"The Best the West Has Ever Seen, No Disrespect to Calvin"

Ever since I first got wind of this new up and coming rapper outta Compton named @kendrick_lamar, I've been patiently waiting for his raw talent to shine through. Just like anything with the mythical D word attached to it, the Look Out For Detox freestyle got everyone's attention, but I wasn't sold yet. Fast forward to his first album, Section 80, which was an indication of great things to come with Hi Power being the clear stand out track and highlight of the album. Still, it was like seeing a seismograph rapidly jump up and down before the earthquake, but when was the ground finally going to open up?

Well, it finally happened when he got together with fellow Compton rapper @thegame on This City, which will appear on Game's upcoming R.E.D. Album. The whole track is just awesome, starting with the hymn laden, angelic beat by @COOLANDDRE that lays the groundwork for Game to stake claim as one of the top 5 rappers of all time ("Game, Biggie, Hov, prolly Pac, Nas, No particular order"). Debatable lyrical hubris aside, the hook is interesting in that it's damn near a whole verse and the only reason you can tell it isn't a verse is because it's repeated word for word more than once. Keeping it 100, the whole track is just one big intro leading up to Kendrick's acapella take off at the 4:27 mark. Ferocious, tenacious, raw, vicious...all applicable adjectives for the fury unleashed by Compton's prince. Press play and follow along kids...

"And I wear pendant on my shoulder
Soldier, like a lieutenant, and the coupe tinted
Got pulled over, Johnny always lock a ni**a down
Knowing damn well we don't wanna see the box like Manny Pacquiao
Little ni**a Mayweather size, ride like Pac
In his prime, thug life is now on radar
Til the federal come through and raid ours
Reminiscing when the LA Raiders
Was in my home, snapback fitted on my uncle's dome
And I don't condone d*ckriding, I'm addicted to
Westsiding, living in a city where the skinny ni**as die
And the semi bullets fly, but it turn me to a lion
Trying, and I mean that sh*t
Game came through, put the city on his back
I was in the city with a nigga, had seen that sh*t
"Compton!", a ni**a gotta scream that shit
Never went commercial, Never T.V. screened that sh*t
Can't block or screen that sh*t, now everybody sing that sh*t"
- Kendrick Lamar

Add this one to the growing list of collabs from the consistently dynamic duos of The Game + Cool & Dre. Oh and if you don't have enough incentive to go out and cop The R.E.D. Album, you're haven't been listening. I'm sticking to my album of the year prediction until something better comes out...#TakeItToTheBank

The Game feat Kendrick Lamar - This City (prod by Cool & Dre)
|iTunes

"Where's All the Girls Too Busy Studyin' to Make the Guest List?"

I'm finding it really hard to disagree with the growing consensus that @thegame sounds best over @COOLANDDRE beats. Sure he had a moment there with the good doctor, but when it comes to longevity and consistency of sound, he just keeps churning out dope music with the help of Marcello and Andre.

And who would have thought he and @drakkardnoir could rip it up with the chemistry they did on Good Girls Go Bad? Not that a feature with either of them would be a challenge to anyone involved, but with two differing styles, they meshed well over the slow, steady, bangin' instrumental. With all thes R&B tracks and cameo hooks Drake has put out of late, it was refreshing to hear him go in and spit a nice verse. Between this leak and Game's other tough new one Martians vs Aliens, The R.E.D. Album is starting to enter the discussion for album of the year. When 5 single worthy tracks have leaked prior to the album's release, it's almost to a point where anything beyond this is icing on the cake. And we still haven't heard a CDQ version of Game's new tracks with @realdjpremier or the other @IMADEITINC track or even the few Dr. Dre produced tracks.

I mean I'm enjoying Watch the Throne and I've got high expectations for Carter IV and Take Care, but 8 months into the year, find me another album that's this stacked front to back...#Crickets

The Game feat Drake - Good Girls Go Bad (prod by Cool & Dre)

|iTunes

"Tip Scales With Her Waistline, Sex With the Bassline"

You'd think the most exciting element of the new track from @thegame below would be the @drdre feature and assumed footnote on the production credits. NOT SO FAST! (#CorsoVoice) Turns out the track is produced by the always on point @IMadeItInc, who has never been given the dap he deserves for the masterpieces of beats he has created.

I'm telling you all this because captain obvious says it's not hard at all to sell a new track with Game, Snoop and Dre. Now I'm not about to say this is anywhere as dope as Higher, but if it makes the final tracklisting of The Red Album, we'd all be better off. The only thing missing on this track is a Nate Doog feature, but all dogs go to heaven, so they had to try and artificially create his sound? Anybody else think they tried to summon the essence of Nate D Oh Double on the hook? Sounded like it to me...

