Is our favorite Dipset back!? 15 years after feeding the streets with Purple Haze, Cam’ron returns to bless us with Purple Haze 2.
Honestly, I don’t know what to expect. On one hand, Killa Cam has been dropping extraterrestrial bars unworthy of our measly earthling ears, such as these on Get ’Em Girls “He in bootcamp, you on food stamps / Welfare, no health care, a true tramp / And I’m lokie-lokie, leave you pokey-pokey / No Rice a Roni, that’s the okey-dokey”. Sheesh! On the flipside, our mans hasn’t dropped a studio album since Crime Pays in 2009.
Let’s see if he’s still can call upon his Purple Haze ghosts to deliver another classic.
The rules are simple. 1 listen. Straight from the gut — no rewinds, no skips, no stops. All raw reactions. Forever tattooed on virtual paper.
Let’s get it.
Update: I’ll now be writing my reviews at AdamTrebs.com. Check it out for new reviews and general Music musings.
1. Toast To Me
Heatmakerz. The sampling on this beat is wild .The flow is already back. “I’m from these cold streets, phased, braised and gold teeth.” I can listen to these internal rhymes all day long. Toast To Me is getting back to his roots. Good start to this album with some lyrical flexing. Not sure if it’s a song I’ll revisit often, but I like how it kicks off the album.
2. Medellin
This that Medellin dark cocaine beat. I need to bump this in the whip. Slap. “Twitter, Snapchat, before the internet I been the man.” Facts. Cam is feeding the streets with this one. I don’t even need a line to feel like I’m ready to do anything. A definite playlist add.
3. Losin’ Weight 3
Piano keys. Funky beat works well with this flow. “Where you get wet and on top is a dry sheet”. The imagery is so clear and concise. A ton of good bars on here. I wonder who produced this? (Oh snap, Cam himself!)
4. K.O.P.
I’m loving the long, drawn out echo on his bars. This production/mixing is on point. I can’t recall hearing a flow like this before. All I can do is bob back and forth. He’s taken control.
5. I Don’t Know (feat. Wale)
I’m excited for this Wale feature. “Side bar, first time I fucked Juliet, put her in the hospital” Cam’ron wow. How does that even happen!? This beat is nice but I don’t feel like Cam or Wale came with anything new on here. Song is alright but I was hoping for me from this combo. A back and forth could have worked well.
6. Big Deal
High pitched “Can’t you hear me cryin” sample is quintessential Cam. I love how he weaves these samples into his verses. Solid production, good flow, excellent sample.
7. Fast Lane
Heatmakerz produced again. Cam is spitting. He came out for this beat. “You outta style, I’m the style, I’m what stylin’ is”. You can’t argue that Cam doesn’t have the hottest fits over the years. Just watch the Get ’Em Girls music video and try to argue with that. Another solid track.
8. The Right One
He just dropped a line about aardvarks. It’s a wrap, we can all go home now. This beat is structured beautifully. Cam’ron has been working over strong production this whole album.
9. This Is My City (feat. Max B)
Cam’ron is flowing like water over these smooth tunes. “I couldn’t sleep at night, in my bed I would keep a knife / Until I got a gun, where I’m from they ain’t believe in life”. Max B chorus is buttery. The vibes here are a perfect homage to their city.
10. Keep Rising (feat. Max B)
Love the transition from This Is My City to Keep Rising. Effortless. Roddy Ricch has similar seamless transitions on Excuse Me For Being Antisocial. More albums need to have song transitions like these. The transition was the highlight of this song.
11. The Get Back (feat. Mimi)
Back to back Mimi features. I wonder if there will be another transition between these two. These keys and this chorus are bringing some funky motown vibes. I’m ready to whip out some disco moves.
12. Just Be Honest (feat. Mimi)
No transition like on the Max B tracks. Not saying this is bad, but I definitely enjoyed the vibe on The Get Back more. That had me wanting to dance. This isn’t evoking similar emotions. Some nice lines on here though. Verse two starts off strong. “Triple C, cool, calm, and collected / Triple B, bitch, blowjob, breakfast” He keeps going too.
13. Ride The Wave
This first verse is one of my favorite flows on the album. He’s floating over the sample. I wish the chorus was stronger because that verse was on fleek. I’m a sucker anytime Cam drops the quick, internal rhyme schemes.
14. Killa Bounce (feat. Disco Black)
Here we go! Another dirty beat. Trap hard. I want more of these. This is the Killa Bounce for real. I’ll be revisiting this for sure. Disco Black brings it on the chorus as well.
15. Believe In Flee
Fantastic sample. Keys are dark. Perfect. This is probably the best chorus on the album. The opening of verse 2 is poppin. I believe in Flee.
16. Straight Harlem (feat. Jim Jones & Shooter)
Closing this out with another banger for a beat. This three track series is my favorite of the album. Cam came out spitting on this verse. The chorus is straight dope aka Straight Harlem. How can we ever hate on Jim Jones? He made We Fly High! Great way to close out the album.
Cam’ron — Purple Haze 2: Final (First Listen)Thoughts
Purple Haze 2 exceeded the expectations I had coming into the album. It’s difficult to match the OG Purple Haze, but Cam’ron displayed lyrical deft throughout the entire album. We got the classic Cam’ron alliterations, flows, and internal rhymes. We also got lyrics that you won’t hear anywhere else. Aardvarks where you at! That’s all we needed.
But we also got strong production throughout Purple Haze 2. The sample game was perfect. And we got new sounds on tracks such as K.O.P. Cam’ron pieced together a strong body of work and I will be revisiting more than a few tracks from this project.
Top 3 songs are: Medellin, K.O.P., Believe in Flee
Again, I’ll now be writing my reviews at AdamTrebs.com. Peep it to see new reviews and general Music musings.
Previous 1-Listen Album Reviews:
- Khalid — Free Spirit (April 2019)
- 2 Chainz — Rap or Go to the League (March 2019)
- Offset — Father of 4 (Feb 2019)
- Future — Future Hndrxx Presents: The WIZRD (Jan 2019)
- James Blake — Assume Form (Jan 2019)
- Boogie — Everythings for Sale (Jan 2019)
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