The Game - The Documentary

Since every single artist I have introduced to this blog as of yet has begun their album careers in the 1990s, I figured it was time to switch things up a bit. Since a lot of the catalogues I am covering are making their way into the 2000s anyway, why not review an artist who's debut came out in the naughties decade? And who better to do this with than the one and only Jayceon Taylor, who humbly refers to himself as The Game.

Hailing from one of hip-hop's most storied locations, Compton, it's a commonly known fact that Jayceon didn't even really start rapping until 2001. His dream for some time had been to become a professional basketball player, but then the allure of the street life got to him, and he became a fully affiliated Blood out gangbanging in the streets for quite a few years. In 2001, Game was in his apartment alone when he heard a knock at the door. He opened it to five (I think) Westside Crips, who jumped him and eventually shot him, before leaving. Jayceon managed to muster the strength to call the police before passing out on the floor from his wounds, and he ended up in a coma for three days before finally waking up. He then spent a lot of his recovery time truly discovering hip-hop music, and as he studied the classics of the genre, he quickly became a highly skilled rapper himself, albeit one with a propensity to a) imitate his peers and b) name-drop them at an overly frequent rate. Still, nothing wrong with a little homage-paying, am I right? Game released his debut mixtape YouKnowWhatItIs Vol. 1 in late 2002, and after one or two others were put out independently, his music happened to fall in the hands of a certain Dr. Dre, who was at this point probably quite desperate to find a new West Coast artist to become a face of the genre. 

Dre bought Game into his Aftermath offices, hooked him up with one of his newest beats and a hook from another new star 50 Cent, and from this The Game created his debut single "Westside Story", which was released in early 2004. Around this time, Dre sneakily put word into 50's ear that what the people really wanted from his burgeoning G-Unit crew was a West Coast MC, what with them already having artists from the East and the South. Dr. Dre's true motivations for this may have simply been to get more eyes on The Game, but still, 50 agreed to let the young man into his crew, not realising the rapper was actually quite a lot better at his chosen profession than the sleepy Lloyd Banks, abrasive Tony Yayo, fairly drawly Young Buck and himself, a rapper who really wasn't ever even that great. What he also failed to realise was that The Game had a mild bipolar disorder, and with that came a propensity for randomly dissing other artists (notably including Jay-Z) that 50 really didn't want to have issues with, what with him being a businessman and all. Game also famously would refuse to side with 50 on his own beefs with other industry artists, which was apparently the straw that broke the camel's back for Game's partnership with G-Unit. But that's a tale for another day. 

Moving back to late 2004, Game was putting out underground mixtapes at a proficient rate - Untold Story, Westside Story: The Compton Chronicles, YouKnowWhatItIs Volume 2: Throwin' Rocks At the Throne... the list goes on. And amidst this the singles were pouring in fast too, with "Hate It Or Love It" and "How We Do" both being incredibly successful 50 Cent collaborations - the former a poignant and celebratory track for the hip-hop heads, and the latter a club banger that you couldn't drive a few metres without hearing in central L.A.. With all this music being released, you'd think The Game's debut wouldn't really be that anticipated, but you'd be wrong - see, back in the 2000s, mixtapes were full of randomly thrown together songs and freestyles, and were nothing like the mixtapes of today, which are basically albums without a major label backing. Therefore, even though everyone knew what Game sounded like, no-one could have predicted what he would create with a focused vision and an all-star cast of producers and features - in other words, no-one knew what he could do with an actual album. And that's where The Documentary comes in, an album that had so much hype around it the release date should probably be considered an international holiday. Come on, governments, let's get to it!

