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Zero 7
Stars indicate the most critically-acclaimed albums.
Crime Pays
Generally favorable reviews
Based on 13 critic reviews
How did we calculate this?
Based on 7 votes
Read user comments
Rate this album >
Album Info
Label: Asylum
Release Date: 12 May 2009
Discs: 1 disc
Genre(s): Rap
Summary
The sixth studio album for the New York rapper features Byrd Lady, Skitzo, 40 Cal., C.O., and Sky Lyn as guests.
Also By This Artist: Purple Haze
Also On The Web: Official Artist Site (MySpace)
What The Critics Said
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
The New York Times
The fabulously snotty attitude, the melodic wit, the rhymes that tend toward glossolalia: yes, Cam’ron has returned to form.
NOW Magazine
Cam’ron has evolved on this no-frills release, and it is disarmingly effective.
Read Full Review >Entertainment Weekly
He's still dutifully reciting his supposed criminal exploits, gleefully threatening to brutalize his enemies, and compulsively demeaning women--and, thankfully, he's still redeeming those deadly boring cliches with inventive rhyme schemes and a well-developed sense of sarcasm.
Read Full Review >Los Angeles Times
Indeed, the scaled-down nature of Crime Pays is salient throughout.
Read Full Review >cokemachineglow
Throughout Crime Pays Cam wobbles between comfort and rote, often landing on the correct side of that division, but illuminating in the process that the gap between laziness and his brand of lazy brilliance is both a crack in the sidewalk and a yawning canyon.
Read Full Review >All Music Guide
This is a back to basics effort with no superstar Lil Wayne guest shot, and plenty of mixtape flavored production mostly from the hands of Skitzo or araabMUZIK.
Read Full Review >Boston Globe
It would be nice to see him move beyond his content comfort zone, but Cam'ron's virtuoso verbal onslaught pays off frequently enough to take this disc to a higher level.
Read Full Review >Rolling Stone
The Harlem MC remains one of hip-hop's most compelling eccentrics, enlivening clichéd gangsta subject matter and pro forma beats with his deceptively virtuosic flow, and with taunts that work by wiggy word association.
Read Full Review >RapReviews.com
Crime Pays is Cam'ron's triumphant return to form....You also have an overabundance of skits on the album that generally are just there and not entertaining.
Read Full Review >Slant Magazine
This material is so intermittently successful because the rapper is as much of a clown as he is an MC, a duality which assures that his albums will always be tinged with the bittersweet fruits of this twisted sensibility.
Read Full Review >Pitchfork
Crime Pays has a lonely, defensive, and vaguely desperate Kirk Van Houten vibe--more noticeable than a lack of breakout bangers or guest spots is a palpable and inexcusable lack of excitement and spark.
Read Full Review >PopMatters
Too often, Cam’s ramblings come off as inessential; they used to sound like the idle muses of a savant.
Read Full Review >What Our Users Said
The average user rating for this album is 10.0 (out of 10) based on 7 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.
