Hip Hop Fridays: Cam'ron Returns In A "Purple Haze"

Simply put, Harlem's favorite son, Cam'ron is a movement unto himself. From literally changing the face of
urban fashion with his trendsetting, redefining sense of style and
signature pink wardrobe, to his gritty, uniquely sing-song flow and
mind-boggling ghetto nursery rhymes, to the secret code he's developed
with his Diplomats crew - "Dip Set," "Byrd Gang," "Purple City," "Un
Casa," "Sheist Bub," - "Killa Cam" has turned Harlemworld into Cam'ron's
world.

"Maybe Cam'ron isn't really a rapper - maybe he's a sly subversive, hard
at work on a grand and inscrutable performance-art project," the New
York Times recently wrote. And ultra-hip Vice Magazine chimed in:
"Killa's "Get Em Girls" is as avant a slice of black pop as has ever
been seen on BET." But while scholarly critics may marvel at Cam's style
as "subversive" and "avant," the streets know better. Cam'ron is
Harlem's legendary "Killa Cam," the pink and purple clad don of street
life, the cat the ladies want to get with and the fellas want to be
like. Period.

Or as Cam'ron humbly puts it, "From the moment I wake up at like seven
in the morning in my boxers and socks, I'm that fresh. I'm Cam."

And while it's been a few since the faithful have heard from Cam solo,
he's kept the streets hot with label releases from The Diplomats'
"Diplomatic Immunity" and Juelz Santana's "From Me To U", and scores of
heavy-rotation mixtapes including the most-recent "Diplomats Vol. 5."
Now, with the December 7th release of Purple Haze, the long-awaited
follow-up to his platinum selling Roc-A-Fella debut - 2002's "Come Home
With Me," - Cam puts it down like only he can.

"I've been working on this for about 7-8 months. I always grow every
album. I'm around nice artists like Juelz, Jim Jones, J.R. Writer and a
whole bunch of new people and it keeps me on my toes," Cam says. "It's
like tough love and that's why every album I do is better than the last
one."

From the Jeep banger "Killa Cam," to the certified street anthems "Get
Em Girls" and "Shake," to the radio hits "Hey Lady" "Lord You Know"
featuring Jaheim and the new single, Cam's spin on the Cyndi Lauper
classic "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun," Purple Haze continues Cam's legend.
Featuring appearances from the entire Dip Set crew - Juelz Santana, Jim
Jones and Freekey Zeekey - as well as Kanye West, Jaheim, Lil' Flip, and
Twista, Cam'ron delivers his most diverse, creative and cinematic album
to date. In fact, Cam plans to release a 'Purple Haze' short film in
conjunction with the album.

"I want you to have the visual, even if you don't see the movie," muses
Cam. "Visualize it just by listening. It's like a verbal movie or even a
book."

Along with the Purple Haze album and film, Cam'ron has taken his purple
game to the spirit world as well - liquor that is. Along with his
Diplomat partner Jim Jones, Cam has launched a cognac-based purple punch
appropriately dubbed Sizzurp. Sizzurp has secured national distribution
and is set to launch this summer.



Note:The above is a release from Roc-A-Fella Records

Friday, October 1, 2004