The Game's debut solo studio album was released through Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records in January of 2005, and West Coast hip-hop fans everywhere rejoiced at it's incredibly successful sales, signifying that this artist was to be the new big thing in hip-hop, and not only was he not from the bloody South, but he was from the West!! And these fans that proceeded to head to the local Target to purchase the album were met, to their horror, with a photograph of a shirtless man sitting on tires (well, he was on 50 Cent's label, so could we have expected more?), but more importantly one of the most stacked lists of producers and features that the game (get it???) had seen in years. Performing alongside Jayceon, we had the likes of 50 Cent (well, we already knew that), Faith Evans, Marsha Ambrosius, Tony Yayo (okay, that's not so good), Eminem (yes!!), Nate Dogg, Mary J. Blige and Busta Rhymes. It seems no expense was spared when it came to the making of this album, then, and that didn't stop at the features - behind the boards we had work by Dr. Dre, Scott Storch, Kanye West, Cool & Dre, Havoc, Just Blaze, Timbaland, Jeff Bhasker, Hi-Tek, Focus, Needlz and BuckWild - if this doesn't excite you, then maybe you need to take a good long look at your knowledge of hip-hop's finest beatmakers, because that list is truly insane. Almost enough to take your attention off of The Game himself altogether. 

Game did have some self-control over his feature choices back then, though, and so there's just enough solo material on here to keep the project his and his alone, even though his haters will tell you otherwise. And so the question here is as follows: could The Game make a good studio album, and could he, with all the luck in the world, make a classic? Well, I guess it's my job today to inform you. 

1. Intro (prod. Dr. Dre & Che Vicious)

I'm not someone who usually enjoys rap album intros, even the shorter ones, but this 30 second film excerpt that plays out over some triumphant American music really does build up the excitement for the rest of the record to an even higher level than before. Great stuff.

2. Westside Story (feat. 50 Cent) (prod. Dr. Dre & Scott Storch)

The Game sets things off with a single released about a year before the actual album came out, but I don't mind that too much, considering how bloody phenomenal this cut is. From the second those hard-ass synths and drums hit you when the instrumental starts up, you know you're going to be in for a banger, and the way this song transitions in from the previous one is as sweet as a sprite after a mountain trek on a blistering hot day. Game begins with a list of the different ethnicities and groups that have been "patiently waiting" (50 Cent song reference?) for the record to come out, before proceeding to rip all three of his verses with a nice flow, hard voice, and lyrics that stay with the chosen topic throughout the song - said topic being the resurrection of the West Coast in the hip-hop genre. One of the lyrics here was initially interpreted as a Jay-Z diss when the song came out (that being "I don't do button-up shirts or drive Maybachs), but Game revoked these claims during an interview, and then later on another song on this album (remember, "Westside Story" came out well before the album's release). Game's name-dropping here comes across as more impressive considering it's his first song - it's almost like he has this phenomenal knowledge of the genre that he just wants to share through his lyrics. One theory I ponder with is that the two references to 2Pac's murder on here may insinuate that the West had been pretty much dead since then, and was only now coming back - I could be terribly wrong on that front though. 50 Cent's hook is catchy as hell, the production is one of the best ever to come from Dre, and while I don't know if he's yet at Kool G Rap level as he claims, Game proves that he is indeed a very dope MC on this joint. Brilliant song. 

3. Dreams (prod. Kanye West)

Over a wonderful Kanye beat that actually doesn't sound like anything he produced during that The College Dropout/Late Registration era, Game drops three verses that are very memorable, albeit sometimes for the wrong reasons. For example, Game apparently decided the best way to open this song was with some factually incorrect information - "I woke up out that coma 2001, 'bout the same time Dre dropped 2001" - where he claims that Dr. Dre's album came out in 2001, when actually it was released back in 1999, despite what the title may lead you to believe. Considering his clear knowledge of the genre, I'm surprised Game managed to slip up like that. It gets worse, though, as during the shout-out to his producer, he refers to the car accident mr. West was involved in as "fatal", which is false information considering Kanye did not die during the accident. Thankfully, I don't believe Game messes up elsewhere, but it's hard for me to not laugh when these lines come up. Game also refers to the original title for this album during the lyrics here, Nigga Witta Attitude, Vol. 1, which I think we can all agree would have been a truly horrible album title, at least compared with The Documentary. Nonetheless, Game offers up some brilliant bars here too, including "They say sleep is the cousin of death, so my eyes wide open, 'cause a dream is kin to your last breath", and the tribute at the end was also good to hear from the man. Not only this, but Kanye's sample work is really on point here. This song is excellent in my opinion. 

