The year before the release of The Documentary, the Aftermath/G-Unit/Interscope release that would briefly swing the hip hop pendulum back West towards gangsta rap, Jayceon Taylor, better known as The Game (now known simply as Game after undergoing a name change that now makes him sound ten times more generic, like a store brand of laundry detergent), released the second installment of his mixtape series, You Know What It Is Vol. 2: Throwin' Rocks At The Throne.
At this point, Jayceon had already been a part of Dr. Dre's record label for quite a while, but there was little to no movement on his debut, and the man was in danger of getting his ass dropped from the very label that bigger names such as Rakim, King Tee, and Eve couldn't release albums on if their lives depended on it (because of Andre's predisposition toward perfection, which strangely didn't prevent him from recording a bunch of crap, but that's neither here nor there). While facing the very real possibility of label limbo, Jayceon kept busy, recording a ridiculous number of songs, many of which ended up either on mixtapes or leaking on the Interweb, while JT The Bigga Figga, the CEO of Get Low Records, released a couple of volumes of older Game material, in an effort to capitalize on the name before a major label could.
You Know What It Is Vol. 2: Throwin' Rocks At The Throne found Jayceon at a time when Curtis Jackson (reluctantly) took him under the wing of G-Unit, and as the loyal soldier he was at the time, The Game immediately adopted all of Jackson's beefs and started dropping the names of his new coworkers as if he was returning DVDs at Blockbuster. This mixtape, presented by both DJ Ray and Boost Mobile (no, seriously), features The Game hijacking beats from better-known artists, aligning himself with more marketable artists such as Snoop Dogg and Lil' Flip (no, seriously), and taking multiple pot shots at Joe Budden. (Hell yeah this sounds dated!) His fellow G-Unit teammates also periodically pop up to chat, to sing hooks, and to generally annoy the shit out of me, all in the name of sparking a buzz to move units of The Documentary for Jimmy Iovine.
What say you, Game fans?
1. INTRO
Every time a mixtape begins with an intro, an angel gets its wings.
2. THE BREAKDOWN (200 BARS & RUNNIN')
The Game tears through over nine minutes of new material over the beat to Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg's “Deep Cover”, an instrumental that you won't necessarily want to listen to for nine minutes straight. Some of the bars were fairly clever, but unlike his later lengthy rants against the entire G-Unit, he only attacks Joe Budden over a few sentences, and saves the rest of the track to talk about jack shit. Could have been better, but this is the kind of track that modern day mixtapes were invented for.
3. FLY LIKE AN EAGLE (FEAT SNOOP DOGG & WC)
Being aligned with West Coast legends this early in The Game's career may say a lot for the man, but hearing both Snoop and WC out-rap the upstart over this boring-as-shit beat just shows that Jayceon still has a ways to go before he'll be at that level.
4. GUNNED DOWN (FEAT JIM JONES & CROOKED I)
Game refers to himself as B.A. Baracus on this dull song, which is weird, as he was rumored to play that role in the big-screen remake of The A-Team for a short time. Only Slaughterhouse's Crooked I impressed me with his verse, but considering the rest of the guest list, that shouldn't be a surprise.
5. WARNING (FEAT 50 CENT)
As much as I hate to admit it, Curtis Jackson used to be able to write a catchy hook: his most popular songs lived and died by their choruses. The one that appears on here is decidedly less mainstream, and, maybe not coincidentally, it also sucks donkey cock. How is it possible that Curtis sounds better than Jayceon on a song? Here's how: Curtis chose a theme for the song and fucking stuck with it.
6. MORE BOUNCE (OLD SCHOOL)
A weird interlude that was more jarring than transitional. Was this truly necessary?
7. FALL BACK (VITA FREESTYLE) (FEAT VITA)
Vita (formerly of the Murder Inc. crew, led by Curtis Jackson's enemies Ja Rule and Irv Gotti) jacks Terror Squad's “Lean Back” and manages to make the above-average Scott Storch beat sound fucking terrible with her half-assed violent-for-no-reason rhymes. Groan.
8. BUDDENS (REMIX)
Jayceon dissects Joe Budden over Ice-T's “Colors”, and manages one line that I thought was fucking hilarious: “You only sold ten records, n---a, now move on!”. It seems that the beef was more of something fabricated with the aid of a mixtape deejay than it was Joey opening his notoriously big mouth, so it makes sense that these two kissed and made up rather quickly. However, it is funny when Game threatens Joe with a “celebrity beatdown” that he says he'll also record on camera. On an unrelated note, The Game has also worked alongside Raekwon the Chef. Hmm...
