There are some nice songs in the middle of this mixtape (Lost - This Way), but after a couple of spins, most of the rest is fairly forgettable. Another 15 tracks in such a short space of time was probably a stretch. Hopefully, the upcoming album will have some more conscious stuff though such as 'The Kill' and 'Lost' that he has released in the last week that I've enjoyed.
Best Tracks: Lost, I'm Home, This Way
For a 29 track free mixtape, this ain't bad. While on the first listen I was underwhelmed I have gone back to it have found more. And while Game rarely talks about much I still find him enjoyable over reasonable beats, for which enough of these are. It is good to hear though that Game said nothing on this is strong enough for the final album except for 'The Kill' which is the best track here. And while Game still goes off-topic a tad (like talking about 50 again) it sees him getting a touch more thoughtful, all be it hypocritically given what he generally raps about.
Game is obviously a student of hip hop as you can tell from his frequent name dropping, but also from his changes in style. 'R.I.P Story' is reminiscent of Will Smith's storytelling tunes such as 'Nightmare on my Street', 'Children's Story' is obviously a take on Slick Rick's version, and Game's flow on 'Purp and Yellow' is very similar to T.I. 'History' with legends BDK, KRS and Doug E Fresh also shows this homage to the genre.
[i]KRS-One spits like, Doug beatbox like, and you know that Kane spit like, and that’s the reason Game spits like."
A few tracks don't live up to much. 'Wonderful World' never goes anywhere, 'In My '64' and 'Dedicated' are nothing new from Pharrell who is slipping. The two Dre produced tracks must be mentioned - 'Soft Rhodes' and 'The Ocean' are also nothing too special, the latter one is a lil better though which finishes the mixtape. 'Ferrari Lifestyle' is okay also, but feels like an 'Aston Martin Music' clone. And toward the end of the second disc, 'Whip It', 'Favourite DJ' and 'Can a Drummer Get Some' are all more club orientated and leave something to be desired for me.
There ain't anything amazing on this much talked about mixtape, but I like enough of it to give it a reasonable score, and I think if you're a fan and spin this more than once you'll agree. After hearing a lot of the singles/leaked tracks from The Game over the last few months/year, I was anticipating The R.E.D. Album less and less, but this has heightened my expectations slightly.
Best Tracks: L.A. Times, Livin Better, I'm the King, Children's Story, Taylor Made, Dead, The Kill, Heart Breaker, Bad Intentions, Supastar, History
A good album from a time when Game had a gritty voice closely akin to Shyne. I've always liked this album.
Best Tracks: Anything You Ask For, Gettin' American Money Easy, Walk Wit Me, That's Presidents
It's disappointing that JT and The Game had a falling out, as this has some nicely produced tracks by JT. Track for track there isn't a lot that is brilliant here but there is plenty of good tracks on offer for fans of The Game. You'll notice as well his voice is different with more grittiness to it than you hear on his albums later on.
Best Tracks: Blacksox, Troublesome, Rookie Card, Promised Land, Gutta Boyz, Put It in the Air
1|Intro - Documentary 2
2|On Me - Kendrick returns after he dominated 'The City' on The R.E.D. Album and featured on Jesus Piece also. Game doesn't let him outshine him to the same degree over Erykah Badu's 'On & On' sample featured on this song. Game spits at a fast tempo here and it doesn't quite sound natural for Game to do so. Good song overall.
3|Step Up| - The Game has said that he created this album song after song, in tracklist order, and that's one of the reasons for the great transitions from song to song as is the case at the start of this song from 'On Me'. This is probably my favourite song here. An energetic beat with Game rapping naturally well. Ughhhh.
4|Don’t Trip - Features a familiar sample once again. Not one I skip but the lyrics aren't extremely exciting. And I love him, but sometimes Cube's bars are too simple.
5|Standing on Ferraris - Another familiar sample, this time 'Kick in the Door' by Biggie, and lyrically features a Craig Mack reference, with Diddy in the background and outro to keep the Bad Boy theme going. A good song with a catchy hook and I can't help but think the 'I've been shot stabbed, left for dead' is a homage to lyrics from Nas' 'I've been fucked over, left for dead, dissed and forgotten' from Ether. Probably not too far fetched given Game's namedropping and knowledge of hip hop .
6|Dollar and a Dream - Despite the title, there is no J. Cole on this song surprisingly. It's about rising up and features a good hook. Ab Soul contributes an enjoyable verse.
7|Made in America - Transitions from the previous track well again. Ends with Game contemplating about what happened between him and 50.
8|Hashtag - "Egos! Egos!" to answer Game's question. I thought the beginning of this was Lil Jon for a minute. A forgettable song.
9|Circles - About Game's relationship issues with his former (?) fiancee I assume. There are no real two sides to the story here. Game seems to be admitting the relationship ended because he was screwing around. Unless he thinks he should be able to? The best part of the song is midway through when the production changes up to something really nice 'n' jazzy.
10|Uncle (Skit)
11|Dedicated - This is one I skipped after my first listen. Future's minute and a half generic intro hook/verse is just that.
12|Bitch You Ain't S**t - Nothing worth noting by way of substance or lyrics but the nice laid back vibey west coast beat is great.
13|Summertime - Similar to above.
14|Mula - As I've played the album I forget this even exists. As that suggests it's fairly forgettable.
15|The Documentary 2 - The Documentary (the title track from Game's debut) remains my favourite song by Game. I play it often 10 years later. This isn't as good, but still one of the strongest here. Premo provides the beat and Game provides some lyrics that will catch your attention. "I've been rapping for 12 years, 6 months, 16 days // Now I'm a veteran, spit a 16 sixteen ways / Sixteen in a clip, spit it 16 ways / I know six teens, pull up to a sweet sixteen and spray / I'm like sixteen Jay's but the beat I can manage / So every sweet 16 is like Duke and Kansas."
16|New York, New York - A short song where Game touches on many different issues throughout the lyrics like racism, homicide, gay rights, police brutality.
17|100 - Game's verses and the beat are solid. The chorus from Drake though.... How would you like your coffee Aubrey?
18|Just Another Day - Another dope transition. Samples 'Where I'm From' from The Documentary for the hook. Production during the verses is once again laid back and pretty great.
19|LA - Another city shout out song that we've heard so many times. It's fittingly the final song of the album but it is in the weaker handful.
As a rapper Game entertains on the sequel to his debut. He uses a variety of flows but doesn't quite change up to copy the guests as he has been accused of on his more recent previous albums. Lyrically as before as well, there are times where I feel the bars could've used another rewrite but there are some memorable lines. In terms of the content, the name dropping again brings him down. It just kind of makes it repetitive. I counted Dr. Dre being dropped on eight of the songs. As I've said on other Game album reviews, the criticism he cops for having so many features is flawed. There are many you don't notice, are in the background, just on the hook, etc. It's a bit of a followed criticism by sheep I feel. Game's biggest strength has always been his ear for beats, and while I don't think the beats are as great here as on most of his albums, the standard is still fairly high. In the end, I was pretty underwhelmed on the first listen or two but it's grown on me largely due to its consistency. There is no great song here though. I don't think I'd put any of these tracks on a Best of Game compilation.
