If I Executive Produced The R.E.D. Album...

By now everybody who was going to check for it has already had a chance to listen to rapper Game's disappointing fourth studio album, The R.E.D. Album.

During the ridiculously long buildup to the album's release -- including a delay of nearly two years and countless songs that he declared would be its lead single -- Game apparently lived in the studio, churning out mixtape after mixtape filled with quality material, leading listeners to believe more of the same would be included on the actual studio album.

However, in this case, the levels of letdown that I am still experiencing with each consequent listen -- it is barely tolerable -- is something I haven't experienced in some time.

With this new album, he completely dropped the ball and released what almost amounts to a throwaway mixtape filled with fake gangsta fluff facilitated by too many attempts at pop singles aimed directly at the radio and video outlets, ignoring his core fanbase who helped him attain his quickly-fading superstar status.

There are too many negatives with this album -- including a misguided stretch of three songs that each feature an R&B singer -- for me to list them all.

Instead, I decided to take a different approach, sifting through his enormous catalog of material released over the past 18 months and culling together a more comprehensive presentation of his songs to form what I believe should have been the retail version of the R.E.D. Album.

In other words, I'm doing what the executive producers for this album (namely Dr. Dre and Pharrell) should have done, ultimately coming up with what I call The R.E.Done album.

Bilingual Rap Quietly Makes Its Return

It's been a long while since Hiphop has been treated to a quality song that featured an artist rhyming in something other than their native language.

Two songs immediately come to mind when weighing the contenders for best bilingual rap songs of all time performed by non-bilingual rappers.

The summer of 1991 was responsible for tons of hits that are now classics, but the Hiphop nation stood at attention when Nice & Smooth flipped their already hot single Hip-Hop Junkies for its Spanish Fly remix, paying tribute to their Spanish-speaking fans as well as their Bronx brethren:



Nine long years later to a much less publicized degree, Mos Def and De La Soul were featured on the bilingual jewel What's That (?Que Eso?) from Tony Touch's The Piece Maker album.

De La was great, and of course Tony Toca excelled, but Mos Def stole the show by closing his impressive and memorable verse with the following line (ironically delivered in English): "Understand that when I shine all your light is through, y'all n*ggas wack in one language, son, I'm nice in two."

But now these two songs get some quality [and surprising] company from Compton rapper Game, who is featured on French rapper La Fouine's song Caillra For Life.

Game has generally improved as a rapper since his debut, but his verse on this song shatters all preconceptions we may have had of his rhyming prowess by flowing effortlessly in both French and English. (Editor's note: criteria for this list does not include subject matter...)

Not only does it show that Game is willing to step outside of his comfort zone (for which he should be commended), it also displays a growth that was never expected from a rapper of his ilk (when is the last time a gangsta rapper emceed in another language?).

This brief but substantial list leaves out Cypress Hill, The Beatnuts and other pioneering Latino rappers and rap groups who have always infused their native language into their mostly English rhymes, and their contributions shouldn't be ignored. But rare is it when a rapper goes out of his element to showcase his rhyming ability in another language.

Honorable Mention: GURU featured French rapper MC Solaar on Jazzmatazz, but GURU himself never rapped in another language, making him ineligible to appear this list.

I'm sure there are other notable bilingual songs from non-bilingual rappers. Who am I missing?

Album Review: The Game L.A.X.

Before I get started here, let me just say that west coast gangsta rapper The Game is one of my favorite rappers. I don't know if I'm more enchanted with the story from which he rose to fame or with his verbal linguistics -- or a combination of both -- but this guy is talented.

So imagine my glee when months ago he dropped "Big Dreams," the grand-sounding, thumping track with requisite braggadocio lyrics that normally comprise lead singles on rap albums. The anticipation factor for his third album, "L.A.X.," due out in a week, was at an all-time high. 

Starting off with a triumphant declaration -- "I'm free as a muthaf*ckin' bird, I swear!" -- I just knew that L.A.X. was going to continue where 2006's "The Doctor's Advocate" great music left off.

But I was again surprised when last month the new album's track listing leaked online with "Big Dreams" mysteriously missing from the list of songs. 

And then I heard a slew of other songs that were rumored to be on the new album, none of which I was truly impressed with, and I began to dismiss on the album before even listening to it in its entirety.

So even when I sat down yesterday to listen to the album, I was already approaching it with a sour mind state, expecting The Game to become the latest casualty in the war against inconsistent emcees who just can't seem to sustain a career in rap.

Starting off with a prayer insisting to the devil that "we rebuke you in the name of Jesus" -- ironically preached by DMX, the same person who's life seems to have been overtaken by the devil -- my hopes of hearing a good album were slowly but surely fading away.

