Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Harlem luminary’s Roc-A-Fella debut by crowning its ideal tune.
Roc-A-Fella
Harlem is a neighborhood infamous for breeding rap stars, as a replacement of emcees enjoy carried out greatness after walking its hallowed grounds. Yet, in 2001, Harlem seemed as if it’d be falling in the back of in the ever-gift rat lope to originate skill that no longer easiest moved the streets but the needle on radio and in the golf equipment. With Brooklyn’s occupy Jay-Z touted by many as the ideal emcee in the game, Plump Joe taking his reign of Fright from the Bronx to the Billboard charts, Queens poet Nas having returned to kind with a comeback album, and Staten Island and Westchester County conserving some semblance of the gritty golden period vibes that defined the decade prior, Harlem changed into as soon as shedding steam.
Around that similar time, Harlem rapper Cam’ron changed into as soon as at a profession crossroads, a quagmire that had the typically cocksure spitter in a philosophize of uncertainty. After having been found by The Infamous B.I.G. and signing to the unhurried rapper’s swap accomplice Lance “Un” Rivera’s mark Untertainment following Noteworthy’s death, Cam released his debut album, Confessions of Fire, in 1998. Scoring the Ma$e-assisted single “Horse & Carriage,” the album changed into as soon as licensed gold, a promising originate for the Uptown native.
Yet, anxiety in paradise swiftly arrived in the kind of Untertainment’s distribution contend with Account Records, leading to Cam’ron’s contract being absorbed by the mark. Resurfacing in 2000 along with his sophomore effort, S.D.E., despite the album producing the boulevard banger “Let Me Know” and the modest hit “What Methodology The World To You,” Cam’ron turned upset with Account’s marketing and promotional rollout for the album, leading to the album’s underperformance when when compared with his previous effort.
Reaching out to longtime friend and fellow Harlem native Damon Speed to relieve facilitate a release from Account, Cam’ron obtained his walking papers in 2001, making him a free agent at an opportune time. Deciding to remain with Speed and tag to the brash tycoon’s occupy mark, Roc-A-Fella Records, Cam’ron began to assign his thought for domination into circulate.
Hungry for a bonafide superstar to have interaction the build vacated by archaic Execrable Boy Ma$e, who had all of sudden retired from rap two years prior, Harlem changed into as soon as prime for the taking. And Cam’ron did correct that, employing Harlemite DJ Kay Homicide to relieve him and his crew, The Diplomats, feed the streets with mixtape materials at a fixed clip. Within months, Cam’ron had reemerged as a darkish horse contender vying for the title of King of New York, which he would design a serious urge for with the release of his Roc-A-Fella debut, Attain Dwelling With Me.
Launched on Would possibly well 14, 2002, Attain Dwelling With Me changed into as soon as an rapid success, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 226,000 copies offered in the predominant week. Powered by the singles “Oh Boy,” “Hiya Ma,” and “Day Dreamin,” Attain Dwelling With Me changed into as soon as licensed platinum by summer season’s cease, intriguing over one million copies in the U.S.
That contains appearances from The Diplomats, Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Daz Dillinger, McGruff, DJ Kay Homicide, and Tiffany Calin, besides manufacturing by Staunch Blaze, Kanye West, Heatmakerz, Ty Fyffe, D/R Period, and more, Attain Dwelling With Me is an easy traditional. Cam and his Dipset brethren’s uptown coast left listeners around the globe infatuated and helped spark one amongst the ideal actions of a period. It stays Cam’ron’s most commercially a success album of his profession and is believed by many to be his ideal to this level.
In celebration of the album’s impact and Cam’ron’s cult residing, VIBE ranked each and each tune on Attain Dwelling With Me for its 20th anniversary to search out out how the album stacks up, tune-for-tune.
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