w  rd 2 the woss

The Game’s newest album, The Documentary 2.0, is one of the best hip-hop albums to come out this year, and had managed to make The Game into a west coast legend. The Game is able to convey his thoughts of living in a city where the only way out is to deal drugs. Through a loud bass and great lyrics, Game also speaks on what it is like to go from rags to riches.

 

 

There is a great mix of club banger songs on this album. The song “Don’t Trip” is a great example. This song has a sick beat over it and features two of the best rappers alive, Ice cube and Dr Dre. They have great verses that will make you want to you bob your head and jam along. The song is a very animated look into what it’s like living in Compton. Another highlight of this album is the song “Set Up”. This song is one of the best I have heard in awhile. It features Dej Loaf, and she gave a killer back up vocal. The beat to “Set up” is a great mix of west coast classic, and later in the song, switches to an east coast inspired beat. These are the songs I know will be played at parties for a while.

 

 

What makes The Game thought provoking and best in hip-hop is his ability to stay true. He doesn’t shy away from what he did in Compton, from robbing people to selling crack. He talks about his life so much that you feel like you are living his life. He speaks a lot on his involvement in the LA gang, The Bloods. The song “Gang Bang Anyway” is a great example of his ability to tell a story. The song features two former gang affiliates School Boy Q and Jay Rock. The three of them all rap about how gangs lead to a path of violence, illegal actions, and what being in a gang is really like. The song even ends with someone being shot due to gang violence. Another awesome tune, “From Adam” is a song about that time The Game took a bullet because of his drug dealings. This song is very detailed and vivid, speaking about his friends who were killed and who also had allegedly tried to kill him over drugs. The Game does a great job of making you feel as though you are in his shoes at these moments of his life. He puts so much detail into the littlest things, and it did payed off .

 

 

But all in all, the song that stands out best to me is “On Me” featuring Kendrick Lamar. This song is amazing. It captures west coast hip-hop perfectly. Both artists give the best verses on the album. But the crown has to goes to The Game’s freestyle at the end of the song. His lyrics fit in perfectly with the hard bass and jazz inspired beat. I cannot praise this song enough. Mark my words, this song will go down in hip-hop history.

 

 

And if you're not still not convinced, not only does this album features some of  Game's best songs, it also includes some of the best artists in hip-hop to feature. This album has Kendrick Lamar, Dr Dre, Ice Cube, Diddy, Drake, Nas, Future and Kanye West, just to name a few. You could clearly tell that they all tried their hardest, and as a result, had spit out some of their best rhymes. They put their own spin on the songs they are featured in, from Kendrick’s use of his distorted voice, to Drake’s slow but meaningful lyrics. All the voices combined had worked really well. The only exception is Lil Wayne. To be honest, I feel like the album could really do without him. Some of his lyrics really don’t make any sense, and in no way does he make any positive contribution to the album. But other than that, The Documentary 2.0 has some of the best use of features I have seen in while.

 

 

The album is a great deal, giving you thirty-seven great songs for fifteen dollars. Plus, it's so jam packed with great hits that it may need two separate CDs.

 

 

For all the positive things I have said about this album, there are some issues I have with the Documentary 2.0 that hold it back from being perfect. Namely, the really stale songs. For example, the song “LA”. I found this song to be boring and not interesting at all. It really breaks the tone of the album. The songs before are great  seeing as how they they speak the truth about gang violence and Compton, but “LA” is bland and feels like a really bad Black Eye Peas song. The lyrics are meaningless, unlike the previous songs and one of the rappers, Snoop Dogg, gave a really weak verse. Another big problem I have is the the Game's constant fixation on name-dropping. For me, name-dropping in hip-hop is alright if it’s used in moderation, but will quickly become annoying if overused. In nearly every song he talks about Dr Dre, NWA, and brands like Beats. It distracts the audience from what it's really trying to say, and as a result, takes away from the album.

 

 

In conclusion The Game’s latest release is a must have for any hip-hop fan. The Documentary 2.0 is the best album The Game has made since the original Documentary 1.0. Filled with great hits and many thought provoking songs, this album is sure go down in west coast rap history.

I would give this album an 8 out of 10, a must buy.