9. GOTTA GET IT (FEAT DR. DRE & JAY-Z)
I have no idea what the origin of this track is, but I'm fairly certain it's just a mash-up, or at least Hova's lyrics are, as they sound like they're from the Reasonable Doubt era. (Which they may very well be, but I can't be bothered to place them right now.) If one pretends that Dre, Game, and Shawn were all in the same room when this was recorded, than this song is much more enjoyable. That said, this still wasn't bad.
10. LOUSAFER (FREESTYLE)
Jayceon jacks Hova's Kanye West-produced “Lucifer” and bores listeners to death. He even trashes Joe Budden at one point, two tracks after he swore that he wouldn't ever say the man's name on wax anymore. Well, that promise certainly didn't take long to break.
11. GAME OVER (REMIX) (FEAT LIL' FLIP & SNOOP DOGG)
Houston rapper Lil' Flip dressed up as a leprechaun for one of his album covers. And that's why I will never take this motherfucker seriously: I remember first seeing The Leprechaun in a Sam Goody and laughing so hard that I fell to the ground and knocked over a display of value-priced CDs. I never cared for his use of the Pac Man music, either, so I didn't like the original song this remix is based around. Game's namedropping isn't more palatable when it's chopped and screwed, and Snoop's verse is much more profane, almost comically so, than what you expect of the man now.
12. THROWIN' ROCKS AT THE THRONE
The Game swipes Kanye West's “Two Words” for a track which is lyrically incoherent, in that Jayceon is all over the map with his topical selections, picking up new ones and littering others on the ground at will. The Al Green interlude at the end was also entirely unnecessary.
13. LET THE GUNS GO (FEAT JUELZ SANTANA & BILLBOARD)
Unless my eyes caught a shiny object and I wasn't paying attention, The Game doesn't appear on this track, so it's already kind of useless, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the first verse is gimmicky and corny. The constant gunfire also won't help you recover from your migraine.
14. DEAD BODIES (FEAT PRODIGY)
The Alchemist provided a boring Dr. Dre-esque beat for The Game and Cellblock P to spit over, and to be honest, the instrumental is so bad that Prodigy can do nothing but sound good. Game is blah, though. They sure do seem friendly on here, don't they? (Prodigy's rhyme partner Havoc also supplied a beat for The Documentary.) That would quickly change, when P turned on The Game after Mobb Deep sold their souls to G-Unit. ("Dead Bodies" also appears on Al Maman's 1st Infantry.)
15. YOUNG CALIFORNIA (LIFE FREESTYLE)
Hearing the beat from Tha Dogg Pound's “New York, New York” makes me want to forget about this shit and listen to Dogg Food again. Actually, that's a pretty good idea.
16. CONFESSIONS
I can't place the beat, which sounds like DJ Premier, at the moment, which means that it'll come to me at the most inappropriate time. Jayceon seems to have a problem with Carmelo Anthony, too. His beefs, apparently, aren't limited in scope to just rappers: he just hates everybody that looks at him funny. I look forward to the day that The Game grows the fuck up and stops beefing with folks just because his feelings are hurt.
17. UNBELIEVABLE
Jayceon steals the beat to Biggie's “Unbelievable”, and, hilariously, ambivalently dismisses Puff Daddy's rhyme skills. I mean, his opinion is dead-on, but you would think that he wouldn't have been so quick to burn a bridge leading to a fucking media mogul. He also trashes former G-Unit member Bang 'Em Smurf, who is of no consequence. And that's a horrible rap name anyway.
18. TWISTED (VITA FREESTYLE) (FEAT VITA)
Vida takes Mobb Deep's “Got It Twisted” and annoys listeners with a single verse. She says at the end that she is posted up in Jersey “waiting to eat”. Well, prepare to continue waiting: I don't think Murder Inc. is producing any sort of royalty checks,
19. CERTIFIED GANGSTAZ (FEAT JIM JONES & LIL' FLIP)
If I'm not mistaken this Jim Jones song was responsible for the first video appearance of The Game. Which means that both Dr. Dre and Curtis Jackson screwed the pooch. Although I didn't really care for this one anyway, so maybe they both dodged a bullet (or nine).
20. COMPUTER LOVE (OLD SCHOOL)
Interlude...
