Come Home with Me is the third studio album by Harlem rapper Cam'ron and it is also his debut under Roc-A-Fella Records. The album was released on May 14, 2002, by Roc-A-Fella Records, Diplomat Records and Def Jam Recordings. It served as an introduction of the Cam'ron-fronted rap group, The Diplomats, to the general public. There are featured guest appearances from The Diplomats, DJ Kay Slay, Daz Dillinger, Tiffany, Jay-Z, McGruff, Memphis Bleek, and Beanie Sigel. To date, it is his most commercially successful album, it peaked at number 2 on the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 226,000 copies and eventually sold One million copies in the United States, being certified Platinum by the RIAA.[2][3]
Its two singles were "Oh Boy" (featuring Juelz Santana) and "Hey Ma" (featuring Juelz Santana, Freekey Zekey, and DJ Kay Slay). "Oh Boy" held the number one spot on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles for five straight weeks, the number one spot on the Hot Rap Tracks and peaked at number four on the Billboard Hot 100. The second hit was "Hey Ma", which reached number three on the Hot 100 and number eight on the UK Singles Chart, becoming his biggest hit. "Daydreaming" was a later single released in 2003 but failed to duplicate the success from his earlier singles.
AllMusic's Jason Birchmeier praised Cam's presence throughout the record and Just Blaze supplying him with beats that strengthen him on "Oh Boy" and "The Roc (Just Fire)", concluding that "Overall, Cam'ron couldn't return with a stronger comeback album than this: he's affiliated with one of the industry's most successful labels, graced with a hot producer, and armed with a dynamite single."[4] Steve 'Flash' Juon of RapReviews felt the pairing of Cam with Roc-A-Fella's team of featured artists and producers helped utilize his rap flow to its potential by crafting quality tracks with a "slamming assembly of b-boy beats" despite a few duds in "Live My Life" and the title track, concluding that "For the beats though, and for some of Cam'Ron's best rhymes to date, Come Home With Me will be a summer anthem album for Harlemites and Roc-A-Fella Records ryders alike."[5]Jon Caramanica, writing for Rolling Stone, commended Cam's unique lyrical abilities but felt the stories he delivered about drugs and women were half-hearted and lacked charisma, and only partially worked when the production gave them "the substance and emotional center they otherwise lack."[6]