4. Hate It Or Love It (feat. 50 Cent) (prod. Cool & Dre)

The first song on a Game album to be produced by a pair that would become frequent collaborators with the man later in his career - Cool & Dre, who are often known for poppier instrumentals, but can cook up a banger when they want. The instrumental on this joint right here is easily one of their most potent, though, as the duo incorporate wonderful jazzy elements over a hard drum beat and a bit of vocal samples as well to make for one of the most iconic instrumentals of the 2000s - I mean, surely everyone's heard this one. 50 starts things off here with an iconic verse that I learned off by heart real quick, but I'd be lying if I said his was better than Game's. The Game provides two verses on here, both of which are filled with great flows, references, and heartfelt moments that are extraordinarily powerful coming from the man. I'm especially a fan of his final line - "whenever I'm in the booth and I get exhausted, I think "what if Marie Baker got that abortion?", I love you ma!". Both MCs provide incredible verses though, and it's all tied together with a hook that is just iconic. This is yet another classic song. 

5. Higher (prod. Dr. Dre & Mark Batson)

Dre and Mark Batson provide a bangin' instrumental that was allegedly initially turned down by 50 Cent, only for The Game to get hold of it and write his three verses with ease. Recently, a reference track leaked of this song being performed by 50 Cent, but I'm not inclined to believe the man wrote any of these verses. The hook, sure, but when had 50 ever rapped like this in his songs? The man even gets the writing credit in the booklet, so he probably wrote the hook or parts of the hook, and I mean who really cares about that? Most young artists can't write good hooks, and for Game to be coming up with ones like these on his debut album all by himself would be something to marvel at. If 50 did write this hook, then I really wouldn't mind, and even if he wrote the verses, I still wouldn't mind, as The Game would do much better later on anyway, well after he had lost ties with 50. Just had to have that little rant there. This song is pretty incredible, as Game burns through three braggadocios verses that involve him taking your bitch and him namedropping various other artists including Dr. Dre, Mariah Carey, Usher, Ashanti, and many more. The name-drops once again kinda work here, though, and man do I love the hook and beat. Also, "look out for Detox" will always be a hilarious moment in hip-hop history. This song is excellent. 

6. How We Do (feat. 50 Cent) (prod. Dr. Dre & Mike Elizondo)

Out of all the songs on this album, this is the only one where Game's actual verses could plausibly have been written by 50 Cent, but that's only because on this song the pair spend a lot of their time mimicking each other anyway, and changing up lines from the other's verses to fit into their own. Seriously, I don't think anyone who actually studied the verses on this album and had also religiously listened to Get Rich Or Die Tryin' for months on end (read: me, but surely many others too) could have thought that 50 wrote the majority of this album. Anyway, this song. The instrumental on here is definitely the most club-friendly on the whole album, but in a good way - remember, this album came out in '05, when hip-hop instrumentals for the nightclubs hadn't quite gone to shit yet. The beat on here is crazily good, and the pair's back & forth shows true chemistry that really does make one wonder what great music we could have gotten had they not fallen out less than a month after the release of this LP. The chorus from 50 is entirely catchy, and the man's verses are more charismatic than anything we heard on, say, "Candy Shop" or "Disco Inferno". Meanwhile The Game does sacrifice his dope flows for something a little slower on here, but the results are still great, with him dropping nice verses too. This isn't the best song here, but for a club single, it's pretty bloody fantastic. "Lamborghini doors on that Escalade!"

