''Come Home with Me'' is the third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

rapper

Cam'ron Cameron Ezike Giles (born February 4, 1976), better known by his stage name Cam'ron, is an American rapper, record executive, and actor from Harlem, New York City. Beginning his career in the mid-1990s as Killa Cam, Giles signed to Lance "Un" ...

and it is also his debut under

Roc-A-Fella Records Roc-A-Fella Records was an American hip hop record label and music management company founded by record executives and entrepreneurs Shawn "Jay-Z" Carter, Damon "Dame" Dash, and Kareem "Biggs" Burke in 1994. History 1994–2000: Formation ...

. The album was released on May 14, 2002, by Roc-A-Fella Records,

Diplomat Records Diplomat Records is an American hip hop record label co-founded by Harlem rappers Jim Jones and Cam'ron. History In the early 2000s, Dipset was very popular for having star rappers with radio hits like Juelz Santana and Cam'ron, as well as t ...

and

Def Jam Recordings Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop. The ...

. It served as an introduction of the Cam'ron-fronted rap collective,

the Diplomats The Diplomats (also known as Dipset) is an American hip hop collective formed in 1997 by childhood friends Cam'ron and Jim Jones in Harlem, New York. The group was originally composed of Cam'ron, Jim Jones and Freekey Zekey, all of whom grew u ...

, to the general public. There are featured guest appearances from the Diplomats,

DJ Kay Slay Keith Grayson (August 14, 1966 – April 17, 2022), professionally known as DJ Kay Slay, was an American disc jockey (DJ) from New York City. He is referred to by ''The New York Times'' as "Hip Hop's One-Man Ministry of Insults". He released fou ...

Daz Dillinger Delmar Drew Arnaud (born May 25, 1973), known professionally as Daz Dillinger (formerly Dat Nigga Daz and commonly Daz), is an American rapper and record producer. In the 1990s at Death Row Records, aided the catapult of West Coast rap and ga ...

, Tiffany,

Jay-Z Shawn Corey Carter (born December 4, 1969), known professionally as Jay-Z, is an American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur, and founder of Manhattan-based conglomerate talent and entertainment agency Roc Nation. He is regarded as one of ...

, McGruff,

Memphis Bleek Malik Deshawn Cox (born June 23, 1978), known by his stage name Memphis Bleek, is an American rapper who was a protégé of fellow New York rapper Jay-Z. Cox started his own labels: Get Low Records in 1998, and #Warehouse Music Group, Warehouse M ...

, and

Beanie Sigel Dwight Equan Grant (born March 6, 1974), better known by his stage name Beanie Sigel, is an American rapper from South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He first became known for his association with Jay-Z and Roc-A-Fella Records, releasing his debut ...

. To date, it is his most commercially successful album, it peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' 200 with first-week sales of 226,000 copies and eventually sold One million copies in the United States, being certified Platinum by the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

. Its two singles were " Oh Boy" (featuring

Juelz Santana LaRon Louis James (born February 18, 1982), better known by his stage name Juelz Santana, is an American rapper and member of East Coast hip hop group The Diplomats, also known as Dipset. He is best known for his appearances on Cam'ron's 2002 si ...

) and " Hey Ma" (featuring Juelz Santana,

Freekey Zekey Ezekiel Giles (born October 13, 1975), better known by his stage name Freekey Zekey, is an American rapper and music executive best known as a founding member of The Diplomats, a group he helped form in Harlem in 1997 alongside his childhood frie ...

, and

Toya Toya may refer to: Places *Tōya, Hokkaidō, a former village in Abuta District, Iburi, Hokkaidō, Japan *Tōyako, Hokkaidō, a town incorporating Tōya, Hokkaidō **Tōya Station (Tōyako), a railway station in Tōyako *Lake Tōya, a volcanic lak ...

). " Oh Boy" held the number one spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles for five straight weeks, the number one spot on the

Hot Rap Tracks Hot Rap Songs (formerly known as Hot Rap Tracks and Hot Rap Singles) is a chart released weekly by ''Billboard'' in the United States. It lists the 25 most popular hip-hop/rap songs, calculated weekly by airplay on rhythmic and urban radio statio ...

and peaked at number four on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. The second hit was "Hey Ma", which reached number three on the Hot 100 and number eight on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, becoming his biggest hit. "Daydreaming" was a later single released in 2003 but failed to duplicate the success from his earlier singles.

Critical reception

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

's Jason Birchmeier praised Cam's presence throughout the record and Just Blaze supplying him with beats that strengthen him on "Oh Boy" and "The Roc (Just Fire)", concluding that "Overall, Cam'ron couldn't return with a stronger comeback album than this: he's affiliated with one of the industry's most successful labels, graced with a hot producer, and armed with a dynamite single." Steve 'Flash' Juon of ''RapReviews'' felt the pairing of Cam with Roc-A-Fella's team of featured artists and producers helped utilize his rap flow to its potential by crafting quality tracks with a "slamming assembly of b-boy beats" despite a few duds in "Live My Life" and the title track, concluding that "For the beats though, and for some of Cam'Ron's best rhymes to date, ''Come Home With Me'' will be a summer anthem album for Harlemites and Roc-A-Fella Records ryders alike."

Jon Caramanica Jon Caramanica (born 1975) is an American journalist and pop music critic who writes for ''The New York Times''. He is also known for writing about hip hop music. Biography Born in Brooklyn, New York (state), New York, Caramanica received his ba ...

, writing for ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner, and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. It was first kno ...

'', commended Cam's unique lyrical abilities but felt the stories he delivered about drugs and women were half-hearted and lacked charisma, and only partially worked when the production gave them "the substance and emotional center they otherwise lack."

Track listing

Charts and certifications

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 2002 albums Cam'ron albums Def Jam Recordings albums Albums produced by Just Blaze Albums produced by Kanye West Albums produced by Ty Fyffe Albums produced by the Heatmakerz Roc-A-Fella Records albums Diplomat Records albums Albums produced by Jay-Z