21. I'M SO SORRY (FEAT G-UNIT)
Typical of G-Unit crew boast-fests, except that the beat is boring as shit. I'm not a fan of Curtis Jackson, which should be obvious to anybody who has read this blog for more than two minutes, but I can appreciate braggadocio if it's entertaining, and this song simply isn't.
22. WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN (FEAT LLOYD BANKS)
This track also appeared on The Hunger For More, the debut solo album from Lloyd Banks. The beat (credited to Black Jeruz and Sha Money XL) isn't bad, but Banks sounds uncomfortable. Game, of course, refuses to adhere to any sort of theme and decides to talk about himself, dropping names with reckless abandon: that trait will be the ultimate reason why The Game will never appear in the gangsta rap hall of fame. Luckily for him, though, every passing moment is an opportunity to turn it all around.
23. DOWN HERE (FEAT JUELZ SANTANA)
Meh.
24. WHAT DEM WANT (FEAT RAH DIGGA)
Hearing Rah Digga on this song reminds me of the fact that she was a pretty decent rapper. I wonder if she signed on to record an album track for what would become The Documentary, and was pissed that it ended up on a mixtape instead.
25. I LOVE THE HOOD (FEAT YOUNG BUCK)
The Game should never try to speed-rap again. Young Buck didn't do it on here, and he's better suited for it, so who knows why Jayceon was so compelled.
26. LIFE'S A BITCH
If I'm not mistaken, The Game is actively imitating AZ's flow on “Life's A Bitch” from Nas. Which is kind of funny, if it's true. This is still a poor way to end the mixtape, though.
SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? Only if you're a diehard fan of The Game. You Know What It Is Vol. 2: Throwin' Rocks At The Throne finds Jayceon enjoying the trappings of aligning with Dr. Dre and the G-Unit, but his lyrics, without fail, never deviate from the man talking about his own damn self, which makes for a frustrating listen over the course of twenty-six tracks. This mixtape also doesn't have the humor that is paramount on his later releases: when he (repeatedly) disses Joe Budden, you find yourself not really caring, for the most part. Some of the beats he chose were inspired, but this mixtape is ultimately a bust: everything that The Game had to say on here could have been compressed onto a single song. Oh well.
-Max
RELATED POSTS:
You can find more on The Game by clicking here.
At this point, Jayceon had already been a part of Dr. Dre's record label for quite a while, but there was little to no movement on his debut, and the man was in danger of getting his ass dropped from the very label that bigger names such as Rakim, King Tee, and Eve couldn't release albums on if their lives depended on it (because of Andre's predisposition toward perfection, which strangely didn't prevent him from recording a bunch of crap, but that's neither here nor there). While facing the very real possibility of label limbo, Jayceon kept busy, recording a ridiculous number of songs, many of which ended up either on mixtapes or leaking on the Interweb, while JT The Bigga Figga, the CEO of Get Low Records, released a couple of volumes of older Game material, in an effort to capitalize on the name before a major label could.
You Know What It Is Vol. 2: Throwin' Rocks At The Throne found Jayceon at a time when Curtis Jackson (reluctantly) took him under the wing of G-Unit, and as the loyal soldier he was at the time, The Game immediately adopted all of Jackson's beefs and started dropping the names of his new coworkers as if he was returning DVDs at Blockbuster. This mixtape, presented by both DJ Ray and Boost Mobile (no, seriously), features The Game hijacking beats from better-known artists, aligning himself with more marketable artists such as Snoop Dogg and Lil' Flip (no, seriously), and taking multiple pot shots at Joe Budden. (Hell yeah this sounds dated!) His fellow G-Unit teammates also periodically pop up to chat, to sing hooks, and to generally annoy the shit out of me, all in the name of sparking a buzz to move units of The Documentary for Jimmy Iovine.
What say you, Game fans?
1. INTRO
Every time a mixtape begins with an intro, an angel gets its wings.
2. THE BREAKDOWN (200 BARS & RUNNIN')
The Game tears through over nine minutes of new material over the beat to Dr. Dre and Snoop Doggy Dogg's “Deep Cover”, an instrumental that you won't necessarily want to listen to for nine minutes straight. Some of the bars were fairly clever, but unlike his later lengthy rants against the entire G-Unit, he only attacks Joe Budden over a few sentences, and saves the rest of the track to talk about jack shit. Could have been better, but this is the kind of track that modern day mixtapes were invented for.
3. FLY LIKE AN EAGLE (FEAT SNOOP DOGG & WC)
Being aligned with West Coast legends this early in The Game's career may say a lot for the man, but hearing both Snoop and WC out-rap the upstart over this boring-as-shit beat just shows that Jayceon still has a ways to go before he'll be at that level.