7. Don't Need Your Love (feat. Faith Evans) (prod. Havoc, add-prod. Dr. Dre)

Here's something funny - besides the intro skit, this is the first song here to not have been promoted as a single. That's gotta be a record, considering we're now at track 7, almost halfway into the album. Something more likely to make the heads laugh with joy, however, is the fact that this one is produced by Havoc and Dr. Dre. Now that's a collaboration I'm sure everyone was excited to see. Apparently the instrumental was originally produced by Havoc, but then he lost it and Dre had to remake the same beat, or at least that's what Genius is telling me - if it's true, that's a really interesting story. The instrumental isn't quite the culmination of two greats like you may expect, but it's still pretty bloody good, and Game rides over this beat with ease, even if he does often fail to discuss the subject matter insinuated by Faith in the excellent hook. Game does find time to diss The Source here (obviously he was fine taking on Eminem's enemies, even though he didn't for 50), and address his rejected application to sign to Roc-a-Fella, but a lot of the song is spent simply discussing the lavish lifestyle he now lives, which I suppose kind of relates to the subject matter - he doesn't need everyone to like him, because he's already got everything going well for him. I still really enjoy these more introspective and low-tempo cuts from The Game, though, and as I said some of the more focused lyrics are really good. 

8. Church For Thugs (prod. Just Blaze)

Just Blaze opens this one up with a small speech, that introduces the track in that dramatic way Blaze often tends to do. Thankfully, unlike that on Busta Rhymes' "Street Shit", the beat here is kind of worth the build up, as the triumphant horns and bangin' percussion is just the right thing to get Game going here. On the first verse, Game addresses his haters by having the song turn right down and then back up again, something that Eminem would more famously do later on his song "Won't Back Down" - perhaps this is where he got the idea from? Game also professes his love for gangbanging, only to then come through with the bar "'cause we trapped inside a world where you forced to die for your colours", which appears to starkly contrast the previous lines, which is odd. However, the rest of Game's performance on here is confident and aggressive, and fits the tone of the instrumental perfectly, and who doesn't love the "you a close second, nigga, banana to a gorilla" line? My one pressing issue here is that the chorus sounds very much like something 50 Cent wrote - it actually heavily reminds me of the chorus on his own track "I Don't Need 'Em", released about a month after this song. Still, at least it's catchy, so I can't complain. As for the rest of this, it's classic Game braggadocio and confidence, and for that I'd say it's a banger. 

9. Put You On the Game (prod. Timbaland, co-prod. Nate "Danja Handz" Hills)

This song was also released as a single - I suppose they realised that all the other singles were in a row at the front, and they wanted to promote something from a bit deeper in the album. That, or they realised that Timbaland's beat was sure to get the clubs swaying - this instrumental is nice. Unfortunately, I'm not entirely convinced by The Game's performance on here - is flow sounds quite disjointed, especially during the first two verses, and most of his lyrical content revolves around comparing himself to other greats of the genre, whether it be Dr. Dre, Flavor Flav or Jay-Z. The multiple chants of "G-g-g-g-g" are also not quite hard enough to incite anything other than a bit of annoyance. It is more than a bit funny, however, that Aftermath released this heavily G-Unit affiliated song as a single during the height of the beef between Game and G-Unit. A tactical move on 50's part to make Game look foolish? Possibly. This song is still pretty great, mind you, as the instrumental is astonishing, and this chorus is arguably the best on the whole LP, it's that good. And Game still performs solidly on here - he just could've done a little better.

10. Start From Scratch (feat. Marsha of Floetry) (prod. Dr. Dre & Scott Storch)

For the recording of this one, The Game and Dr. Dre both got drunk in the studio, and you can quite easily decipher that this was the case for the former just by hearing his flow on the song - the man continuously slurs his vocals and delivers voice cracks to make for three verses which, in my opinion, really don't sound all that great. Thankfully, the actual lyrics are intriguing enough to distract from this, as Game drops some nice lines including "When you a Bad Boy, niggas don't wanna see you Shyne", as well as a reference to his brother Jevon Taylor who passed away in 1995 - he was later featured on the cover of Game's 2012 album Jesus Piece. The line "picture The Source sucking Benzino's dick" was really rather overly vulgar for my liking, but most of these lyrics about Game's past regrets are quite intriguing, and make for some of the best writing on the whole record. Unfortunately, the beat here is a bit too skeletal, Marsha sounds too robotic on the chorus, and Game really shouldn't have delivered this drunk. It was a good and unique idea, but failed in its execution. Still, the lyrics make this one worth a listen in my opinion. 

