In the U.S. Hip-Hop on a mainstream level has taken on a sound that veers away from the East Coast sound of Hip-Hop in the mid to early 90’s that dominated Hip-Hop culture. This has happened naturally because times change and different regions have been given the main stage to put some of their flavor in Hip-Hop’s mainstream. Fresh out of the UK comes an up and coming emcee named C.A.M with his debut album “The First Move”. C.A.M listed some of his influences as Heltah Skletah, Shyiem, Da Youngstas,& M.O.P and with the 90’s Boom Bap style that he has updated in 2018 you can tell the quality of those works has influenced C.A.M as well. If that wasn’t enough he gave us an extra E.P. to rock with in “Persian Rugs”.
C.A.M stands for Cosmos, Atum, Man, which is the original holy trinity of ancient Egyptian Hermeticism before it was twisted to the Christian- Father, Son, Holy spirit version. As complex as his name is he has the awesome level of content to match it. The First Move puts you in the mind of a cleanly produced Gang Starr album, complete with vinyl scratches on the hooks. Producer Wickstarr handled much of the production on the album. C.A.M told us here at According 2 Hip-Hop “I managed to find the producer Wickstarr randomly through a friend of a friend. He sent me over like 70 beats one evening and they were all ill!” C.A.M states. C.A.M goes on to say “The other producer Chro , was an old friend from school who moved to Bristol doing production for other hip hop heads up there. Both of them repped that raw 90’s boombap shit that I love. I got down n penned the tracks and they were sounding tight, got some sick cuts over them from Jabba da Kuts and DJ Daredevil (R.I.P) and then just laid it all down in the studio. Shit took along time to manifest because I had mad shit happening in my life at the time but I’m so glad it’s finally here!” And finally here it is, The First move starts like a sunrise and the hard drums and airy melodies carry you throughout your day.
Most importantly C.A.M has straight up BARS and so does the emcee that appears on the album. Parralax is the only emcee that makes an appearance on “The First Move” on the song “Twin Beacons” where the two heavyweight emcees go on a back and forth rampage. C.A.M speaks on he and Parralax’s relationship saying “Parralax has been my long time partner in rhyme for years, he basically got me into spitting over hip hop. Before that I was spitting over grime which has only just started becoming a huge mainstream genre in the U.K now. It was only natural I got him on a collab on my debut as he had so much to do with my growth as a lyricist. There’s a video for our track ‘Twin Beacons’ up as well so def make sure you check that one too.” The two emcees are really making a name for themselves on the East London scene especially with C.A.M’s hit single “Cold Soul”.
C.A.M speaks on the meaning behind Cold Soul by saying “I choose the title ‘Cold Soul’ for the first single because I was just in a cold hearted mental state when I was penning that track. I was angry after coming out of jail and managed to channel a lot creatively into the track, just thinking about everything in life, how it feels so meaningless but yet so full of meaning at the same time, it’s a fuckin paradox man.”
The First Move contains top notch lyricism on top of topnotch production which makes it a must listen for any true Hip-Hop fan. I know it’s early in the year but this album can go in the pot for one of the best independent Hip-Hop projects of 2018 so far. Standout songs “Cold Soul”, “The Vice Grip”, & “Cosmos Atum Man”. Keep an eye on C.A.M because at this pace he can possibly be one of the next big things in Hip-Hop. Checkout the album right here on According 2 Hip-Hop.
