on the intro "I got a record company, liquor and clothing line," Cam'ron seems to have long scaled the lonely-at-the-top heights of rap-star/mogul status so that by album six, he finds it a tad boring. However, the brooding arrogance displayed on slow-mo cinematic tracks "Cookin' Up," "Where I Know You From," and "Who" outdoes past efforts. The lyrics of CRIME PAYS reflect a weary sense of the public's relentless love-hate attention and the paranoia that comes with mounting legal troubles and once-strong friendships turned tenuous. Still, Cam shows his mic skills are still there on the straight-forward working-stiff narrative of "My Job" and the autobiographical "Get it Get it." The low sales of 2006's Killa Season took the Dipset member off his album every-two-years-schedule with this follow-up landing in 2009. Even if Cam'ron's delivery -- sort of a rigid mumble -- and his lyrics -- strange and nasty as he wants to be -- all suggest he just doesn't give a damn, Crime Pays seems like a definite reaction to the dwindling numbers right down to the modest gear the rapper sports on the cover. This is a back to basics effort with no superstar Lil Wayne guest shot, and plenty of mixtape flavored production mostly from the hands of Skitzo or araabMUZIK. Best example that the Killa's back on the streets is the "Get It in Ohio," a lumbering behemoth of a single where Cam grinds in the land of "Blue pills and Grey Goose" and takes full advantage of a state hit hard by the 2009 recession. Topical rhymes also fill the great "My Job," a piano-driven, uptempo number that would love to kick down the cubicle walls, but there are bills to pay and no one else is hiring. "Cookin Up" offers the wonderfully Cam "Sledgehammers/Smash his melon/I'm the black Gallagher" while "Who" is his usual clever swagger with ""Who is Mr. Right?/Make sisters fight." There are a couple tracks that would make R. Kelly and maybe even Luther Campbell blush, and there are too many skits, although "Grease" is a drop dead hilarious example of how this Diplomat handles a lover's quarrel. "Cookies -N- Apple Juice" covers the same ground but with an infectious, ridiculous hook. Add it all up and Crime Pays is just what the fans want, without any sense the man is pandering. ~ David Jeffries

Rolling Stone (p.70) - 3.5 stars out of 5 -- "[T]he Harlem MC remains one of hip-hop's most compelling eccentrics, enlivening clich�d gangsta subject matter and pro forma beats with his deceptively virtuosic flow..." Spin (p.85) - "On 'Crime Pays Intro,' and 'Cookin' Up,' he deals references to old-school prop comics and contemporary point guards....He may have kept his gift hidden, but he didn't lose it." Entertainment Weekly (p.59) - "[W]ith inventive rhyme schemes and a well-developed sense of sarcasm." -- Grade: B

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