11. The Documentary (prod. Jeff Bhasker, co-prod. Jeff Reed)

This song begins with a fairly hilarious film sample from some underground film called Livin' Tha Life, which was filmed entirely in Compton, before the beat builds up into something that sounds like it might have appeared on one of Eminem's early 2000s records, like The Eminem Show or Encore. The instrumental is pretty damn great, and Game uses it for a multitude of purposes. He addresses the alleged shot at Jay-Z on "Westside Story" with both a line, and then a clip from an interview that plays where the second chorus should go, and he also attempts to rhyme "crossed" with "World", which sadly fails to work at all. This song is probably most famous for its chorus, which utilises the names of various classic rap albums into the sentences, only to also drop the name of The Documentary at the end, thereby putting it up there with the other albums mentioned - now that's gangsta. We also get a couple of ad-libs from Dr. Dre and Busta Rhymes during this song, which was fun, and Game continues with the name-dropping as always, but again it doesn't really bother me that much here - the guy still clearly knows how to rap. This cut is dope as hell. 

12. Runnin' (feat. Tony Yayo) (prod. Hi-Tek)

Game decides in his first verse on here to use the line "got more sins than two lesbians", which I thought was pretty funny - it's a shame there wasn't much more I could find with this one. Hi-Tek is usually a really great producer, so for him to make a beat that lacks in any real energy is a disappointment to say the least, and Dion's uncredited hook is really not that great in my opinion - I just really don't feel this melody. Game's first verse is stellar, though, as he tells the story of a woman who lived in the hood that contracted the AIDS virus, and also makes reference to the Nas song "What Goes Around", which was appreciated - that's one of Nasir's more underrated cuts for sure. Besides the line mentioned above, which is laughable, Game really does his thing on the first verse, but unfortunately he loses the topic of the song with his last verse, where he discusses his position in the hip-hop game for some reason, and references with glee the fact that there's an Eminem feature on this album. Apparently 50 Cent added this Tony Yayo verse as a ploy to keep the guy's name relevant while he was in jail, and that was nice of him, but unfortunately Yayo doesn't make much of a case for himself on this track, with a lethargic verse that includes a signature lack of wit and abrasive sing-songy delivery at one point which straight up sucks. If you're looking for a Game and Hi-Tek collaboration, there are much better on his next two albums - this one really is a bit weak. 

13. No More Fun and Games (prod. Just Blaze)

On by far the shortest actual song on this whole record so far, Game spits three fairly intense verses over a slightly cluttered sounding, but nonetheless still very dope instrumental from Just Blaze. The chorus here consists of some record scratching too, which is one thing that so far had been sorely missed on this project, and the samples from N.W.A.'s "Gangsta, Gangsta" and Boogie Down Production's "My Philosophy" work great together, with the film samples and sung part that gives the track it's title also being fun. Sonically this is a lot more exciting than the last song, and Game also brings back a lot of energy with his verses, the third of which contains a huge amount of number statistics that place certain events in time - I've learned in English courses that these are known as "cardinal determiners", and I'm sure someone'll find that interesting. I also find one of these lines to have aged hilariously well, that of course being "Dre told me he ain't doin' Detox, this his only run", and one of these lines to be a bit silly in it's execution - "I'm like Dre, Eazy, Cube, King T and Ren all rolled into one". Not only is this comparison a bit random and wrong, but I don't know why he would list all the rapping members of N.W.A. and King T as well. Whatever - I do like to nitpick, don't I? This one is a significant improvement over the last song. 

