Review Summary: The game is thirsty indeed.
Now we all remember the LA collective Kids of the Leaf right? Well they are no more and haven’t been for quite some time sadly enough. But still going strong is the main property of the group Cam, the Chef. If you have no clue who KOTL or Cam, the Chef are, then let’s get you filled in on just Cam. Cam, the Chef is the monster lyricist and producer of the entire collective, and he had a very strong verse on his cousin and indie star on the rise Khirey Akeem’s mixtape jackass. Still unaware? Well let’s continue onto his new solo project, “There’s No Water in California.” An intense title for a state known to have severe months of droughts but with such an intense title would the music be capable of holding it’s on by the standards set by the title?
The quick answer is no but it isn’t a bad no, It’s just a title and people shouldn’t be so quick to look into titles for enjoying the music. Sometimes we should just simply enjoy, plus the incredibly talented producer Cam is (Production runs in this family) with only being two slight shades off of his cousin it’s hard not to find anything from this project though there are many flaws. First things first, the intro titled Two Hours Showers kicks off with a subliminally self-conscious line, “Progression is the key to everything, I wish to be critically acclaimed.” Don’t all musicians in a sense wish this? Indeed, they should but most don’t and Cam is aware of this and puts it on full display. As he calmly flows through the beat with such a smooth flow it’s almost as if his voice syncs so incredibly well upon his production it feels just right he produces for himself. He can only be what he’s meant to be and that right now is a full fledge potential constantly improving. But after a hilarious Spongebob skit we slide into the next track and boy it’s a highlight. I Lost My Wallet featuring another LA underground sensation Spacefeet (formerly HarryIsHuman) comes in with spacey sublime synth and then the show starts with a sensational dusty boom bap drum pattern. It’s two MC battling for the LA throne though they’re hardly known. They put the massive display of lyrical assassinator on and go back and forth (though each verse is separate) with bar for bar matching each one spit before it. The clear standout track but we’re not done yet.
New Vices becomes the first misstep as one of the lesser members of KOTL King comes and spits the weakest verse of his catalog. It stumbles clumsily over the nice trap flavored beat as the high hats rattle his mumble like flow away and you instantly forget about it. Cam does the little he can to save the track using his second best asset (His voice) to remind us exactly what we were here for. Very disappointing that the two former collective members didn’t sync to make a better track. A track to give us a little bit of solitude comes on called Self Reflective Dad Music. It’s as it’s titled states, a reflection on how to be a dad. It’s production, not done by Cam but Butcher Brown is so jazzy. So soulful to the point it sounds like it would fit perfectly on Kendrick Lamar’s now Grammy Award winning album To Pimp a Butterfly. It has a neo-soul like chorus that is somewhat reminiscent of post Things Fall Apart The Roots. After this very shift in direction of sound we hit a skit? I wonder why because it’s a Sean Paul remix like track and its place upon this mixtape is seen as useless. The tune as nice as it may be seems utterly ridiculous and pointless. It’s filler at best.
Once the “Sean Paul interrlude” fades out we come to another beautifully produced track called Accidentally Cool ***. Well if this is what accidentally making cool *** is then I like it. The song transitions between two parts and both have their own special quality about them. The first part is sample heavy and has even heavier drum patterns. They mesh so well and even with the second part as it becomes more bass guitar oriented yet it still keeps the matter of the first part. Such a way to make up for the filler track before. Next the instant hit factor of the tape bangs out the speakers. Trashbag is so mellow and very LA-esque. Cletus Strap has a very fickle flow yet with how he sounds, he sounds like he belonged on this song. He delivers some quite funny lines reminding you, “You don’t even got hoes.” In such a chill format that you probably wouldn’t even mind him actually saying it to you. And makes the catchiest chorus on any Cam, the Chef project. Of course it wouldn’t be done by him, but let’s not forget about the tape’s main actor. Cam spits on his insightful lyrics on this track stating, “As I rise from the ride, they despise him a bunch.” brushing off all former naysayers of past KOTL projects. Then he continues by finishing the bar with, “You niggas clowns like Rye from the horizon I come.” One of the most intense lyrics coming from his more than un-intense flows. The song is a banger no doubt, but it has the feel of a reach to a certain degree.
Finally, we come to the instrumental closer Agua. It’s piano filled keys are played in such a happy tone; it almost doesn’t fit. The tape had minimal, syrup dripped, spacey and watery sounds and out of nowhere this is the closer. It’s great yes, but does it match? No. It has no place on hear just as the Sean Paul interlude did earlier. It takes away all the cloudy doses of THC puffs that were being blown into our faces. It kills the vibe entirely and completely feels like it was an afterthought once the tape was competed. But as stated before the tape was very well produced. The problem with the tape is that it has no real boundaries. It doesn’t connect as each tracks comes off more as a compilation than an actual cohesive project. It’s cloud rap but even with that being stated it should at least feel like an endless float upon a cloud until the end. Cam is definitely the shining star of KOTL only problem is he was barely heard on KOTL projects unless it was behind the boards. But three solo projects in and he’s still suffering from what he suffered from on Tales of a Forgotten Daydream. He can’t string together an actual project. No matter how good the songs are they never come together as a whole. So a good collection of songs is just a good collection of songs but far from an amazing project. So with that being said am I still interested? Of course because I believe he has the potential to be the star he’s supposed to be. He is a good lyricist indeed but it’s just that. All lyrics no style. His verse on Kobe off of his cousin debut project jackass as mentioned before was such a change in direction for him. Rapping on something aggressive and overbearing. It was loud, he was flowing and maybe was the reason Khirey performed so well on the track. But that’s all missing here. Of course his sound is his but his sound hasn’t had many shifts except for a spark here or there. Not saying make an asshole like Khirey but give me something new. With all that being said I can listen to the project more and more but not as frequently as I would have liked. Maybe the standard to live up to his KOTL shadow and his older cousin is starting to back him into a corner he may not be able to get out.
