So, Game's always been decent...not great, not bad. Then again, I've listened to assorted singles, and The Red Album, so I'm probably a bit quick in making a judgment on him as a rapper. I should have a better grasp on him after this review of his latest release, Jesus Piece.
1. Scared Now (Feat. Meek Mill)
The beats like a less electronic "So Sophisticated", which coincidentally also has Meek Mill on it. And Game's aight on here I guess, but Meek really destroys this shit. Decent starting track.
2. Ali Bomaye (Feat. 2 Chainz & Rick Ross)
This beat is fucking EPIC. And 2 Necklaces doesn't wreck it either. And Rick Ross does his thing. So this track was fucking awesome. Also, a nice little bonus skit at the end about Game "putting 50 stacks" on a jesus piece, which was hilarious.
3. Jesus Piece (Feat. Kanye West & Common)
Deffinitely would've liked to see Kanye have a bigger role than half the hook on this one, and it's kinda annoying how Game mimics him. Common flows like water over the beat though.
4. Pray (Feat. J Cole & JMSN)
I actually really liked this track, it's the kinda thing I'd actually like to see Drake get on. Nice mellow beat, and J Cole spits a soft, but decent sounding verse. JMSN plays things out at the end nicely.
5. Church (Feat. King Chip & Trey Songz)
Lyrically this one brings NOTHING to the table, but the beat's pretty good, and it's got a catchy hook. Would've liked it much better without Trey Songz.
6. All That Lady (Feat. Lil Wayne, Big Sean, Fabolous & Jeremih)
As soon as I saw the guest list for this one, I threw my expectations for it out the window. The beat kinda sucks, Jeremih's gay, Lil Wayne sucks, Big Sean would be good with some lyrics.
7. Heavens Arms
It sounds like a shittier, less produced Theraflu/Cold, with Game. That's that shit I don't like.
8. Name Me King (Feat. Pusha T)
Pusha sounds like a better Kanye on here, and it's another really sweet beat. Game does his part too on here, but I'm getting the feeling this is just an album full of guest features and good beats with a sprinkle of Game on every track.
9. See No Evil (Feat. Kendrick Lamar & Tank)
OMGOMG KENDRICK IS ON DIS TRAK OMG FAVRIT RAPPER EVER HES SO SMART AND LYRICAL GUISE!!!!1!!! (said every blogger ever) I mean to be fair, he's much better than average, and I don't mind him. But he's not the rap messiah like a lot of people say, just a good rapper, who's coincidentally from Compton. Good track though, Game sounds good, Tank contributes, and Kendrick does his thing.
10. Can't Get It Right (Feat. K Roosevelt)
The beat on this is fucking dope, and Game kills it, easily his best performance so far on the album. It's too bad Roosevelt's shit. He doesn't COMPLETELY ruin it though.
11. Hallelujah (Feat. Jamie Foxx)
Game has his best flow so far on here, but he's not better than he was on Can't Get It Right. The beat's okay, I like how choir is used alot on this project. Jamie Foxx is Jamie Foxx on here.
12. Freedom (Feat. Elijah Blake)
This beat is fucking sweet, and the shout out to Kendrick at the beginning's pretty good too. I'm not usually a fan of vocal samples with altered pitch, but it works well on this one. Elijah Blake fills in as the singer for this one. And the skit at the end is actually pretty cool.
13. Celebration (Feat. Tyga, Wiz Khalifa, Lil Wayne & Chris Brown)
Holy shit I was dreading this one. The hook couldn't be more gay, I hate every guest on here with a passion, and none of them impress. I would listen to the Dedication 4 5 times before listening to this piece of shit again.
14. I Remember (Feat. Young Jeezy & Future)
Young Jeezy sounds like he's retarded and shouldn't ever be on a track again. Game says he'd eat out other rapper's girls. Ugh. Not a good follow up to Celefuckyou.
15. Blood Diamonds
This is what I wanted to hear on most tracks. Dopest beat on the album, Game destroys it, good background vocals. Easily the best track on here, good finish. And boy did he need it after the last two.
