Cameron Ezike Giles was born to be a star. Truly, if anyone had the charisma; that"it" factor - it was most definitely Cam. He knew it, too. "They say beauty's in the eye of the beholder / thats why I look in the mirror every morning / and realize how fly I am" ("Get Em Daddy"). His level of confidence - ok, arrogance - as he navigated himself thru the rap game from his start in the early 90's; to his and fellow Dipset crew members' peak success in the early aughts; was simply astounding. Cam'ron had a sense of style and swagger that was pure Harlem - but it was a package deal. The arrogance was part of that package. So was a literally colorful style, from fashion to lingo, that had a classy touch. That was Harlem. Fools did things different there. It was the gulliness of Brooklyn and Queens; but with the sense and sophistication of Manhattan. ASAP Mob holds the current reigns of top rap group from there. But in the early aughts, Cam'ron and his crew The Diplomats (Dipset, for short) ruled Harlem with a (bejeweled) iron fist. And Killa Cam wore the crown. 
If Cam'ron is king, then 'Come Home With Me' is his *ahem* crowning achievement. 2002 was a time in rap music where NY rap was still (somewhat) relevant. Indeed, the South had been bubbling for some time (Cash Money vs No Limit arguments on the playground in 9-8, holla!) and was starting to blow. But the soon-to-be financial top dawgs of hip-hop were positioning themselves into those roles in 0-2. And one of them was the Jigga Man.
But Jay-Z didn't run his Rocafella kingdom alone. No, there was Dame Dash and Kareem "Biggs" Burke to co-run shit. Dame and Biggs knew their roles and played them well - they were the living definition of loud-and-quiet, with Dame running his mouth sometimes more than the company itself. He was boisterous, to be sure. Guess where he grew up.
It only makes sense, then, that one Harlem native son would help the other, especially as they were both on the rise. Cam'ron had actually ran in similar circles to Rocabella crew members via the Notorious BIG, who wanted to sign Cam to a deal in 9-4 (but was shut-down by Diddy so he gave Cam to friend Steve Stoute) and even more-so, fellow Harlem native, Mase. Cam went on tour with Mase and learned the ropes of the rap game for real; and with two heavy hitters in his corner in Dash and Mase, he learned a lot. Cut to the year 200 moving forward. Cam'ron is needing a new record deal and wants to put-on his friends via the rap new Diplomats. Diddy Bop. Bang. Boom...Dame Dash comes to the rescue.
Cam got his ROC chain coronation - now it was time to come thru with that first solo album. This is where the perfect storm begins to surface. Due to his newly-signed deal with the R.O.C., Cam'ron now had access to the Roc's in-house crew of producers, including a young Kanye West. And, even more so, a young video game, sneaker, rap nerd enthusiast named Just Blaze.
Just Blaze, like Cam'ron, had been sharpening his craft for the past few years and was ready to show it off to the world in 2002. Unknown at the time, Just was hitting his peak and the beats created during this early Aughts time period would go-down as some of his best work to date. Probably ever. And all Cam had to do was, you know, actually show-up at the Hit Factory and Quad Studios, peak in the rooms for Just, and ask for a beat. True - people were beginning to notice that Just was heating up. Most importantly, Jay-Z had noticed and wanted Just's best beats for himself. Naturally. But Jay was used to being the alpha rap artist at Rocabella. Sure, rappers like Beanie Siegel could hold their own lyrically and (somewhat) sales-wise. But not really. Not compared to Jay. Well, Cam'ron had that charisma, "it" factor ish like Jay-Z, and it was potentially just as strong. Classic Cam'ron hustler moves happened. But check the interwebs for those stories (the Red Bull Music Academy interview series with Dipset, for starters). What matters is that Killa was miraculously able to finagle a few classic tracks out of Jay's long-and-gangly fingers. 
Tracks like 'Losing Weight Part Two', 'Welcome To New York City', and album single 'Oh Boy' - which still receives daily spins on the rap classic radio station here in the Bay Area (Q102.1 what! WHAT!). Unlike most-all of Cam'ron (and Dipset) albums, 'Come Home With Me' sounds concise, like there's an intentional patterns and not just a bunch of hopefully will-be hit singles and street bangers. Half of the album's production is handled by already-mentioned Just Blaze and somewhat-unknown Ty Fyffe. The rest of the tracks, like album single 'Hey Ma' (DR Period, Mafia Boy) and 'Live My Life (Leave Me Alone)' (Precision) blend well-enough with the stand-out Just Blaze bangers. Just's tracks truly form the glue that holds the album together.
Cam'ron never reached the lofty heights that fans like myself thought he'd ascend to. His image and charisma was just so unique and magnetic - truly an example of the fact that to be a successful album, your personality must match your lyrical skill (and sometimes be better than...especially these days smh). Unfortunately, by the end of the Aughts in 2009; Cam'ron had started to put-out infrequent m,material which was lukewarm at best. Sometimes, some individual tracks - that old Cam would be back. You'd hear a joint that would amaze you, make you nod oil you break your neck, and give you belly laughs. All in one. Well, 'Come Home With Me' was an entire album of those classic Cam'ron tracks.
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