Glitter's My Name - Two New Cam'ron Songs

It's been a long time since I've heard anything from Cam'ron, but this week he seemed to be back at the centre of attention. After his beef with 50 cent in the spring I was hoping for more ridiculousness from Cam to keep me interested this summer. Unfortunately he kind of disappeared which resulted in numerous rumours and my own waning interest in hip-hop controversy. In the last week Killa has re-emerged and filled everyone in on his summer absence (his mom had a number of strokes and he set her up in a nursing home in Florida) as well as announcing the Nov. 7 release of his double mixtape entitled Public Enemy #1. Now, I know a lot of people lost interest in Cam'ron with Killa Season The Album (probably more upon first viewing of Killa Season The Movie) but I have high hopes for this mixtape.

The two songs that have surfaced so far are OK, promising compared to what could've come out (we don't need another Suga Duga, as momentarily entertaining as that rhyme may have been). First up is the most promising, Glitter, which mixes the sluggish tempo of live-ish drums and simple jazzy minor keyboard punctuation over a descending synthesized chimes line to bring a new sound to Killa's library. Cam'ron is mid-game in this song, the chorus is fairly uninspired aside from his claim that "Glitter's my name, I shine", though his wit shines through at times without ever hitting the highs that he was hitting 2-5 years ago. There's still some of the laziness that has pervaded the last few years of Cam'ron's writing but overall it's pretty funny and has some more complex if not awkward writing, I think all of these things are summed up in the following excerpt from the second verse:
"Fuck work, I'm Biggie Smalls, I Lazy/ No lazy eye though I may be high / Dipset is Delta Airlines / Every day we fly/ How could I be so fly? / I don't care, negro die / 3 seater Coupe, shit, I can't believe your lies / I take the bank, trips, and then cee-lo five / But I'll fuck your system up like E. Coli"

There's still some of the almost nonsensical word association, but can Cam still keep with this style now that it's been stolen and mastered by the re-invented, and ubiquitous Lil Wayne? What do y'all think of this song? I feel like there's a lot more to be said as it is certainly a departure in style from the Killa norm, but i also find it hard to write about due to that difference. As well, the second verse aside from one or two lines is throw-away, and who is it that is rapping on this verse? Its mediocrity is so prevalent that the line: "I'm the new leader of rap" is more like a punchline than a serious boast.



Next up is the second release off the mixtape, Just Us, which is funny and totally weird. His rhymes are excellent and juvenile and the message is so confused that you have to wonder what he was shooting for with this song. It's got a Journey sample which flows well though Cam never takes it to the climax of the song, leaving things feeling unfinished. The song seems to be a love song but he still touches on his absurd pre-occupations; the chorus boasts a love for all types of women ("a straight girl, a dyke one") and in the first verse Killa even becomes a somewhat approachable character; exhibiting an unprecedented amount of empathy and understanding which is quickly erased by the end of the verse and totally obliterated by the chorus where he is back to affirming his toughness and love for diamonds. I'd like to hear what others think about how scattered this song is. At one point he's wishing the best of luck to a female who's been having a really hard time with the death of her father and the sickness of her son, next thing he's talking about getting her high and "sanchezing her" (which is a theme he re-visits in the third verse with, presumably, a different person: "She thirty one / gave her a sanchez/ yes a dirty one").

This is how the song proceeds, jumping from toughness boasts: "It's just us, I'm so tough", to drug talk, to being a nice guy with actual feelings: "Her problems big as hell...I ain't a doctor, but your son, I wish him well", some real insight: "Tell you the boy's amazing /I show some poison patience / Lack of communication / That right there destroys a nation" to straight hilarious nonsense: "She said she hate a pusher / I said I hate a booger: / A snotty attitude / She laughed, I Purple Hazed then Kushed her". Overall this song is confusing and confused, but now that I've written about both songs I've decided that Just Us is the more promising song, it hearkens back to Cam'ron's Purple Haze period though without the novelty and polish. Overall, two solid efforts from the rapper I love to hate and love to love. It'd be nice to hear other people's opinions on these songs as I feel there's a lot (at least for staunch Dipset fans) to discuss.