4. GUNNED DOWN (FEAT JIM JONES & CROOKED I)
Game refers to himself as B.A. Baracus on this dull song, which is weird, as he was rumored to play that role in the big-screen remake of The A-Team for a short time. Only Slaughterhouse's Crooked I impressed me with his verse, but considering the rest of the guest list, that shouldn't be a surprise.
5. WARNING (FEAT 50 CENT)
As much as I hate to admit it, Curtis Jackson used to be able to write a catchy hook: his most popular songs lived and died by their choruses. The one that appears on here is decidedly less mainstream, and, maybe not coincidentally, it also sucks donkey cock. How is it possible that Curtis sounds better than Jayceon on a song? Here's how: Curtis chose a theme for the song and fucking stuck with it.
6. MORE BOUNCE (OLD SCHOOL)
A weird interlude that was more jarring than transitional. Was this truly necessary?
7. FALL BACK (VITA FREESTYLE) (FEAT VITA)
Vita (formerly of the Murder Inc. crew, led by Curtis Jackson's enemies Ja Rule and Irv Gotti) jacks Terror Squad's “Lean Back” and manages to make the above-average Scott Storch beat sound fucking terrible with her half-assed violent-for-no-reason rhymes. Groan.
8. BUDDENS (REMIX)
Jayceon dissects Joe Budden over Ice-T's “Colors”, and manages one line that I thought was fucking hilarious: “You only sold ten records, n---a, now move on!”. It seems that the beef was more of something fabricated with the aid of a mixtape deejay than it was Joey opening his notoriously big mouth, so it makes sense that these two kissed and made up rather quickly. However, it is funny when Game threatens Joe with a “celebrity beatdown” that he says he'll also record on camera. On an unrelated note, The Game has also worked alongside Raekwon the Chef. Hmm...
9. GOTTA GET IT (FEAT DR. DRE & JAY-Z)
I have no idea what the origin of this track is, but I'm fairly certain it's just a mash-up, or at least Hova's lyrics are, as they sound like they're from the Reasonable Doubt era. (Which they may very well be, but I can't be bothered to place them right now.) If one pretends that Dre, Game, and Shawn were all in the same room when this was recorded, than this song is much more enjoyable. That said, this still wasn't bad.
10. LOUSAFER (FREESTYLE)
Jayceon jacks Hova's Kanye West-produced “Lucifer” and bores listeners to death. He even trashes Joe Budden at one point, two tracks after he swore that he wouldn't ever say the man's name on wax anymore. Well, that promise certainly didn't take long to break.
11. GAME OVER (REMIX) (FEAT LIL' FLIP & SNOOP DOGG)
Houston rapper Lil' Flip dressed up as a leprechaun for one of his album covers. And that's why I will never take this motherfucker seriously: I remember first seeing The Leprechaun in a Sam Goody and laughing so hard that I fell to the ground and knocked over a display of value-priced CDs. I never cared for his use of the Pac Man music, either, so I didn't like the original song this remix is based around. Game's namedropping isn't more palatable when it's chopped and screwed, and Snoop's verse is much more profane, almost comically so, than what you expect of the man now.
12. THROWIN' ROCKS AT THE THRONE
The Game swipes Kanye West's “Two Words” for a track which is lyrically incoherent, in that Jayceon is all over the map with his topical selections, picking up new ones and littering others on the ground at will. The Al Green interlude at the end was also entirely unnecessary.
13. LET THE GUNS GO (FEAT JUELZ SANTANA & BILLBOARD)
Unless my eyes caught a shiny object and I wasn't paying attention, The Game doesn't appear on this track, so it's already kind of useless, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention that the first verse is gimmicky and corny. The constant gunfire also won't help you recover from your migraine.
14. DEAD BODIES (FEAT PRODIGY)
The Alchemist provided a boring Dr. Dre-esque beat for The Game and Cellblock P to spit over, and to be honest, the instrumental is so bad that Prodigy can do nothing but sound good. Game is blah, though. They sure do seem friendly on here, don't they? (Prodigy's rhyme partner Havoc also supplied a beat for The Documentary.) That would quickly change, when P turned on The Game after Mobb Deep sold their souls to G-Unit. ("Dead Bodies" also appears on Al Maman's 1st Infantry.)
