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The New York TimesThe fabulously snotty attitude, the melodic wit, the rhymes that tend toward glossolalia: yes, Cam’ron has returned to form.
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Cam’ron has evolved on this no-frills release, and it is disarmingly effective.
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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.
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Indeed, the scaled-down nature of Crime Pays is salient throughout.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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He may have kept his lyrical gift hidden, but he didn't lose it.
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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.
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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.
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Too often, Cam’s ramblings come off as inessential; they used to sound like the idle muses of a savant.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 10 out of 13
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Mixed: 2 out of 13
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Negative: 1 out of 13
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BrittanyB.May 27, 2009Killa Cam came back on f**kin fire with Crime Pays! I love the new album.