A few weeks back, I forecasted on this site that The R.E.D. Album was going to be garbage. In the meantime, I've heard a few songs off of the album that strongly indicate otherwise. Is this the album I anticipated, full of R&B hooks about sipping Patron, or the new Documentary?
1. Dr. Dre Intro
Dr. Dre introduces Game and re-traces his gang affiliated bloodlines.
2. The City (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
A dramatic entrance full of singers and choirs and loud percussion bangs like something from "Lion King". Game, in his angriest voice, raps about being the king and everything else while Lamar does the hook and "freestyles" after the beat stops. This goes on forever too.
3. Drug Test (Feat. Dr. Dre & Snoop Dogg)
I never thought I'd see the day when Dre monsters aren't even produced by Dr. Dre. The Game once rapped that he might "put out Detox myself", but DJ Khalil might actually be able to do that.
4. Martians Vs. Goblins (Feat. Lil Wayne & Tyler The Creator)
Besides this being a song titled "Martians Vs. Goblins", this is pretty sick. Tyler The Creator who I had kind of disregarded as just a wacky mofo, drops a memorable guest verse.
5. Red Nation (Feat. Lil Wayne)
Maybe it's because I'm partial to the "Zombie Nation" beat but I love this shit. Game spits some quality bars and even Weezy's chorus is great.
6. Dr. Dre 1
Another one of Dre's frightening interludes
7. Good Girls Go Bad (Feat. Drake)
I was expecting this to be pillowy soft, because of the title, but this is a banger. Cool & Dre continue to bless Game with some quality soulful shit and Drake drops a decent verse on here. It has to be said though that a healthy majority of The Game's bars are gossip queen status.
8. Ricky
I remember Papoose did a mixtape joint where he just rapped over the "Boys In The Hood" beat, which is sort of what I thought Game was gonna do here. Instead, the movie samples transition into a dramatic banger that makes perfect use of the horns from the "Boys In The Hood" song. Game completes the track with sincere and triumphant lyrics in easily his best, hungriest performance on this album.
9. The Good, The Bad, The Ugly
The Game tells alibis in rap form in a way that's totally fucking brilliant. The beat compliments his stories perfectly too.
10. Heavy Artillery (Feat. Rick Ross & Beanie Sigel)
This is even gullier than it sounds. Cool & Dre kill it again plus Ricky and especially Beans' contributions were very welcome.
11. Paramedics (Feat. Young Jeezy)
On the other hand Young Jeezy's contribution, not so much. That said, it's not his fault this beat is just loud and busy and hard to listen to. The rest is just what you'd expect from a Game and Jeezy song, full of raps about hustling and "shitting Benjamins" and what not.
12. Speakers On Blast (Feat. Big Boi & E-40)
Game brings in two rap legends on this one. This is pretty cool, but it don't love this beat. A Big Boi/E-40 feature shouldn't sound like a Jay Rock throwaway.
13. Hello (Feat. Lloyd)
Holy shit, this shit is Charmin ultra soft. It's like Game's version of "Fancy" over some really awful R&B music.
14. All The Way Gone (Feat. Mario & Wale)
Not as bad as that last song, but still...just...terrible.
15. Pot Of Gold (Feat. Chris Brown)
Maybe it's the acoustic guitar or Chris Brown singing like Jason Mraz or some shit, but this has to be the whitest Game song of all time.
16. Dr. Dre 2
Dre's tales of the hood don't sound appropriate right after that string of sweet-ass R&B tracks.
17. All I Know (Feat. Lu Breeze)
Another pop song. Apparently I wasn't totally misguided in my concerns about this album. On a somewhat related note, has anyone seen this new Patron TV spot where the president of the company talks about their corporate social responsibility and shit? If this is, as I suspect, a means of distancing the brand from it's current image of rappers' cocktail of choice at strip clubs, well that's just hilarious.
18. Born In The Trap
As I tweeted when this song leaked, this Premo-produced heater actually does "save the R.E.D. Album". I may be the biggest Premier stan around, but this song is fucking great. Game seems to be inspired by the Premier collab because he drops one of the best flows of his career on this.
19. Mama Knows (Feat. Nelly Furtado)
Speaking of incredible flows, Game goes crazy over what sounds like a beat from that most recent Q-Tip album. Not even Nelly Furtado's incomprehensible chorus could ruin this for me.
20. California Dream
The Game raps about the birth of his daughter and at one point there's even a reenactment of the scene of the birth. I can't imagine why Game would have thought anyone would enjoy listening to this.
21. Dr. Dre Outro
Dr. Dre ends with a moralistic message about how being a good guy and raising a family is what's really "gangsta". I might have to disagree with him on that one.
Comments: This album was hot and cold, but good overall. I'd compare it to Ryan Howard, who normally either hits the shit out of the baseball or swings and misses completely. Like Howard, The Game's hits on this album make up for the shittier moments.
Best Songs: "Born In The Trap", "Heavy Artillery", "Ricky"
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