After momentarily ending his previous mixtape series "Hood Politics", Termanology releases a new mixtape in promotion of his debut studio album. This becomes the first in a new series, "Cameo King". The boy borrows a term of art to refer to the fact that he's the best guest there could be.
In support of this thesis he's joined by friends from his crew ST. da Squad plus Royce da 5'9" of Slaughterhouse, Q-Tip of A Tribe Called Quest, Styles P of LOX, Lil Fame of MOP, Talib Kweli of Black Star, Evidence of Dilated Peoples, Canibus & Ras Kass of The Four Horsemen, Akrobatik, Consequence, Papoose, Big Noyd, Mims, Red Café, Big Shug, Singapore Kane, Mistah FAB, Krumb Snatcha, E-Flamez, DV Alias Khrist, Doo Wop, Miami Montana and Lee Wilson. The beats are mainly provided by his friend Statik Selektah, as well as Fizzy Womack, DJ Premier, MoSS, J. Cardim, Raf Moses, Twinz, Evidence, Sketchman, DC the Midi Alien, Shortfyuz and Artisin of ST da Squad, who have [almost] all collaborated with the main rapper before this tape. Some songs are taken from "Hood Politics IV: Show & Prove" ("Got Em", "Watch How It Go Down Remix") and "Hood Politics V" ("Low IQ").
The king of cameos falters in these 73 minutes, abdicates, gives way to others, he's unable to make space when he is flanked by one or more veterans, although the songs are of quality especially in the first ten minutes, when Consequence, Royce, Ghost P, Q-Tip, Papoose and Fame alternate on the mic on the rhythms of Statik, Fame himself and Premier. Then the tape slows down the pace, which until then hadn't been very fast, and lives on his income until the end. There's another Premier ("Play It Remix"), but you might not notice it. The unknown beatmaker J. Cardim, who produced much of "Hood Politics II", also working with Jean Grae, Talib Kweli, AZ, The Game, Little Brother and Sheek Louch, guess the beat for "Different World", one of the few enjoyable songs in the central part of the tape.
"Da Cameo King" doesn't move out of quicksand due to some shoddy production and rapping that doesn't attract any attention. We therefore arrive without any pretense at the posse among friends "It's the St.", where Termanology gives a showcase to the guys from his ST. da Squad crew. In theory an easy skip, but no. Statik Selektah cuts and wraps a sample from "Innocent", an instrumental piece by Francesco De Masi, well-known Italian composer who became famous to the popular public especially for the soundtracks of the spaghetti western films of the sixties. The song is inserted in the poliziottesco (Italo-crime) movie "Napoli spara!" (1977). In 2012, Apollo Brown wraps the same sample and gives it a more magnificent and triumphant look for O.C., giving life to the classic "The Formula" for one of the best albums of the decade, "Trophies".
Returning to the posse, Termano lines up himself together with Easy Money, Clip, Ghetto, Stalion, Hectic and Snuk. Yes. In some ways it sounds like the strongest piece on the album. There's still a dozen minutes to go, but the tape is now gone. Overall, it's forgettable, even for Termano & Statik fans: even in his key moment, the producer isn't really trying, that drums on "It's the St." sounds effortlessly and he pairs it with a limping hi-hat that's there just to fill an empty space left by De Masi's dirty, dusty strings. The fact that no one killed that beat disappoints me, but luckily a few years later O.C. didn't cause any complaints in that cut that pays tribute to The D.O.C., one of the greatest emcees in history, props to him and Apollo Brown.
Rating: 5/10.
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