The new alliegience has undeniably resulted in a healthier outlook for Cam with his Roc-A-Fella debut Come Home With Me. Not only does his deal with the Roc result in automatic collaborations with Jay-Z, Beanie Sigel, and Memphis Bleek, it also gives Cam access to the Roc’s hidden treasures— Kanye West, Ty Fyffe, and D/R Period. Just Blaze’s imprint is immediately etched over the LP with the breakout smash “Oh Boy” and that buzz promises to last throughout the summer with follow-up’s “Welcome To New York City” f/ Juelz Santana and Jay-Z and “Dead Or Alive” f/ Jimmy Jones.

Unfortunately, follow-up singles are probably all Come Home With Me has left, as the majority of the album is carried not by the lyrics of Cam, but by the Roc’s all-star production team. Also, it is obvious that there is a rushed aspect to Come Home With Me, as Cam only carries two tracks by himself and in order to capitalize on the buzz surrounding his move to Roc-A-Fella, Cam hastily tries to re-work (“Live My Life”) 2Pac’s “Ambitionz Az A Ridah”, which includes a horribly crooned hook by Daz Dillinger and “Come Home With Me” snatches the beat from a Ghostface Killah interlude.

The majority of the tracks on Come Home With Me were recorded before Cam jumped ship and that may explain why there is such a heavy reliance on Juelz Santana and the rest of the Diplomats. However, in the future Cam needs to give his crew less love and handle Blaze and Kayne’s production for ‘delf.

With Mars latest release, The Blue Collar Sessions, the audience is not only presented with a more mature artist, but also better production and lyrics. Tracks such as “2 Steps” answers Mars question presented in form of a song “What is Love?” on Raw Material by illustrating two people who are “2 steps” away from being whole. The LP’s opener, “Live From Atlantis” presents you with a bird’s eye view of ATL’s flourishing hip-hop scene and with “My Coloring Book” Mars vents on how he strives to differ himself from those who have pre-determined notions of how things are supposed to be or how hip-hop is supposed to sound.

Even though DJ Dust’s choice of drums, samples and loops are dope enough – a few tracks are monotonous and fail to accentuate Man Child’s lyrics; exemplified by “The Siren Song” where Dust’s drum pattern and sample drag on with no real purpose. Another disappointing aspect is with the condensed EP setting, we are left wanting more from Mars Ill. However, with the potential they show in this albeit concentrated effort, there is little doubt we will be hearing more from them in the future.