Killa Season

いまやUSヒップホップの一大勢力となったNYのクルー＝Diplomatsの筆頭であるCam'Ronが5枚目となるニュー・アルバムを”Asylum”からリリース！プロデューサにHeartmakers、Alchemistなど、ゲストにはLil'WayneやJaheimといった旬のアーティストをはじめ、クルーの面々も全面参加！”Roc-A-Fella”と袂を分かった彼の気概が感じられるハーコー・チューンの数々をがっつり収録！

Rolling Stone (p.92) - 3 stars out of 5 -- "The highlights are the unsparingly honest 'I.B.S.' and 'Leave You Alone'....KILLA SEASON proves Cam'ron can still bring heady verbiage and heat..."

The two years leading up to Killa Season found Dipset leader Cam'ron coming off as more of a newsmaker than a rapper, and the news was often bad, mostly confusing and oddball. There was his beef with Mase and his bigger beef with Jay-Z, which found Cam'ron fighting battles for Damon Dash while Dash just shrugged. He was also the victim of a botched carjacking with all sorts of questions orbiting around it, and he directed an over-the-top movie that shares this album's title. Plus, when the leader of one of hip-hop's most irresponsible crews announces he's the man to wipe pedophiles off the Internet with a series of entrapments that are caught on tape and released on Dipset DVDs, you've got wonder what in the world this mixtape-spewing, freak-show ringmaster has going on upstairs, and where's the music to convince everyone they should care? The overly long and scattershot Killa Season won't convince everyone as it literally laughs at detractors, shoves most of its fire to the end of the album, and carelessly bounces from cold gangsta to vulnerable. Best of the latter and best of show is the great "I.B.S.": a quirky number that explains Cam'ron's significant weight loss was due to irritable bowel syndrome. Every doctor visit is chronicled and the scatological puns are numerous, but the hardcore Dipset fan will jump right ahead to "You Gotta Love It," an ambitious Jay-Z dis that has no shame ("It was Rocawear/When Dame had it/Now you got it/Call it Cockawear" or the slaying observation that the Def Jam boss has actually worn sandals with jeans!). The memorable "Wet Wipes," the Alchemist-produced "Something New," and "Touch It or Not" with Lil Wayne are all sane and hooky enough to reach past the core audience, proving the man hasn't lost touch. Killa Season would have benefited from trimming and better planning, but those things are extremely rare in the world of Dipset. Taking that into account, the album is exceptional and a good enough excuse for two more years of mouthing off and starting trouble. ~ David Jeffries

前作『Purple Haze』から約1年半ぶりとなるキャムロンのソロ作。ピアノ主体の美曲や早回し系のビートが続く冒頭の流れに、“Hey Ma”からのファンならまず安心といったところ。アース・ウィンド&ファイアの名バラードを使用した“Do Ya Thing（Remix）”、ちょいナゴミな“Something New”、ブーガルー風味のウワモノが効いた“White Girls”など、そういった目線を確実に意識したトラックは今回も豊富だ。一方で、ジュエルズ・サンタナやリル・ウェイン、アルケミストらとのハードな男気曲も充実。鍵盤音がヒプノティックなヒートメイカーズによる“I.B.S.”も良い。そしてジェイ・Zをディスって話題の“You Gotta Love It”に続く結びは、ニコル・レイを招いた“Love My Life”でジーン……。彼のフロウが映えるのはやっぱりこの路線?という感想はともかく、手堅い作りのなかにも魅せどころを弁えた、彼らしい作品だ。
bounce (C)佐藤 ともえ