DAVID TESIC
A&E Assistant
Dr. Dre has a new member on his team. The Game is his name and gangsta rap is his game.
And it’s not only his name and profession that make him so interesting. Just like Dre, he’s coming straight out of Compton.
Who would ever guess that another Compton-born rapper, besides Dr. Dre himself, would be so successful? But the newest member of the Aftermath team has managed to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard album chart. And you know what that means: This boy is bank.
The Game’s highly anticipated debut album “The Documentary” was released Jan. 18. By Jan. 23, it sold more then 600,000 copies in the United States. There are not many rappers who have managed to do that and most of them are from Dre’s record label, Aftermath. Having Dre behind you really makes a difference. No rapper alive has as much influence on record sales as the doctor himself.
Now, let’s get back to “The Documentary.”
This is one of those albums that you will find in everybody’s collection. It is gangsta rap, but it sounds so good that even hardcore pop fans would put it in their CD players. Maybe it’s because of the high quality production or maybe just because of The Game’s ghetto sound and catchy lyrics.
When looking at the credits, it is quite obvious that the production team must have something to do with the success. Not even Jay-Z has put together an album with such a diverse sound as this. Almost every hip-hop producer worth mentioning has worked on this album. You will find everyone from Kanye West and Timberland to Scott Storch (The guy who produced Lean Back) and Dr. Dre. Even underground-hip-hop producer Hi-Tek from Cincinnati has laced this album with one of his beats.
Not only did The Game collect some of the greatest hip-hop producers to work on “The Documentary,” but even the guest list on this album shows how much respect The Game has received in such a short time. Of course Eminem, 50 Cent and G-Unit would show up on one of their own projects, but you will also find hip-hop-pioneer Busta Rhymes and R&B divas such as Mary J. Blige and Faith Evans.
But don’t think that this album sounds so good just because of the names that are on the credits. The Game’s first single “How We Do” with 50 Cent was one of the biggest hits of the summer and it occupied the airwaves of all hip-hop and hit music radio stations, as well as MTV, BET and VH1. As soon as the second single, “Westside Story,” hit the streets, it took the place of “How We Do” and guaranteed The Game a successful future. It must be something about that West-Coast sound that makes people fall in love with everything Dre creates.
One of the notable tracks on “The Documentary” is “Dreams” performed on an incredibly sophisticated beat produced by Kanye West, who has received the most nominations for this year’s Grammy Awards. “Dreams” is an autobiographical song in which The Game tells his listeners all of his dreams and how they have come true.
The biggest club-banger on this album is most definitely “Put You on the Game,” produced by Timberland. In the past couple of years, every track that Timberland has produced is so bumpy and grindy that you are forced to get up and start dancing.
“The Documentary” is just one of those albums that you can play from the beginning to end without skipping a single track. Every song is special in its own way. So just buy the CD and witness it yourself. The edited version is highly recommended for those who might be offended by explicit lyrics.
02-03-2005