Cam'ron's 'Come Home With Me'; Classic!, Dope, Regular, or Garbage?

Remember how excited the Golden State Warriors fans were when Kevin Durant signed with them back in 2016? Depending on what side of the fence you were on, it’s a great deal of excitement when a star joins a winning team. Or at least, a great deal of curiosity on what the outcome will be. I think it’s safe to say the same level of excitement — or curiosity — was presented when Cam’ron signed to Roc-A-Fella. Again, depending on what side of the fence you were on.

In 2002, Cam released his first album under the Roc, Come Home with Me. First time being at bat in a Roc uniform, he hit a homerun with “Oh Boy,” the album’s first single.

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“I’m not your companion, or your man’s stand-in,” Cam spits. “Hit me when you wanna get rammed in, I’ll be scramblin.”

The Just Blaze-produced track held the number one spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles for five weeks straight. It was also a crossover hit, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Oh Boy” featuring Juelz Santana is the first single from Come Home with Me

Cam did it again with “Hey Ma,” the album’s second single. It obtained the same success as the first single. It peaked at number 3 on the Billboard Hot 100.

“Hey Ma” featuring Juelz Santana is the first single from Come Home with Me

Though they had a commercial feel, Cam created tracks like “Losing Weight PT.2” and “Boy Boy” for the streets. However, the biggest street record on the album was “Welcome to New York City” featuring Jay-Z.

Snoop warned us back in ’92 about those chicks that “could be earnin’ her man, and learning her man, and at the same time burnin’ her man.” Based on the evidence in “On Fire Tonight,” Cam didn’t get the memo. He used a familiar tune — Mtume’s “You, Me, and He” — to share his story of falling victim to an STD. The opening verse is timeless.

“I need a girl that can sing like Celina, a** like Trina/Tits like Janet, get beat like Tina (have you seen her?)/I mean cake like Oprah, chauffeur/Keep the toaster in the holster (tell me have you seen her?)/I did, yeah I found one, a little brown one/And she down son, plus she push a Beamer/I should’ve knew something was up from the jump/When I passed ma the blunt, the b***h was a steamer/I ain’t care I had the weed to blow/I ain’t feed the h**, we took a trip Argentina/I don’t know why a guy would pause/I went raw inside the whore, I thought she would be cleaner/Dirty b***h burnt me, that concerned me/Now, I’m thirsty, I’m looking for her with the nina/I’ma kill her when I see her/So tell me have you seen her, tell me have you seen her?”

Come Home with Me reached the number 2 spot on the Billboard 200 and number 1 the Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums. The album was certified Platinum.

Though Come Home with Me did well regarding the charts and record sales, it was met with some criticism. For example, Jon Caramanica of Rolling Stone wrote: “[Cam’Ron] lyrical renderings of the drug trade lack heart, if not detail. And when he tries other topics — good girls and, mostly, bad girls — he’s almost entirely without charisma.”

Again, the album sold over a million copies so apparently that lack of charisma went over 1 million heads.