Killa Season

Cameron Giles, better known as Harlem rapper and Dipset founder- Cam'ron, returns with Killa Season, his first joint release between his Diplomatic Man label & Asylum records. Directed by and starring Cameron Giles, this Harlem inspired story details Flea's rising empire to take over the streets & unstoppable drive to hustle all the money in various places around the world.

You would think that after (1) being shot during an attempted car-jacking last year and (2) deciding to publicly attack Jay-Z on radio and in a song, Cam'Ron's Killa Season would be a tidal force of passion and/or venom. Instead, it sounds much like his last album, 2004's Purple Haze--perhaps too much. Killa Season's beats are surprisingly dull and anemic, using many of the same musical formulas from Haze, except now the sped-up soul samples and dramatic orchestral flourishes sound like retreads. The album's main saving grace is Cam'Ron himself. Even over tepid tracks, Cam still distinguishes himself as an entertaining lyricist, able to execute the most outrageous of boasts---whether crime, sex or style-related---with a deceptively simple flow that unfolds into a complex set of wordplay that would impress most linguists. It's just too bad this sounds more like a B-grade mix-CD than the tour de force Cam was prepping everyone for. --Oliver Wang