I don't mind a bit of mainstream gangsta pop rap. And Game does a pretty good job making a gangsta rap track with a poppy sound. Not quite as successfully as 50 Cent (or, painfully, Ja Rule), but Game has delivered a few crossover hits.
A friend gave me his most recent album, LAX, after they reviewed it for the newspaper. I've enjoyed listening to most of the tracks, even if he features more artists than songs. But the criticism that has always been leveled at Game is still in play here. Namely, that he drops waaaaaay too many names.
Let's have a run through of "Money", a track with a surprisingly cheesy and catchy hook.
Names dropped:
Kanye West (rapper)(in the first line)
Kobe Bryant (NBA basketballer)(indirectly)
Frank Lucas (70s drug kingpin, inspiration for American Gangster)
Baby (from Cash Money Records)
Slim (from Cash Money Records)
Pablo Escobar (Colombian drug kingpin)
LeBron James (NBA basketballer)
Shaquille O'Neal (NBA basketballer)
Flava Flav (rapper/reality tv star)(indirectly)
Deelishis (Flavor of Love 2 winner)
50 Cent (Game's old boss)
Snoop (fellow West Coast rapper)
Freddy Kruger (fictional serial killer)
Jason Voorhees (fictional serial killer)
Jacob (diamond salesman)
Dwight Howard (NBA basketballer)
Louis Vuitton (designer)
Alpo (Puerto Rican drug lord)
Martha Stewart (homemaking queen)
Tony Parker (NBA basketballer)
That's just in one song. And he doesn't really slow down at all for the rest of the album.
If you're looking for a great example of what Nick was talking about with the progression of rappers towards singing rather than rapping, track five, My Life feat. Lil Wayne, says it all. Wayne is there to sing the hook - the self-proclaimed 'Greatest Rapper Alive' doesn't provide a verse.
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1 comment:
One thing I forgot to add - the album has an intro and an outro, both featuring Earl Simmons (aka DMX) leading a prayer for Game in his best pastor voice. Worth checking out!
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