Gangsta rap has officially made its way back to the forefront of hip hop. With the release of The Game's The Documentary 2, the sequel to his 2005 debut The Documentary, the West Coast rapper hasn't missed a beat in regards to his hardcore, gang-affiliated lyrics. However, as you take in this project, you'll realize Game took a different musical turn.
In his early releases, Game's signature sound included rhymes riddled with gang violence and low-riders over West coast, trunk rattling production. Today, Game takes a page out fellow Compton rapper Kendrick Lamar's book and does some experimenting with his flow and jazz-influenced music.
The standout tracks in my opinion are "On Me," "Don't Trip," "Circles," "Made In America," "Dollar And a Dream," "Documentary 2," and "LA." After the intro, the first track you are introduced to is "On Me," which features Kendrick Lamar. The song samples Erykah Badu's "On and On," and displays the two Compton rappers trading clever bars while playing around with their flows over a soulful, jazz-influenced beat. The track "Documentary 2" gives Game's fans a taste of the New York, classic hip hop sound equipped with DJ Premier's scratching hook. Definitely a different sound for the L.A. rapper.
All fans of The Game must know that his prior albums contained many big name features. The Documentary 2 is no different as he enlisted Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Diddy, Ab-Soul, Q-Tip, Future, Kanye West, Drake, Snoop Dogg, Dej Loaf, and Fergie on the project. And that's just disc 1! Production from will.i.am, Cool & Dre, Hit-Boy, Mike WiLL Made It, Boi-1da, DJ Premier, Cardo, Bongo the Drum Gahd, and many others are featured on the album as well.
In an interview with Sway on Real 92.3 LA's Hip Hop and R&B, he explained why he named the record The Documentary 2. He stated, "It's 10 years later, I'm working on music, why not ride the wave? I kind of really dug in this and just grass rooted myself back to the streets." Game shared with Big Boy TV that Dr. Dre advised him not to name the album The Documentary 2 because classic albums do not need sequels. Game had a clever rebuttal stating that Dre released The Chronic 2001, a sequel to his 1992 classic, The Chronic.
The project has been in the making for 2 years, following his 2012 album Jesus Piece. Game told SKEE-TV that he recorded around 600 - 700 songs in that time, but told The Cruz Show that he recorded 2,000. We don't know whether he is being sarcastic or not, but if you're working with a perfectionist like Dr. Dre, it could be true!
A week after releasing The Documentary 2, he released The Documentary 2.5, which he has said considers to be the second disc of the album instead of a different album. In that interview with SKEE-TV, he even said it pisses him off that the second part was titled The Documentary 2.5, because that wasn't his idea.
On Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club, Game speaks on others hailing The Documentary 2 a classic:
It’s a real good body of work man, and I didn’t start saying it was a classic until the powers that be, I played it for the Diddys, the Sways, the Dr. Dres and they were saying that, and once I got finished with the album and listened to it all the way through, it thought it was a pretty good body of work and that it could be called a classic...The music man, you know when something is great musically and that’s just what it sounds like when you listen to it… it's a great hip hop album.
In my opinion, The Documentary 2 is one of the best rap albums of 2015. The production is great, but the content is a little repetitive. His references to gang-affiliation and his use of the word "bitch" get pretty monotonous. All in all, the album is an entertaining body of work that could be called his magnum opus after it's all been done and said.
Purchase The Documentary 2 on Amazon (CD, MP3). Stream the full album above, via Spotify.
Game also released a 47-minute long documentary for the album titled The Documentary 2: The Making of the Album.
You can stream Disc 2, aka The Documentary 2.5 and read our review right here on Zumic.
For more music, news, videos, and tour dates from The Game, visit his Zumic artist page.
