Cam’ron and A-Trak U Wasn’t There Review: A Self-Aggrandizing Collaborative Album

A brief 9-track collaborative release from Harlem rapper Cam’ron and Canadian DJ A-Trak, U Wasn’t There successfully evokes a now-antiquated era of hip-hop that dominated New York City during the early aughts, typified by the splashy sonic and visual aesthetics of the larger-than-life rap collective the Diplomats. But while the project boasts a consistent production palette that faithfully replicates Dipset’s stadium-sized sound—with their namesake even alluded to on the triumphant closer “Dipshits”—it also serves little practicality beyond providing its central performer one more low-stakes opportunity to relive his past glory days.

Cam’ron is content to take a victory lap here, often restating his now decades-old accomplishments. On “What You Do,” he claims that his “résumé” speaks for itself—he “cursed Bill O’Reilly out,” produced a few movies with Queen Latifah, condemned snitching on national television—and then proceeds to end his verse on a dated punchline about receiving oral sex from Monica Lewinsky, dulling any impact those previous triumphs may have had.

Cam’ron eventually back-peddled on the snitching remark, and O’Reilly’s verbal lashing was far more Damon Dash’s doing than Killah Cam’s. The former co-founder of Roc-A-Fella Records makes three separate (yet all equally overcooked) appearances on the album—two DJ Khaled-esque spoken-word outros and a never-ending skit—where his grandiose assertions about his friendship with Cam are so po-faced they lack any real sense of camaraderie.

This brand of dour bravado, thankfully, isn’t an issue when it comes to Cam’ron, whose reliably daffy, buoyant personality instills a brash flippancy into many of the songs on U Wasn’t There. There’s an offhanded charisma to the way he delivers his absurdist punchlines, like how he twists his cadence on the lovesick “Cheers” and turns a rational explanation of public affection—“I liked the picture ‘cause I liked the picture”—into a comically flirtatious gesture.

The rapper’s tendency to go leftfield with his humor can be both a blessing and an intermittent curse. The wisecracks he sprinkles throughout “Ghetto Prophets” take the form of either genuine wit—the numerical wordplay of “she about a seven, so I took her a four-star”—or cheap payoffs that are beneath him, like the unimaginative sarcasm found in his voice when he “grades” a date’s sexual performance rather poorly (a “C plus”).

“Ghetto Prophets,” though, still finds Cam’ron at his most unwavering. His strong-armed flow works in lockstep with the track’s bombastic production; he seems unfazed by everything else going on around him as he muscles on through. It’s also notably one of the few moments on U Wasn’t There where Cam’ron isn’t resting on his laurels, where he’s finally able to surpass the low expectations he’s set upon himself and his collaborators.