The Game is the thinking man’s thug, a reflective, ponderous character who considers all sides of an issue so carefully that he often makes a bold, bridge-burning move only to renege less than a month later and wholly embrace another point of view. Does that make him “fake”? Only if being contemplative enough to continually grow makes one so.
It is thusly that the Game’s first two albums, The Documentary and Doctor’s Advocate, were thoroughly absorbing affairs that made up for solid-if-not-stunning tracks with consistently thoughtful lyrics that often painted vivid and emotional mental pictures. So excuse me if, even after the disappointment of 2008’s LAX, the R.E.D Mixtape gets me just a little excited for this year’s forthcoming The R.E.D. Album.
The rap mixtape is typically regarded as practice for the event that is the full-length album, and the R.E.D. contains enough quality that it should set more than a few tongues wagging for the studio album’s spring release. The one-two punch of openers “Cigar Music 2” and “Bang Along” are pure, gangster-rap gold: the former features the MC spitting a nostalgic verse over a syncopated piano riff, while the latter is an anthemic street tale complete with the tinkle of a toy piano and a sampled soul refrain.
“Better on the Other Side,” Game’s tribute to Michael Jackson, is as touching as syrupy R&B sung by the likes of Chris Brown, Usher, Mario Winans and Boyz 2 Men can be, but there’s something to be said about Game’s verse on the song. His lyrical tribute to MJ, in which he recalls imitating the Jackson 5 with his brothers, speaks volumes about the powerful and inspirational influence that Michael Jackson had on an emerging generation of young African-Americans that the white media and public couldn’t possibly understand.
Unfortunately, the R.E.D. Mixtape suffers from a sagging, derisive latter half, but that’s understandable: mixtapes like these serve as a dumping ground for tracks that the artist feels just aren’t good enough to keep around as future singles or album tracks. Yet even through the cheesy, guest-hampered second half, Game holds his own lyrically, relieving any fear that his eccentric narratives might be losing their effectiveness.
So, as far as serving the purpose of getting listeners excited about a forthcoming full-length studio album, the R.E.D. Mixtape is successful. But a proper album, it ain’t.
