A couple of weeks ago I wrote a review on Game’s Documentary 2 album, and an above average project I was left with the feeling that the Compton rapper peaked on his second album Doctor’s Advocate and he has not been able to create music at that same level since. With the release of the Documentary 2.5 in mid October, the game has released his best work since Doctor’s Advocate and has proven that his years as one of rap’s top artists are far from over. Documentary 2.5 is his magnum opus.
I got a copy of the album with a bit of hesitation, not expecting anything different from the previous disc. I was captivated from the intro. Game talks to Sway Calloway about how the beef with 50 Cent got started some years back. It’s a brilliantly dramatized take on the Hot 97 incident from Game’s perspective. The intro transitions to the first track song Magnus Carlsen which is a beast of a song. Game and Anderson .Paak contemplate how things are not getting any better in the community; people are dying, people are locked up, and people are repeating the same mistakes that others made in the past. The production, Game’s rhymes, and Anderson’s voice all mesh together flawlessly to bring what is arguably the best song on the album. What a way to kickoff the project.
The song is followed by Crenshaw which also features Anderson .Paak, alongside Sonyae. That’s followed by Gangbang Anyway a track which features TDE members Schoolboy Q and Jay Rock and discusses gang life. Game discusses the origins of the Crips and Bloods and how violence is a part of the gang’s lifestyle. The trio of LA rappers also put forth that despite the violence and danger of being a gang member they will still gangbang – a sentiment that many gang members share. The song ends with a shooting and transitions to the fourth song on the album which features Nas and Will.i.am titled The Ghetto – another conscience track.
Track after track the hits just keep on coming. Gang Related is another stand out track along with Last Time You Seen in which Game and Scarface look back at the life of Tupac Shakur. The second half of the album is a throwback to old school west coast rap and has a lighter mood than the first half. The album has one track which is a direct continuation from the first Documentary; Like Father Like Son 2 and just like the first edition of the track Busta Rhymes sings the hook, though it sounds very awkward. It sounds like it was forced to fit into the beat and is slightly out of tune.
Despite its minor flaws here and there Game has shown great maturity on Documentary 2.5. His lyrics are much more introspective and conscious than ever before. It feels like he really has something to say. I get the sense that although he’s a member of the Blood gang he hates the acts of violence, crime, and vices that his gang alongside the Crips has contributed to his city and people he cares about. He stands before us no longer a boy but as a man who has matured over the past 10 years.
I only wish that the overall project would have been a single disc release with most of the songs coming from Documentary 2.5 as Documentary 2 was rather lackluster. If he would have removed a few tracks from 2.5 such as Intoxicated, Sex Skit, My Flag/Da Homies, and possibly Up on the Wall the album would have been as close to perfect at could possible. But damn, what a project from the Game. If I could sum up 2.5 in two words I’d have to say “conscience” and “mature”.
