Hip hop goes back to its old school roots

The 90’s were arguably the greatest era of rap music that spawned many rappers to produce classic two disc albums. The Game has made his comeback using the old school, two disk formats to release his highly anticipated “The Documentary 2,” the follow up to “The Documentary,” which sold 2.5 million copies worldwide, and was certified double platinum.

In 1988 DJ Jazzy Jeff and The Fresh Prince (Will Smith) were the first to release a double hip hop album, “He’s the DJ, I’m the Rapper.” It was 27 songs long and paved the way for classic double albums like 2 Pac’s “All Eyez on Me” (1996), The Notorious B.I.G’s “Life After Death” (1997), Wu Tang’s “Wu Tang Forever” (1997), and E-40’s “Element of Surprise” (1998). That’s some overwhelming company, but The Game holds his own in delivering this double album.

The album is a total of 37 songs long, with disc one being red and consisting of 19 songs, and disc two being blue, and 18 songs in length. Each disk’s color has meaning, red is for the Bloods, and blue is for the Crips, two of the largest and most notorious street gangs in the United States. The Game, who is originally from Compton, has never hid the fact that he used to gang bang and is a Blood, referencing gang life many times throughout his rap career.

The Game took to Instagram to explain the reasoning of the project:

“Two of my favorite artists, 2Pac & Notorious B.I.G. put out dope double albums… I figured 10 years into an iconic career I’d give my fans the opportunity to have one from me…… The reason one is a red bandana and a blue bandana is to bring awareness to the “100 Days 100 Nights” and ongoing Crip and Blood epidemic that has plagued my city recently and in the past…. and really explained to the world how things like this occur and have occurred since 1970 when gang bangin’ was created in Los Angeles and its surrounding cities and hoods.”

Disc one sets the tone right away, with a star filled line up of features. The Game recruits some of hip hop’s legends, the likes of Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg, Q-Tip, Kanye West, Diddy, and Will.i.Am. He also features some of today’s hottest hip-hop artist like Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Dej Loaf, AB Soul, and Future. The first five songs, “On Me” (featuring Kendrick Lamar), “Step Up” (Dej Loaf & Sha Sha), “Don’t Trip” (featuring Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and Will.i.am), “Standing on Ferraris” (featuring Diddy), are incredible.

The Game gives his all on these tracks, and aside from Diddy’s, the features top it all off. Diddy’s was the weakest of the album, as it was more of a monologue and consisted of no rapping at all. Kendrick delivered with tremendous lyrics though, and Dre and Cube did not disappoint. It’s always enjoyable to hear new material from these living legends. These tracks were very nostalgic, sampling many old school beats, and the Game pays homage to many of the great Bay Area artists such as, Tha Jacka, Mac Dre, Nate Dogg, and Eazy- E.

Throughout this album he references the Bay Area and even NBA MVP Stephen Curry and the Warriors. In “Dolla and a Dream” Game expresses how much Eazy E and 2 Pac have influenced him. The track “Circles” (featuring. Q-Tip, Eric Bellinger & Sha Sha) is a back and forth rapped conversation between The Game and a girl, detailing their past a relationship issues. It ends with a nice laid back feature from the one and only Q-Tip.