14. We Ain't (feat. Eminem) (prod. Eminem, co-prod. Luis Resto)

Game teams up with Eminem, and decides to pretty much jack the man's flow for both of his verses here, which is surprisingly noticeable when you pay attention to his flow and rhyme schemes. It's not like I dislike his verses, either, it's just that he really didn't need to copy Eminem that plainly. Of course, you have to remember that despite the big budget, professional sound of this record, Game was young and not actually a very experienced MC, and so for him to go in the booth with one of the greatest to ever do it probably pushed him heavily into mimicking the guy. Game's lyrics on here are actually really good, though - he admits to being "murdered on his own shit" as a reference to what Em did on Jay-Z's "Renegade", and then comes with one of my favourite lines on this whole record - "I'ma do Shady numbers, I'm ridin' my own dick", a bar that I always find to be so self-aware and funny, but intentionally so of course. Game also gets a little political in this first verse, further evidence that he was heavily influenced by Eminem's contemporary style, and he even interpolates Marshall's classic "The Way I Am". As for Em, he provides easily one of his best verses from that 2004-2008 era when he was drugged up as a motherfucker - the flows are excellent, and he comes with that murderous Slim Shady personality which does unfortunately end up in some imagery I'd rather not have placed in my head, but there we are. The high-pitched vocal effect on the intro and outro reminds me of Redman's "Rockafella" - great - and the chorus is nice too, with the samples of older Em (and Dre) vocals fitting well. Em's electronic beat is a bit noisy for my liking, but otherwise this is still a big banger. 

15. Where I'm From (feat. Nate Dogg) (prod. Focus)

I guess to fully show that he had no ill will towards Jay-Z, Game named his song here after one of Hov's '90s classics. Well, ain't that sweet. On this one, Focus provides an old-school G-funk instrumental that is the perfect backing for Nate Dogg's sweet hook vocals that just sound excellent in my opinion, especially with the scratching in the background of various Game and Dre vocals, among others. This is the first song on the whole record to only have two verses rather than three, and on them Game makes some references to his hometown of Compton, albeit nothing that actually sheds too much light on the conditions there. He also attempts to do a Biggie flow in the first verse for no apparent reason - I mean, why pay homage to an NY artist on a song about your hometown Compton? Truth be told, I was never the hugest fan of this one, and it's got nothing on the rawness and confidence of Hov's song of the same name. You'd think Game would want to defend Compton, but he sounds a little unbothered during his verses here, which is an issue. This isn't bad, but it should have been a lot better. 

Also, this song was later heavily interpolated on Game's 2015 song "Just Another Day" from his album The Documentary 2, a track that landed with much better results if you ask me. 

16. Special (feat. Nate Dogg) (prod. Needlz)

Seeing that their first collaboration didn't work entirely as well as one may have hoped, Game grabs Nate Dogg for the second time in a row, and for a song that's unfortunately pretty much just as weak. As one may have deciphered from the title, this is a love song, something that Game would later stray away from in his career, as his usual lyrical content made this type of track seem disingenuous and rather forced. Sadly he had not learned this yet, and while his musings to this girl are fairly sweet, they're not at all what I want from Game's music, and really just feel a bit bland. And of course the woman already has a boyfriend - I mean, what self-respecting rapper would pursue a single woman? Honestly, man.... Once again, Nate Dogg (R.I.P., man) carries the hook with his excellent singing voice, but it's Game's lyrical content and the fairly underwhelming beat that make this one of the weaker tracks. However, I do find it funny how Game got Dr. Dre on the intro here, only to admit later on that he was having sex with this woman inside Dre's house. I mean, have some decency Game!

17. Don't Worry (feat. Mary J. Blige) (prod. Dr. Dre & Mike Elizondo)

After giving her a shout-out of sorts during the last song, Mary J. Blige gets her chance to shine on this cut, which is yet another love song. Sigh.... Thankfully, this one actually works a hell of a lot better than the previous cut, and this is largely thanks to Game letting Mary J. Blige take over the direction and majority of time on the track, and also is thanks to there being more of an actual concept here - if you remember, the previous track was just a generic love song. On this one, Mary plays Game's wife, and Game's character has clearly been locked up in jail for something, but Mary as his wife vows to stick by him through it, and continue to be with him by the time his sentence is over. The production on here is very well done, with the R&B pianos during Mary's extended singing portions changing into darker keys and a generally more hip-hop feel when The Game comes into rap, thereby really separating each portion of the song well. I also find the line "Just me hittin', like a beat from Dr. Dre" to be really hilarious - I don't know why Game wants to think about Dr. Dre while he's having sex, but his infamous line "and tell Dr. Dre to pick up the phone, before I climb through his window like, "Nigga, I'm home!"" might shed some light on that. Anyway, this is in my opinion a far better attempt at a love song than the previous cut - it's a shame Game never really managed to pull this off again (see "Around the World" and "Touchdown"). 

