The Red Album by the Game Music Review 2011

At a time in music where we now have an influx of hungry young MC’s trying to make their mark on the industry (whether well known commodities like Drake & Nicki Minaj, or emerging talent like Odd Future,
Kendrick Lamar, etc.) it’s easy for fans to sometimes over look or start to under appreciate the value of well known already established multi-platinum artists! Especially if they’ve been away for awhile like The Game has. It’s been 3 years since the Game’s last album (LAX) hit the streets, and
he’s finally back with a gem for the Hip-Hop nation to enjoy with his 4th offering, “The Red Album”!

Game sets things off with “The City” feat. Kendrick Lamar, and wastes no time in letting rage hit wax with lines like “You niggas is featherweight I’m Aftermath’s heavyweight, now Dre’s weapon of mass destruction is about to detonate”. And later pays tributes to some fallen legends and boasts in
the same set of bars with lines like: “I’m from the city where two of the best died, rest in peace to both of them I spit like I’m the ghost of them”. No doubt this is most likely a reference to Eazy E & 2 Pac! But even as fiery and on point as Game sounds on this blazing lead off track, some of his
shine was stolen from a remarkable guest spot by Kendrick Lamar whose presence on the hook and rapid fire delivery on the end of the track add heat to an already on fire first record!

Other notables throughout the album include the West Side party starter “Drug Test” feat. Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre & Sly which steady up-tempo feel good pace have a vibe that picks up where Dre’s own “Kush” record left off at, while “Martians vs. Goblins” feat. Lil Wayne and Tyler the Creator has to be one of the most offensive records to celebs in the industry since 50 Cent’s “How to Rob” record lol! Everyone from Rihanna to Lil B. to Bruno Mars, to Lebron James and his Mother were spared no mercy! I’ll provide some mercy here by not repeating the lyrical assault line for line but trust me it’s not for the faint at heart! “Red Nation” also feat. Wayne on the hook, hits hard and is reminiscent of a basic but deadly style drumbeat that could be found on KRS’s Return of the Boom Bap album (1993).

It’s here that Game pledges his alliance to all things red as he sums up in his last 2 bars: “and all these hating ass niggas want me dead, cause I’m Malcolm X before he turned Muslim, Red”! Switching gears a
bit is the Drake assisted “Good Girls go bad” with a nice slow bounce and soulful singing chorus that brings memories of the Motown golden era! Game’s profoundly spits in the first few bars: “Respect Women I don’t care if their 2 or a 10, we don’t beat on Kat Stacks we just bring it to an end. And we
don’t wanna see Nicki fight Lil Kim, it’s missing Women out there let’s just focus on them!” Indeed brotha, indeed.

The next track is a very creative ode to John Singleton’s Boyz in the Hood. Sound bites & snippets from the film along with that bone chilling echo of Cuba Gooding screaming “Ricky” (also the appropriate title for this track) are turned into a musical masterpiece of epic proportions, only fitting of the theatrical classic it was meant to represent! Game’s pain about the hard times and sometimes tragic outcome of life in Los Angeles are amplified on this track especially, as he explains “rather face God than 25 with no options, if Compton ain’t the murder Capital we in the top 10″!

“Heavy Artillery” packs an ill and rare sample of a lady on the hook reciting “45’s, Machine Guns and Heavy Artillery”, while Game, Rick Ross & Beanie Sigel go in 3 the hard way style over a sinister
slow bumping beat! Then Game switches things up with a down South twist as he shows love to his Southern & Bay Area brethren Big Boi (from Outkast) & E-40, as they bring a bouncy energetic presence to “Speakers on Blast”. This is another guaranteed club banger for sure!

Then there’s the mid-tempo soulful anthem “All I Know” which musically has the heart & soul of a Just Blaze track off Jay’s 1st Blueprint album! And no incredibly hot Hip-Hop record seems quite complete
without a DJ Premier track right? Enter “Born in the trap”, which musically almost channels a “Nas is like” vibe (also a Premier track off Nas “I Am” album) as Game spits the lines: “We need something to
put in the mouth of our kids, instead of copping chains we’ll fly to Chile and dig. Go to Haiti and feed to
the Bahamas and breathe, on the way back scoop my nigga Shyne from Belize. You know sometimes I feel like this rap shit is heaven sent, then I get a high feel like it’s irrelevant. So I’m about to pop the trunk like an elephant, and campaign with Wyclef as he runs for President”!

And if that wasn’t enough Game also has a detailed, engaging account of the birth of his new daughter on the story driven “California Dream” who’s sped up sample chorus sounds like a selection out of producers Kanye or the Heatmakers library of work with Cam’Ron & Dipset! All in all “Red” shows the re-dedication of an artist who at one time after dropping LAX was talking about that being his last studio album! So it’s
easy for fans to hear the passion, fire and love for Hip-Hop throughout this project! So on a scale of 1-5 5 being the highest and 1 being the lowest, I give The Red Album 4 ½ stars! Till next time be safe and stay blessed.


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