Defsounds

After a two year hiatus from the game, where he had to take care of his mother, a highly publicized beef with Hip Hop heavyweight 50 Cent, and the abrupt split between his Dipset brethren Juelz Santana, and Jim Jones, Cam'ron popped up just as abruptly as he disappeared. But being away from the game this long can do some things to an artist, you can lose a lyrical step or two, get lost in the past and find it difficult to adapt to the new styles in the game or very often the fans just forget about you. Cam'ron had no such problem. After a mixtape that had over 25 songs, he returned to the game with two stand out singles I Used To Get It In Ohio as well as Cookies and Some Apple Juice. "Crime Pays" has the opportunity to bring him back to his glory day's with Def Jam.

Lyrics 7.0 -

No one will remember Cam'ron, at least not this Cam'ron for his overpowering lyrical skills, but despite what some people may think, Cam is not a novice with the pen as he still shows the ability to cram out a good line or two. Lyrically he is not as flashy as say the "Confessions Of Fire" Cam'ron, but the multi-syllables and catchy wordplay that is offered on "Crime Pays" is something that can be considered a little higher than reasonable. He loses a couple of points with the flow as it stays the same, almost exactly the same on every song, and becomes painfully predictable. There is little to no change of pace in a song; something that a young Cam'ron could do with ease. But taking him for what he is and what he does now, this is not too bad to work with.

Production 6.5 -

The production on this album as a double edged sword. By no means was it horrible, there are actually a couple of really enjoyable beats on this album. The problem is that you could tell that they were low budget. Much of the production is the kind that you would expect on a mixtape. The format for most of the beats were repetitive, having the same ring of heavy synth and at times failed attempts to make catchy beat patterns. The production shines the brightest during Cookies and Some Apple Juice, I Used to Get it in Ohio, "Grove Me", and the totally unnecessary Chalupa. The Production is nothing to run home bragging to your friends about, but with an independent budget, which usually equates to independent producers, Cam got a bang for his buck.

Songs 6 -

Cam had the opportunity to address several topics on this album, and for whatever reason he chose not to do so. While this was his own personal decision, it takes away from what the album could have been song wise. Cam'ron is what he is, and for those who expect more, the song selection on here will disappoint them once again. Cam'ron does not do much to add diversity to this album, sticking to the topics that he knows best and putting together songs that sometimes had a point, while on other occasions left you wondering why didn't he just leave it for the mixtape? There are way to many skits on this album, but he does get points for at least having a really funny one in there. The content for lack of better words is insufficient, and there are at least five songs as I stated earlier that he should have let die in the mixtape scene. If you're looking for a good laugh or a song to ride out with in the car he definitely has three or four solid tracks to hang with.

Conclusion 6.5-

Don't call it a comeback, because he never retired, but if this is what Cam has in store for us during the remainder of his career, I would much rather pop in my "Purple Haze" album. "Crime Pays" is a decent album with decent tracks. He gives fans what they have long been waiting for (an album), but in all honesty, I as a fan would have much rather waited an extra year and hear him on a major label with major production and more time put into the songs on the album. If this were a mixtape it would be a pretty solid one with a lot of great tracks to bang to, but for an album its just a little above the curve but not quite good enough.