AMG Review of Xtasy for Ladies

John Bush
All Music Guide

DJ Cam didn't do many vocal productions early in his career, but when he began to invite the occasional rapper to rhyme over his beats (like Afu Ra or Channel Live), the results were incredible. Then came Xtasy for Ladies, Cam's debut as Bouncer Crew. With a cool dozen tracks and only two instrumentals, it shows what Cam can do behind underground phenoms like Buckshot, Frank-N-Dank, and Med (aka Medaphoar) as well as the veteran West Coast MC Eiht. It's about as good as it gets, with Cam producing surprisingly mainstream monsters with hi-hat-heavy, swaggering beats and virtually no samples (a nice turnabout for such a traditionalist hip-hopper). The tracks are powerful and heavy, but never overdone (like a high-profile producer occasionally can be when he's forced to add a vocal), and Cam treats the occasional R&B change of pace (like "Can't Get Enough," featuring Inlove) just as well as the hip-hop.