Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the Harlem luminary’s Roc-A-Fella debut by crowning its simplest note.
Harlem is a neighborhood notorious for breeding rap stars, as a host of emcees have finished greatness after strolling its hallowed grounds. Yet, in 2001, Harlem perceived to be falling within the back of within the ever-demonstrate rat speed to present skill that no longer most attention-grabbing moved the streets however the needle on radio and within the golf equipment. With Brooklyn’s own Jay-Z touted by many as essentially the most clear-slit emcee within the game, Beefy Joe taking his reign of Dread from the Bronx to the Billboard charts, Queens poet Nas having returned to present with a comeback album, and Staten Island and Westchester County keeping some semblance of the gritty golden period vibes that defined the final decade prior, Harlem used to be shedding steam.
Around that identical time, Harlem rapper Cam’ron used to be at a profession crossroads, a quagmire that had the most steadily cocksure spitter in a whisper of uncertainty. After having been found by The Notorious B.I.G. and signing to the unhurried rapper’s trade partner Lance “Un” Rivera’s model Untertainment following Big’s demise, Cam released his debut album, Confessions of Fire, in 1998. Scoring the Ma$e-assisted single “Horse & Carriage,” the album used to be licensed gold, a promising originate up for the Uptown native.
Yet, bother in paradise immediate arrived within the produce of Untertainment’s distribution contend with Narrative Records, ensuing in Cam’ron’s contract being absorbed by the imprint. Resurfacing in 2000 along with his sophomore effort, S.D.E., whatever the album producing the avenue banger “Let Me Know” and the modest hit “What Diagram The World To You,” Cam’ron grew to change into upset with Narrative’s marketing and promotional rollout for the album, leading to the album’s underperformance in comparability to his old effort.
Reaching out to longtime buddy and fellow Harlem native Damon Hurry to support facilitate a free up from Narrative, Cam’ron won his strolling papers in 2001, making him a free agent at an opportune time. Deciding to remain with Hurry and signal to the brash effectively off person’s own imprint, Roc-A-Fella Records, Cam’ron began to place his belief for domination into motion.
Hungry for a bonafide essential person to rob the gap vacated by feeble Rotten Boy Ma$e, who had suddenly retired from rap two years prior, Harlem used to be top for the taking. And Cam’ron did ideal that, employing Harlemite DJ Kay Execute to support him and his crew, The Diplomats, feed the streets with mixtape cloth at a fixed clip. Interior months, Cam’ron had reemerged as a wretched horse contender vying for the title of King of Original York, which he would form a indispensable bustle for with the free up of his Roc-A-Fella debut, Reach House With Me.
Released on Can also simply 14, 2002, Reach House With Me used to be an instantaneous success, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200 with 226,000 copies offered within the first week. Powered by the singles “Oh Boy,” “Hello Ma,” and “Day Dreamin,” Reach House With Me used to be licensed platinum by summer’s stop, transferring over a million copies within the U.S.
That contains appearances from The Diplomats, Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek, Daz Dillinger, McGruff, DJ Kay Execute, and Tiffany Calin, to boot to manufacturing by Intellectual Blaze, Kanye West, Heatmakerz, Ty Fyffe, D/R Duration, and more, Reach House With Me is an straightforward traditional. Cam and his Dipset brethren’s uptown trip left listeners across the globe infatuated and helped spark one in every of essentially the most attention-grabbing movements of a period. It remains Cam’ron’s most commercially worthwhile album of his profession and is believed by many to be his simplest to this level.
In celebration of the album’s impact and Cam’ron’s cult assign, VIBE ranked every tune on Reach House With Me for its 20th anniversary to search out out how the album stacks up, note-for-note.