Best Tracks: Blood Diamonds, Freedom, Scared Now, Ali Bomaye, Jesus Piece
Rating: 6.5/10
Wouldv'e been a ton better without tracks 13 & 14, holy shit they were terrible. Besides that, a slightly above average album, but he could've done better with guest appearances. I definitely prefer The Red Album over this one.
Now, I understand Danny's had a huge 2012, but I'm just not a fan. His lyrics can be straight up stupid a lot of the time, and his flow is almost unbearable. But still, XXX was a top album. The one track I did end up liking of XXX was "Outer Space" which was half decent, but not enough to push me to wanna listen to this. But Black Milk, one of my favorite producers of all time was.
1. Sound Check
Just an instrumental intro, not even music, just noises.
2. Wake Up
Damn, the sample at the beginning goes hard. And Danny sounds toned down and listenable on here, which is a huge difference from songs like "Monopoly". The production, and even Danny, are great on here, I hope the rest of this is the same.
3. Loosie
This track had me hooked from the first line, "Hotter than a barbeque at Satan's place". The beat's even harder than Wake Up, and Danny's flow is fire. Very impressed with this one.
4. Zap
I thought this track was a huge step back at the beginning, with the overly mellow production, but when the drums picked up it was decent. Not as good as Loosie or Wake Up but good. The accapella at the end is a nice touch.
5. Jordan VIII
This is kinda what I expected from this album, with Danny's "crackhead" flow, and beats that remind me of Outer Space. Not amazing, but the beat carries it well.
6. Dada
Danny sounds really good on this,although the beat isn't one of Black Milk's best. Danny really sounds like he's grinding every word out, which is good.
7. WTF
Just an instrumental, again not really something you could rap over or anything.
8. LOL
This track's actually really catchy, and the beat goes fucking hard, with solid samples. This is the first track that's even come close to Loosie, and might be better.
9. Dark Sunshine
Another instrumental, the best out of the three on here. I would've liked to see that end part develop into an actual beat though, that'd be cool.
10. Black And Brown
the beat on this one is differently produced than anything else on here, less of a hipster-rap feel. Black Milk spits a few bars on this one, and him and Danny really finish things off well for the EP. Probably the best track on here, sounds like a triumphant end to an impressive project.
Best Tracks: Loosie, LOL, Black And Brown
Rating: 8.5/10
I would have rated this one higher, but it wasn't legendary or anything, it was just VERY impressive. I never expect Danny Brown to come out with something like this, and he owes mad thanks to Black Milk for working with him.
So this shit was supposed to come out in late January, but I'm not complaining. The mixtape (Live.Love.A$ap) was aight, but I've got higher expectations for this. A$AP Mobb had a great year, and personally I think this is a great way to cap things off, and set Rocky up for 2013. But can he deliver?
1. Long Live A$AP
This track was fucking awesome, Rocky nails it in the verses, and even the hook was good, contrasting well with the rap. Plus the beat bangs, reminds me of Trilla a bit.
2. Goldie
The simplicity of this track combined with Rocky's flow is just awesome. I'm pretty sure it was the first single off the project, and its pretty great. If you read the Best Of 2012 post, it was a runner up for song of the year, so this shit's good.
3. PMW (Pussy Money Weed)
I like the beat on here, Rocky's acing it with the simplicity. He has some good lyrics on here too, and the flow's spot on. The only problem I have with this track is how stereotypical this song os for rappers like Rocky. I'd like to see him go above and beyond a bit.
4. LVL
Another nice simple beat ("Clams Casino nigga"), and Rocky kills it, but somehow this track isn't great. I can't put my finger on the reason.
5. Hell (Feat. Santigold)
I don't like Santigold on here, and the beat sounds exactly like LVL, except worse. Plus Rocky's flow is worse. So this track was worse. I think maybe Rocky was banking on Santigold delivering a good hook, which didn't happen.
