Wow. Let’s get one thing straight off top: This
mixtape is garbage.
Personally, the biggest challenge in reviewing this project is staying away
from trashing the Dipset for stuff they’ve already been
trashed for. But this mixtape makes it so easy.
First of all, there are like 3 songs on Cam’Ron Presents DukeDaGod
Dipset: The Movement Moves On that are actually on Cam‘s
recent solo album, Killa Season. I
guess I missed the memo that says that it’s cool for an artist to put out the
same song on different discs.
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Second, the whole “separate but equal” paradigm didn’t work for the Civil
Rights movement, and it isn’t working for the DipSet movement either. Every track is a potpourri of Dipset
flavor, a sprinkle of Hell Rell here, a dash of J.R.Writer
there, and voila! A movement. Not quite. They all sound the
same…literally. Is it 40 Cal,
or is it DukeDaGod? Is it Jim Jones or
is it Hell Rell? They are all saying the same things… so
does it even matter? I do think that there might be some talent there,
hidden deep beneath the DipSet banner- but its hard to tell,
because every 2 bars there’s a reminder that you’re listening to the DipSet. I
get it already.
Third, if there is such a thing as a DipSet movement, it’s
a bowel movement. I don’t mean to be negative, but every track features one of
the rich, arrogant, belligerent Diplomats berating the
listener. I’ve never been called so many names by complete strangers in my
life. Of course, the kicker is that I (the consumer) am the reason why they’re
so rich in the first place. If not for my monetary contribution to the DipSet
campaign, there would be no DipSet – unless, of course, you
believe the glorious tales of riches gained by selling kilos and ounces and
bricks. Not only that, but 90% of the DipSet gimmick is
celebrating their ability to sell music. How’s that for irony? You
buy their cd, only to hear to them brag incessantly about the fact that you
brought the cd. On top of that, they insult you further by ending
virtually each track with a friendly reminder that Killa Season
(the album and the movie) are coming out soon.
You may have noticed that I have yet to actually talk about the
music. I’ll do that now. The production uniformly consists of hard,
droning beats with presidential sounding backgrounds. Very gangsta-sounding
indeed. With the exception of Juelz Santana (who’s only
on one song: “Losin’
My Love”), all of the other artists seem to blend together;
including DukeDaGod. The DiplomatRecords
A&R sounds like he needs some R&R, with
slow, tired vocals that lack the energy and charisma of Cam
and Juelz. Santana actually issues a
scathing critique of the industry, questioning his motivation for making music
in a game full of fakers and silly party songs. He even calls out 50
Cent.
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Ya’ll labels got it all confused, kid/ I’m not at all amused wit/ The
boring music, ya’ll improve it/ and its all some bullshit/ Seems like ya’ll
amused wit/ everything that has to do wit party music/ Well I ain’t in a damn
partying mood/ But we can still party to it… With all this shaking rap/ shaking
this you faking that/Homeboy you are faking wack/ so please stop faking, Jackson.
Cam’ron is clearly uncomfortable letting his labelmates
handle business on their own, and it shows. His overbearing personality
(read: swagger) absolutely stunt the creativity of the DipSet’s
supposed new stars. In addition, the bang-bang gangsta theme is stale, and
the materialism is downright goofy. Also included on this disc is a track
containing an audio clip from Cam’s press conference held in
the wake of his Jay-Z diss, (where he discusses his realness
and his fashion expertise) followed by an un-edited clip of a recent DipSet
“freestyle” on Funkmaster Flex’s radio show on New York’s Hot
97.
To make a long story short, this mixtape is everything that is wrong with Hip
Hop rolled into 17 dismal tracks. There is not one original idea; no
creativity whatsoever.
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Like I said: garbage.
