Ranked: The High And Lows of Cam'ron's 'Purple Haze' Album

Cam'ron's 2004 album Purple Haze brings to mind a time when much of the young male Diplomat aficionados throughout Uptown and The Bronx had already inscribed the words “what's really good?” and “no homo” into the urban dictionary, donning Dipset spray-paint tees and eagle tattoos, with the pink clothing on display in Harlem’s 125th Street Footlocker long since discontinued.

And when talks of Cam’ron’s new album begin to circulate, a lot of assumptions were made about a new (and asinine) “purple apparel” movement. But, much to the relief of myself—and many others—that never happened.

What did happen was the release of an album that, despite the lack of major label promotion, still held its own as one of Cam’s best efforts—if not the best.

Purple Haze is such a solid LP that it’s difficult to configure a rate system from beginning to end—even with the parts of it that make it atrocious and ridiculous. But from the Kanye-assisted “Down and Out,” white boy junkies, superb use of sampling, and “no homo” drops, here is our attempt to lay down the list of the tracks—arguably—from best to worst.

Click in the gallery to begin.