6. Pain (Feat. Overdoz)
The beat sounds like something Odd Future would spit on, so I like that aspect, but the rapping is kinda sub-par. Like it's good, better than most shit, but not up to Rocky's potential.
7. Fuckin' Problem (Feat. 2 Chainz, Drake & Kendrick Lamar)
2 Chainz was the last person I expected to make a cameo on this shit, but he did. I guess Rocky decided that's how he's gonna get shit played in the club. But his hook was so fucking bad, especially since it was assisted by Drake, who I don't like on hooks. Drake was aight in his verse though I guess. And Kendrick wasn't as good as he could have been, but he still has the best verse. To be honest though, this was my shit when it got dropped, so I like it a lot less now.
8. Wild For The Night
WHAT THE FUCK IS SKRILLEX DOING ON HERE. Like where's Foreign Beggars at? Rocky fuckin kills the track, and it isn't bad, but I feel like Rocky just got Skrillex on here for name value. And there's not even a dubstep solo. So I'm kinda dissapointed with Skrillex's contribution, but Rocky destroys it, so this track's aight.
9. 1 Train (Feat. Kendrick Lamar, Joey Bada$$, Yelawolf, Danny Brown, Action Bronson & Big K.R.I.T)
Ill go through this one rapper by rapper.
Rocky: Decent, but he's had MUCH better verses on this shit.
Kendrick: Major improvement over his verse on Fuckin' Problem. This is the Kendrick people wanna see.
Joey: I've never made an extra effort to listen to Joey's shit, despite all the hype. And he doesn't do anything to make me want to on here, he just sounds like he has Downs Syndrome.
Yelawolf: Yelawolf was decent before he dropped Radioactive, and he drops the best verse so far on here. Makes me wonder what to expect from his next project.
Danny: Danny's usually shit, but he brings his A-game to this one, so that's good. It's still bad though.
Bronson: The highlight of this boring ass verse is Danny saying "Uhhh" in the background.
Big K.R.I.T: He fuckin kills it, even though he sounded just like E-40 on this. 2nd best verse, pushing Kendrick to third.
10. Fashion Killa
Just by the beat I can tell this shit's gonna be gay as fuck. My ears didn't like this one very much. Fuckin Rocky, makin songs for the bitches.
11. Phoenix
This shit was DOPE. In a nice subtle way. The beat sounded awesome, and had a good retro feel. And Rocky dropped some punchlines that were just sick.
12. Suddenly
This track has a perfect name, because it kinda sucks nuts till a little past the halfway mark, and Rocky pretty much goes accapella for that part, but then after that he goes ham, and sounds the best he has so far all album. And the beat's dope. But it only lasts for like 30 seconds before the beat plays him out. I don't know how I feel about this one.
13. Jodye
I like the trash-talking from Rocky on this one, and the beat's pretty dope too. Also like the subtle shout out to Kendrick Lamar, nice touch.
14. Ghetto Symphony (Feat. Gunplay & A$AP Ferg)
I can see why a lot of people are talking about this one, it's easily the dopest beat on here, maybe dopest beat of the year. It's too bad Rocky was only meh on here though, because everyone else killed it, so this could've been a REALLY good track.
15. Angels
Rocky closes things out with an aight track, just not powerful enough for me. The beat sounds a little soft, but Rock does still kill it. I would have made Ghetto Symphony the final track though.
Rating: 8/10
Best Tracks: Long Live A$AP, Goldie, 1 Train, Phoenix, Ghetto Symphony
So I definitely think this tops Live.Love.A$AP, as Rocky had better beats, and a much improved flow on here. There were a few really shit tracks, but also some of the best tracks I've heard in a while. Rocky has some good potential, it's not hard to see why there's so much buzz with him.
So, Game's always been decent...not great, not bad. Then again, I've listened to assorted singles, and The Red Album, so I'm probably a bit quick in making a judgment on him as a rapper. I should have a better grasp on him after this review of his latest release, Jesus Piece.
