Review:
DJ Cam  Bouncer Crew, Xtasy For Ladies

DJ Cam, the French king of chill out music has returned with yet another installment to his ever expanding catalog.  Bouncer Crew, Extasy For Ladies starts off with the Frank N Dank anchored ‘Smokesum,’ an energetic, on-the-way to the club type song from the Detroit duo and not what you would expect if your first thought of DJ Cam is the instrumental Mad Blunted Jazz double disc he put out years ago.  Despite some initial reluctance to Cam’s sonic transformation, the beats knocked out the cobwebs quickly.   Cam’s new sound is composed of equal ingredients of Black Milk’s melodic stylings complemented with Dre-like synth and string-work.

‘Lowrider,’ a beat with a plodding bass and snare that initiates the listener into the west coast vibe that characterizes the concept behind the entire album.  The track invites Cali’s
own MC Eiht to get right over DJ Cam’s funky production.  Although the track captures the low-key vibe typical of west coast funk, the chorus does not enhance the song.  Chorus aside, Cam still comes strong on the production tip.  ‘Let’s Rap A Taste On It’ features Do It All whose rhymes and chorus underwhelm the listener.  Despite any lyrical missteps, Cam brings the funk again with a beat only Pacman Jones could love, complete with moans and twinkling xylophone-type tones conjuring the only kind of catwalk with a pole in the middle. Boot Camp Clik veteran Buckshot waxes herbal on ‘Ganjaman,’ a weed-themed song augmented by another west coast style track, complete with pianos and synthesizers. 

At this point I’m starting to miss Cam’s signature trip-hop style, but also trying to stay open-minded to his new steelo.  Simultaneously, Cam is starting to convince me that his Dr. Dre impression is more natural than forced, and maybe I can let my expectations slide in the name of artistic growth.  Production-wise Cam differentiates himself by letting each beat play out, making the entire disc pretty seamless.  Cam shows his versatility on ‘Can’t Get Enough,’ a banging R&B track reminiscent of a tripped out version of E. Badu’s ‘Danger.’  This is my second favorite complete beat to ‘Smokesum’ (the abbreviated ‘skits’ are both fire), although the featured singer Inlove does have a voice that resembles Kelis.  ‘Westside Skit’ is a straight up tribute to early 90’s G-Funk and Cam kills the listener with this one.  See if you recognize the samples he throws in here, nothing too obscure.MC Eiht reappears on ‘Street Life,’ the hardest beat on the album thus far.  Eiht invites you to ride shotgun as he recounts a gangsta tale over Cam’s menacing track.  Once again, Cam captures the west coast vibe to precision, but the singers’ ‘la la’s’ and inability to capture the soul of the original damper the chorus’ potential potency.  N.C. emcee Supastition comes off with his typical lyrical dexterity on ‘A Love Supreme’ which demonstrates his ability to flow over any sort of hotness.  One can only fantasize how some west coast funk might complement his next solo effort.  The ‘So Cool Skit’ is a misnomer because this ‘skit’ is nothing more than another funked-out beat that could easily be slaughtered, if given the right emcee’s blessing.

Cam’s production on ‘Climax’ sets the scene for Stones Throw affiliate MED to get his sex talk on, though MED needs to watch his step here because the beat is slippery smooth. The Stones Throw parade continues with Roc C’s ‘Rockin’.’  The beat here sounds like vintage 80’s, dripping in jheri curl juice with fuzzy wormed out bass, strings, and ‘Nothing But Trouble’ style piano. 

Cam’s wraps up the G-Funk revue, with the ‘Bouncer Crew Theme,’ his rendition of everyone’s favorite summertime barbecue anthem.  As a long-time DJ Cam fan, I expected to hear dusty loops and jazz samples over boom-bap drums that would rekindle the blunted hours we spent together in spirit.  As a perpetual fan of music, and specifically beats, I was pleased to find that Cam is no one-trick producer, with beats that are equally dynamic, emcee or not.  DJ Cam’s Bouncer Crew proves that the west coast mentality is a local flavor with universal relevance.  Aren’t expectations a bitch?

-dRes, contributing writer and beatmaker for deadlymelody.com