15. YOUNG CALIFORNIA (LIFE FREESTYLE)
Hearing the beat from Tha Dogg Pound's “New York, New York” makes me want to forget about this shit and listen to Dogg Food again. Actually, that's a pretty good idea.
16. CONFESSIONS
I can't place the beat, which sounds like DJ Premier, at the moment, which means that it'll come to me at the most inappropriate time. Jayceon seems to have a problem with Carmelo Anthony, too. His beefs, apparently, aren't limited in scope to just rappers: he just hates everybody that looks at him funny. I look forward to the day that The Game grows the fuck up and stops beefing with folks just because his feelings are hurt.
17. UNBELIEVABLE
Jayceon steals the beat to Biggie's “Unbelievable”, and, hilariously, ambivalently dismisses Puff Daddy's rhyme skills. I mean, his opinion is dead-on, but you would think that he wouldn't have been so quick to burn a bridge leading to a fucking media mogul. He also trashes former G-Unit member Bang 'Em Smurf, who is of no consequence. And that's a horrible rap name anyway.
18. TWISTED (VITA FREESTYLE) (FEAT VITA)
Vida takes Mobb Deep's “Got It Twisted” and annoys listeners with a single verse. She says at the end that she is posted up in Jersey “waiting to eat”. Well, prepare to continue waiting: I don't think Murder Inc. is producing any sort of royalty checks,
19. CERTIFIED GANGSTAZ (FEAT JIM JONES & LIL' FLIP)
If I'm not mistaken this Jim Jones song was responsible for the first video appearance of The Game. Which means that both Dr. Dre and Curtis Jackson screwed the pooch. Although I didn't really care for this one anyway, so maybe they both dodged a bullet (or nine).
20. COMPUTER LOVE (OLD SCHOOL)
Interlude...
21. I'M SO SORRY (FEAT G-UNIT)
Typical of G-Unit crew boast-fests, except that the beat is boring as shit. I'm not a fan of Curtis Jackson, which should be obvious to anybody who has read this blog for more than two minutes, but I can appreciate braggadocio if it's entertaining, and this song simply isn't.
22. WHEN THE CHIPS ARE DOWN (FEAT LLOYD BANKS)
This track also appeared on The Hunger For More, the debut solo album from Lloyd Banks. The beat (credited to Black Jeruz and Sha Money XL) isn't bad, but Banks sounds uncomfortable. Game, of course, refuses to adhere to any sort of theme and decides to talk about himself, dropping names with reckless abandon: that trait will be the ultimate reason why The Game will never appear in the gangsta rap hall of fame. Luckily for him, though, every passing moment is an opportunity to turn it all around.
23. DOWN HERE (FEAT JUELZ SANTANA)
Meh.
24. WHAT DEM WANT (FEAT RAH DIGGA)
Hearing Rah Digga on this song reminds me of the fact that she was a pretty decent rapper. I wonder if she signed on to record an album track for what would become The Documentary, and was pissed that it ended up on a mixtape instead.
25. I LOVE THE HOOD (FEAT YOUNG BUCK)
The Game should never try to speed-rap again. Young Buck didn't do it on here, and he's better suited for it, so who knows why Jayceon was so compelled.
26. LIFE'S A BITCH
If I'm not mistaken, The Game is actively imitating AZ's flow on “Life's A Bitch” from Nas. Which is kind of funny, if it's true. This is still a poor way to end the mixtape, though.
SHOULD YOU TRACK IT DOWN? Only if you're a diehard fan of The Game. You Know What It Is Vol. 2: Throwin' Rocks At The Throne finds Jayceon enjoying the trappings of aligning with Dr. Dre and the G-Unit, but his lyrics, without fail, never deviate from the man talking about his own damn self, which makes for a frustrating listen over the course of twenty-six tracks. This mixtape also doesn't have the humor that is paramount on his later releases: when he (repeatedly) disses Joe Budden, you find yourself not really caring, for the most part. Some of the beats he chose were inspired, but this mixtape is ultimately a bust: everything that The Game had to say on here could have been compressed onto a single song. Oh well.
-Max
RELATED POSTS:
You can find more on The Game by clicking here.
LMAO the Game, errr "Game"
ReplyDeletePersonally... I am a huge Game fan and this mixtape has some good songs but its not as good as YKWII 4.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Dre & Carter did the song and Game added himself at the end.
I sent you my review a couple of days ago Max. You gon' publish it or what?
ReplyDeleteHow come you haven't reviewed any Ice-T yet Max?
ReplyDelete