This is a great example of grown up gangster rap, where it's still over the top and in your face lyrically with all the elicit references, but in a real subdued way compared to say...ten or fifteen years ago. Artists evolve and with it, trends and movements evolve too...in other words, these are three of the best and they rarely get together on a track, so don't let it escape your library. 

Red Album due out in three weeks on Aug 24th...

The Game feat Snoop Dogg & Dr Dre - Drug Test (prod by DJ Khalil)

"Red Ralph Laurens, the Double R Sittin’ on a Hill Like Lauren"

This past week has all but quieted any sort of notion I had that Charles Louboutin needs the good Doctor to release a platinum worthy album. The ironic thing is, @drdre is mentioned in the production credits of 6 outta 19 songs *tentatively* on his upcoming album, but that's neither here nor there. Yea, you could say I've fully bought into the hype of his upcoming R.E.D. Album, first with his Jim Jonsin produced track with Yelawolf - Rough (which hasn't yet been confirmed on the final tracklist) and now below is the lead single on the album featuring everyone's favorite feature @liltunechi.

Definitely one of the more dope intros to a song in recent memory by @COOLANDDRE who take the Kernkraft 400 Zombie Nation sample and flip it into a slowed down, rolling, percussion-fest that sets the table for @thegame to go IN on a 4 minute pro-Blood, 2011-style-as-close-as-we're-gonna-get-to-gangsta-rap track. From procliaming he "Made the letter B more famous than a Red Sox fitted", to holding down the Cincinnati Reds, to shouting out Su-Wu on the track, it's pretty clear he's still got a whole lotta pride in what color he reps. But I guess that's why it's called The R.E.D. Album and whatever expectations you have for the final album, you should probably reconsider them after seeing production from @jonathanrotem, @PolowDaDon, @timbaland007, @kanyewest, @imadeitinc, @realdjpremier, @MAESTRO, @eminem to name a few...and that's on top of 6 @drdre tracks with 3 @COOLANDDRE tracks. Did I mention Drake, Gaga and Big Boi are *tentatively* on the album too? JFC, is this the album to end all Hip Hop albums?

Whether it be mid or late 2011, I've got this circle in RED marker as my pick for the Hip Hop album I'm most excited about this year...

Game feat Lil Wayne - Red Nation (prod by Cool N Dre)

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"So Tonight Let All of Your Pain be Champagne"

I'll admit, I was curious as hell when I saw the picture above of @thegame, @yelawolf and @iamjimjonsin kickin' it in the studio about a month ago. Mostly excited at the the prospect of two really talented Hip Hop artists coming together on a Jim Jonsin beat, but honestly hoping the collabo would be lyrically meaningful since the aforementioned artists can drop some really thought provoking stuff when they decide to.

What the track ended up being didn't disappoint, with Jayceon concocting one of the more forceful and creative verses in recent memory. To be fair, I'm a big Game fan because his voice is one of the most powerful in Hip Hop when he chooses to write and deliver verses like the one below. To me, there is no middle ground with his work, it's either quickly passed over or excellent in ever way. This represents the latter, feel free to follow the word-play by-play on the 2nd verse...

"The living, the dead
These Dre beats, my head
My life, featuring Wayne
That was Jayceon, this is Game
Adjacent to the fame aint chasing a damn thing
So tonight let all of your pain be champagne
I cant tame my killers but I can tell them chill
I might give you a pass depending how I feel
The bi polar bear
They said the end of the World is comin I know it’s here
Cuz California cold this year
Detox, R.E.D
MC’s dead
Kill them softly like Lauren Hill
Skin heads goin K-K-Krazy cuz a n-gga in a foreign wheel
We all born to die, some of us born to kill
If that don’t wake you up I hope tomorrow morning will"

While the track is dominated by Game's aggressive delivery and creative wordplay, I was initially hooked by the sample on the beat. It sounded so familiar, like one of those classic piano samples everyone has heard and hums every time it comes on, but I couldn't put my finger on it. Turns out Jim sampled Pearl Jam's timeless track Black (below)...

Cool how it all came together, but even more that Game touched on Drake and Bieber getting shafted at the Grammys (like he did when Missy beat him out years ago). Also found it interesting to hear Yelawolf speak on his newfound fame and how it feels to go from being relatively unknown to everyone wanting your autograph. Sounds like to me, he's one guy you know won't be changed one bit by fame because of what he's come from. Kinda cool and easy to relate to, which is why it's hard not to root for someone like that to succeed. Only a matter of time, maybe an album or a @Eminem collab or two and he'll be a household name. You can take that to the bank, as well as this one being in heavy circulation on any and all playlists I make...

