The Documentary [PA] - Game (The) (CD 2005)

I knew I should've listened to my gut instinct on this one...

The near universal lauding of The Game's debut record The Documentary convinced me though that maybe I was missing out on something good. So when I saw it in the "just in" bin at the library, I decided to grab it and give it a shot.

Sigh

In some ways, The Documentary is a step above your normal G Unit related release. The Game, aka Jayceon Taylor, shows off occasional solid flow skills, and even has some excellent lyrical witicisms. In between though, this dude who tries so hard to sound tough ends up with his tongue so far up his idol's a*ses that you almost wonder if the hardass persona is a cover for something, ahem, a bit um, softer?

Part of the problem lies with executive producer Dr.Dre, who brings perhaps the most generic beats this side of a Chingy record. The orchestral swells on Higher had become overused in hip hop five years ago, and even when Dre does bring a solid beat, as on first single How We Do, all of a sudden 50 Cent is all over the track, making this listener wanting to rip the hair out of his head. So often 50 sounds like rap's Sylvester Stallone, mumbling through his parts while barely opening his mouth. "Yo Adrian!!!" Only the Game's flow saves the song from itself.

I'm not sure who Jeff Bhasker is, but the production he brings to the title track is enjoyable. Unfortunately, The Game brings little to the song, name-checking some classic albums in reference to his own (to which I say "pfft"). Elsewhere, the hook for Where I'm From is lifted from a 50 Cent tune, and on We Ain't he even cops Eminem's flow style, though admittedly, it works more than it probably has any right to.

No More Fun and Games uses an N.W.A. sample, which shouldn't be much of a surprise given how much time The Game takes to pay tribute to them. His timeline lyrics that close out the song over its second half is pretty creative, though by the end it is getting a bit tiring.

I hate to give Kanye West much in the way of props just because his ego is so damned big anyways, but what he gets out of the Game on Dreams is by far the highlight of the record. The name checking is a bit tiring here as well, but in the context of the song, it actually works a bit better.

Unfortunately, moments like Dreams are few and far between. The themes the Game visits become old no more than halfway through the record, which at close to 70 minutes feels like an absolute beast and chore to get through. His constant brown nosing (and that's putting it nicely) gets old, and the guest appearances from his G-Unit buds (plus Eminem) add nothing to the record at all.

There's no doubt this cat has talent. His flow is decent, even occasionally great. His lyrics tend to be nothing we haven't heard before, though occasionally, he does throw out a gem. And the beats he's been supplied with here and no doubt hit and miss, mostly the latter.

Just because the dude made a better album than most of his brethren doesn't mean it's automatically a great or even good album. For me, The Documentary is "eh" and nothing more. This is what happens when you don't listen to your conscience.

Or as I told Mikey, "seeing this album with so many four star ratings would be like me giving Jet four stars."

2.5 stars, rounded DOWN.