Cam'Ron: "I Used to Get It In Ohio"

Cam’Ron’s affection for the Midwest is uncool and unflagging. Let’s be real: Columbus is not hard. Being a Buckeyes fan is not hard. Cleveland isn’t even that big and Cincinnati is downright marshmallowy. Dayton? Akron? These are places of food courts and housing developments. But Cam’Ron and I share a love for the birthplace of aviation, and judging by this video the same things stick out: highway signposts, late-winter slush on your boots, the importance of big coats. So clearly this booming synthfuck is gonna get high marks from me, but it also deserves them. It’s the best track we’ve heard yet from the lovably off-kilter shit-talker’s forthcoming Crime Pays LP, and like previous non-stunner “I Hate My Job” it seems sleepy, unwilling to rise to the occasion of a big punchline or truly ambitious hook. Good on them both for that. Rather, both cuts are confident and loose, Killa settling into his stompy flow like late-game Scarface—comfortably. Since Purple Haze Cam’Ron’s been an openly goofy emcee, kicking dumb stories and dissing himself as readily as he spits venom at others, and turning an Ohioan lineage into a sort of “fuck-you-this-is-where-I’m-from” Toomp-fluttering statement of purpose might be the most aggressively nonconformist move in his oeuvre. Well, “Harlem Streets,” but still: Crime Pays doesn’t seem to want to move units or get the emcee any respect he doesn’t already feel. Cam’Ron doesn’t seem to give a fuck whether or not he’s cool. Dude’s just, um, talking about being from Ohio, I guess.