Game feat Yelawolf - Rough (prod by Jim Jonsin)

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A Mixtape Worth the Price of Admission

The cat is definitely out of the bag on @thegame's latest mixtape release Purp & Patron hosted by @djskee & @funkmasterflex. With now three high profile mixtapes released this year The Red Room in April and Brake Lights in August prior to last week's Purp and Patron, we're still waiting on The R.E.D. album, which has been pushed back more than a few time and is still slated for a 2011 release.

My favorite track on the mixtape was his lengthened out version of @MYFABOLOUSLIFE's Ferrari Lifestyle, where The Game builds off the original freestyle with two verses of his own. Trey Songz is supposed to be on the final final version of the track or part 3 in the track's shelf life if you're keeping score at home. Real laid back joint with the verses providing most of the likability legwork with lines from Fab like..

"I go from 0-60, a couple seconds
she go from sober to tipsy and gettin’ naked"

Or The Game...

"Me, Mr. O 11 New Edition,
I Call it Mike Bibby,
GPS get lost tryna follow me to my crib"

While Fab's verses will always have a higher degree of witty pop culture wordplay, it's hard to compete with The Game's thuggish non-chalance when he spits...

The Game feat Fabolous - Ferrari Lifestyle

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Ad this to the growing list of artists sampling @LAROUXOFFICIAL's For the Kill as @COOLANDDRE gangsta up the sample with some weight on the bass to compliment the piano and harsh percussion. It's a good look and listening to it right now is making me reconsider my opinion of best track on the mixtape...

The Game - The Kill (prod by Cool n Dre)

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My favorites probably won't be the same as yours especially when you check Game's tracks with @liltunechi and @realwizkhalifa. Feel free to check out the full 2 disk mixtape below via datpiff...

Download Mixtape | Free Mixtapes Provided by DatPiff.com

"Rihanna post-Chris, Matt Kemp Baby This is Us"

First though that immediately came to mind was daaaammmn I haven't heard The Game drop verses like this on a track in a while. Add in a T.I. verse that manages to one-up the swag dosage to heights we haven't seen since he incarceration and you've got an exciting track. In case you haven't heard, The Game's fourth studio album titled The Red Album is set for an August 10th release and has a tracklist that is becoming every bit as diverse and legendary as Slim Shady's new epic album Recovery.

In case you haven't been following the past 10 months, I am a fan of the intricacies of what go into making a track likable. The beat, the lyrics, the writers...even demo singers on some tracks...I have an appreciation for what goes into the final product and feel like all the respective pieces deserve to be magnified and analyzed in an attempt to give credit where credit is due. I've always maintained my opinion that The Game is a talented rapper and although Dr. Dre had a lot to do with his success, he was less of a product of the Aftermath juggernaut than 50 cent.

You'd have your work cut out for you trying to argue that The Documentary wasn't a classic Hip Hop album. Add in a solid effort on The Doctor's Advocate leading into a somewhat lackluster LAX album and I wasn't sure what to expect on The Red Album. Now I see a DJ Khalil track, Polow Da Don, Jim Jonsin, Timbaland, Cool & Dre and a Drumma Boy track on the unofficial tracklist and it's downright exciting.

As I eluded to earlier, there's always a reason why something musically stands out to me. I'm a rational person, which is why I graduated with an IT degree...there's always a reason why something happened with computers, that's why they work. What makes this track work are the execution of the verses and the overall A+ lyrical delivery. The Game leads off with:

"Remember Camron first year
think it was Horse and Carriage
but I aint talkin’ marriage
I’m talking 14 carrots
I aint talkin' Tiffany
cause I ain't talking industry
I’m talking in the streets
twin Bentleys
I’m tryin’ to be what you mentally before physically
I’m physically before mentally, just remember me"

And there is absolutely no letting up by T.I. with my favorite part of his verse when he plainly states the pros of being open minded to living the lavish life he's willing to provide...

"You see that feeling when you met me well you shouldn’t fight it
They said you and I are more than worth a try so don’t deny it
See I’m king like Leonidas
dress your hands with the brightest stones known to man
when your mans pockets on a diet"

And finally the not-so-subtle Chris Brown barb as he shouts out his LA Dodger friend Matt Kemp in addressing Rihanna's new flame:

"I’m a rude boy so Imma go get it up
Rihanna post-Chris Matt Kemp
Baby this is us"

Aren't many rappers who can pull off the laid back lavish lyrical swag that The Game and T.I. Consider this exhibit 1 of hopefully many more notable tracks off The Red Album...

The Game feat T.I. & Robin Thicke - Pushin' It
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