"The Documentary" came out in 2005, and was the debut album from then G-Unit member, The Game. Contrasting from the rest of the label at the time, The Game is a Compton, California rapper, and so has him coming with authentic Gangsta Rap from the Blood member. You have him on lots of beats from Dr. Dre, as well as other star producers such as Just Blaze, Timbaland and Cool & Dre.
1. "Intro"
2. "Westside Story"
This one came as his debut single, and although I hadn't heard it before hearing the album in its entirety, it certainly shows the potential for big things as he gets down to it with 50 Cent on top of Dre's dark beats. He immediately makes it clear where he's going with it al as he brings straight Gangsta speak with reference to what it is like out in LA.
Here you have The game taking on the work of Kanye West, and with 'Ye's chipmunked sample of Jerry Butler's "No more Money", you have The Game coming with lots of thought-provoking messages as he describes his own aspirations, and how he has fulfilled many of them.
**Five Stars**
4. "Hate It Or Love It"
This was one of the big singles from the album, and it has The Game in a big collaboration as he getss 50 to work with him, and Mary J. Blige to provide the chorus for it all. It is an up-lifting one, and a tune that you are sure to recognise with its all-star line
up and overall high quality.
**Four Stars**
5. "Higher"
Despite having some standard beats from the Doc', I wasn't as fond of this one as I possibly could have been. You have him do things in a very predictable way (if you know the artist) as he starts it up with mandatory references to Nikes and Eazy before getting into some proper raps.
**Three Stars**
6. "How We Do"
Although he dropped a single before this, this was the first I heard from the game, and it is simply a killer cut from him. You have him completley ripping things up on some beats from Dr. Dre. You have him collaborating with 50 Cent and together they come up with a straight club banger.
**Five Stars**
7. "Don't Need Your Love"
Mobb Deep's Havoc takes control of the beats for this one, and it takes things to a new place with a little underground East Coast influence over the thing. The Game seems to take this on without any sort of struggle and seemingly gets into it without much effort or thought. It lets him jusy gets loose and unwind to the soulful Mary J Blige sample.
**Four Stars**
8. "Church for Thugs"
It tok me a while to really get into this one, but once you submit to the Just Blaze beats, you are forced into enjoying the way that he gets into things and excites you with the most origianl and fly compostions (as ever). The way Blaze alters the volume near the start fires you up, and from there you are made to enjoy each and every second thereafter as The Game displays how strong his lyrics can be.
**Four Stars**
9. "Put You On The Game"
Of all the top producers, Timbo isn't one that I would expect on a straight Gangsta Rap cut. However, this one displays how he is fully capable of appealing to the audience as well as he does with the Pop crowd and R&B (where he specialises). It is a banger, and one of the best on the whole record for the beats.
**Five Stars**
10. "Start From Scratch"
For this one you have the rapper speaking from a very vulnerable postion and he talks of how he wouldn't have changed anythign in his life. He puts a great slant on it by rapping of how he would however change it for others, such as 'Pac, Biggie, and of course Eazy-E, in order to make sure that the same fate won't have come to them.
**Three Stars**
11. "The Documentary"
This one is a very well-written one from him, and it gets him showing that he's fully-capable of makign hooks like others, and still retain the neccessary lyricism to get over with the more suborn audience. He comes with a chorus which is built entirely upon title to classic Hip Hop albums (I don't know why he didn't stick "Straight Outta Compton" in there though).
**Four Stars**
12. "Runnin'"
Tony Yayo joins Game hear, and I see Yayo as one of the worst rapper sin the game today, so his appearance wasn't liked at all by himslef, but The Game does what he can to make sure that the tune isn't a complete failure with him making sure that there's at least a little going for it. However, I wasn't liking the way he kept using topical things to make it seem as though he was connecting with listeners.
**Three Stars**
13. "No More Fun and Games"
Just Blaze is one this one too, and in this case he shows why he is the top of the production team for Roc-A-Fella as he comes with an amazing one for this tune, and even takes on soem Old School West Coast Gangsta Rap with N.W.A's "Gangsta Gangsta" being used to get everyone screamign for more from him.
**Four Stars**
14. "We Ain't"
I don't tend to like that much that Eminem has to offer, but he was bound to show up at some point in this album. It is one of the more tolerable ones from him, but I wasn't too keen on the way it is arranged as it has them just doing a track about their teamwork (which I can't remember going much further than this tune).
**Three Stars**
15. "Where I'm From"
This one is a straigh G-Unit track. It has The Game take on a very minor role in it all as 50 Cent steps up to lead it with him and Young Buck getting a chance to get a few lines in themself at some point. Game changes things up here with a rapid flow, and this alteration is valued (a shame it wasn't carried on elsewhere).
**Three Stars**
16. "Special"
West Coast hook legend, Nate Dogg, takes on this role for the chorus of this one, and it gets him doing just waht is required of him to motivate Game before he is given a chance to just go all-out with his flow which once again takes it from West to the East Coast (L.A.X. to JFK). He even uses a few of 50's lines in this one, but in knowledge of how things went after the release of the album, its possible that 50 himslef re-wrote certain elements of "P.I.M.P." for this.
**Three Stars**
17. "Don't Worry"
For me, this did very little, and I would have expected a lot more from another guest appearace from Mary J. Blige, but there just wasn't a lot going on with It. The things starts with a long introductory section from MJG before he gets to jump on it when rapping about how his girl must conform to the Gangsta lifestyle as he does.
**Two Stars**
18. "Like Father, Like Son"
Ending it all off you have one unexpected collaboration as Busta Rhymes joins The Game for this one as he describes the feelings he when through upon hearing about the birth of his first son. He has to spoli thigns early on by speakign about his kicks before running to the hospital, but from there, it's al thought-provoking and well-written.
**Three Stars**
Aside from the repetitive references to Nike sneakers and N.W.A legend, Eazy-E, this album is fairly strong. I thought that there were lots of average tunes on it, but I believe that it's down to the beats being pretty plain at times. For a Gangsta Rap artist, his lyrics are very good.
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A great review, I like this album but it digresses into a lot of dubious tracks by the end. I always find that G-Unit and their affiliates are a bit hit and miss but The Game is one of the strongest rappers in that category. Have u heard the Hate It Or Love It diss to 50 cent he did when they fell out?
Intro Westside Story - 50 Cent Dreams Hate It or Love It - 50 Cent Higher How We Do - 50 ... more
Cent Don't Need Your Love - Faith Evans Church for Thugs Put You on the Game Start from Scratch Documentary Runnin' No More Fun and Games We Ain't - Eminem Where I...
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Feb 17th, 2009
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