18. Like Father, Like Son (feat. Busta Rhymes) (prod. BuckWild)

The final song on this album is by far the most focused performance we have heard from The Game yet, as he recounts in great detail the moments surrounding his son's birth, a time which clearly held a great deal to him (Game actually had his son on the album cover of the deluxe version of The Documentary). The production here from BuckWild is easily one of my favourites on the album, with the chords being very pleasant, and those violins really just getting the listeners in their feels, which is presumably exactly what Game wanted with this one. The verses on this song are focused and include quite a few notable lines that really are quite profound coming from The Game - my favourite has to be "they say every time somebody die, a child is born: so I thank the nigga who gave his life for the birth of my son" - and his general passionate delivery and lyrics on here makes for one of the best performances the man has ever come out with. And on top of that, while he disappointingly doesn't deliver a verse, Busta Rhymes delivers a fantastic chorus in his surprisingly potent singing voice, where his baritone actually makes him sound like some kind of male choir (almost). And if I'm honest, even though Busta is one of my favourite MCs of all time, I'm glad he didn't have a verse here - it just helps the song be even more personal. This is arguably the best track on the whole album. 

In conclusion, I don't actually think The Documentary is a classic album - in fact, I don't even think it's The Game's best work. Sure, it's easy to make that statement listening to the first 11 songs, amongst which there's only one that I don't entirely enjoy (that'd be "Start From Scratch"), an incredible run, but to be a classic album, a project really needs to hold together throughout the whole runtime, and after that point, at least in my opinion, the album starts to show some notable inconsistencies. Both of the Nate Dogg collaborations feel fairly lifeless, which is a shame as they have two of his best hooks, and the song "Runnin'" is also a bit of a disappointment considering it's produced by Hi-Tek - on such a well-produced album, you'd expect the man to step his game up, not down. Whatever - this album is still really great, and contrary to what a lot of people seem to say, that's not simply down to 50 Cent at all. Yes, two of the best songs on the whole record are collaborations with the guy, but one ("Westside Story") literally has him on the hook, and the other ("Hate It Or Love It") has more Game than 50 as well. The only song on here that is more 50 Cent than The Game is "How We Do", and that's not even one of the best here, even though it's still pretty damned great. Everything else in terms of rapping on here is up to The Game besides verses from Tony Yayo and Eminem, and I must say that he does a great job of it - listening today, Game's rapping on here is even better than I remember from when I used to have this album on repeat years ago (I mean, I've listened to it since, but it's been a long time since I was first digesting this record), and although he's not exactly a genius with the wordplay or the punchlines, he still has a great flow and can come up with some really enticing subject matters and even hooks. Game's performance is great on here, and as for the production, it's really some of the best of the 2000s decade. Yes, not every beat hits, but when they do, they hit like a bullet train - the instrumentals on "Westside Story", "Higher" and "Put You On the Game" are three of the hardest I've ever heard, and some of the softer beats on songs like "Dreams", "Hate It Or Love It" and "Like Father, Like Son" also work incredibly well for Game despite his rough and angry voice. So yes, this album has it's inconsistencies in both production and Game's performance, but the amount of incredible songs on here certainly make it worth listening to, for any hip-hop head. And if Game hadn't made this album quite so long, then maybe it would be an easy classic - I guess we'll never know...

Best Tracks: Westside Story, Dreams, Hate It Or Love It, Higher, How We Do, Don't Need Your Love, Put You On the Game, The Documentary, We Ain't, Don't Worry, Like Father Like Son

Worst Tracks: Runnin', Where I'm From, Special

I haven't done any Game write-ups before, but there'll be more to come in the future!