The intro is followed by "LAX Files," a slow, piano-heavy homage to his hometown. And while the lyrics are interesting, the man who wails on the sleepy-sounding hook did his darndest to make my eyelids heavier and heavier.

And since the word on the street is that Ice Cube has recruited Game to be the newest member of Westside Connection after Mack-10 got evicted from the group, it is only right for Game to feature Cube on the album. Right? Well, at least in theory, since the song, "State of Emergency," which is not very moving at all and chock full of an annoying funky worm, sounds better suited for a mixtape.

Then is the obligatory east coast collaboration with the once-classic and now under achieving and near irrelevant Raekwon, which sounds very forced and lacks chemistry, not to mention not very easy on the ears. Game and Rae trade unbelievable gangsta tales to no avail, and my finger is dangerously close to my iTunes eject button.

Of course this album is littered with Game's penchant for name-dropping, but as a friend told me last week, every good rapper has his or her own trademark, and name-dropping just happens to be Game's. If we're not over the name-dropping by now, we never will be. So we may as well just enjoy the rapper and his music for what they are. 

But then the album's latest single, "My Life," featuring Lil' Wayne, cues up, and it's obvious this is the real starting point for the album. Weezy does his best T-Pain impression on the hook while Game devotes three verses to the trials and tribulations of life.

But with all the Hiphop album cliches out of the way (big name and opposite coast collaborations), the rest of the album plays much more like what I expected -- a west coast opus celebrating his hometown, complete with witty and sometimes even poignant lyrics (I'm in my drop top Phantom on Wilshire Boulevard/ We can't find Biggie's killers so we gave Puffy a star"), complemented with quality music courtesy of mainly Cool & Dre, Nottz, DJ Toomp, J.R. Rotem and Scott Storch.

"Ya Heard" is a genius west coast version/reworking of Nucleus's "Jam On It," and features a rejuvenated-sounding Ludacris, who trades in the movie set for the more familiar surroundings of the recording studio.

But the album's crowning moment comes on "House of Pain," a sinister-sounding beat over which Game welcomes his listeners to Compton, Calif., Game's place of origin: "My pops wasn't around, so this bastard bleeds California from the cradle to the casket/And I won't stop riding for my coast, n*ggas keep talkin bout my bread, we gon' make toast."  

Even the album's commercial efforts work well and don't come off as forced, thanks in part to the Dr. Dre-inspired production (especially apparent on the Ne-Yo-assisted "Gentleman's Affair"), over which Game has always thrived.

Other noteworthy tracks include "Let Us Live" and "Letter to the King," Game and NaS's quasi-dedication to the Black leaders whose sacrifices so often go forgotten, and includes the memorable line: "The word nigger, is nothing like 'n*gga'/ Don't sound sh*t alike, like Game, like Jigga/ one came before the other, like aim, like the trigger. ... If Dr. King marched today would Bill Gates march? I know Obama would but would Hillary take part? Great minds think great thoughts/ The pictures I paint make the Mona Lisa look like fake art."

The album wraps up with the head-scratching continuation of DMX's sermon that began the album, taking away from the good note that this album otherwise musically ends on.

This album deserves way more than just a quick listen, as it gradually gets better and better as it progresses, an appropriate metaphor for Game's career. He keeps threatening retirement, but if this album is all well-received as his other two were, expect more growth and an even better album next time around.

The Game Disses Jay-Z

Well, after throwing subliminal jabs at the Jiggaman for more than a few years, rapper The Game has finally come out and refernced Jay's name in a disrespectful fashion during an interview on a California radio station.

Perfect timing considering Game's new album is due out in a couple of weeks. Game is trying his best to bait Jay into a back and forth diss war that will only help his album sell, and since we all know how much smarter Jay is than these average rap cats, I'm pretty positive Jay will have nothing to say to Game until Jay's album is scheduled to be released.

But still, Game went all out on the interview when asked about Jay:

"I’m too disrespectful for Jay-Z, I go to hard. His beef is mediocre beef, it’s more swag and less hardcore. Me, I go in on your grandma, your kids and your girl.it will get ugly and I don’t mind. I have a whole coast to back me. My coast will turn their backs on whoever I beef with. So basically, let me commit suicide because I’m the only cat to commit suicide and resurrect every time. So for Jay to say that about me, that’s cool man because that’s Jay-Z and I’m just lil ol Game. But if you fuck with me I’ll turn to a beast, and ill rip ya head off..bust ya lipsturn the Roc-A-Fella sign, into a pee stain.

I can be a fan of Jay and still rip him limb from limb and still be a fan. After I finish him off, I’m still going to listen to Reasonable Doubt afterwards. I’ll kiss Jay goodbye with his own lips. I’m going to make him mad enough to where he has to say something."

The thing is I actually semi-side with Game on this one.

Jay doesn't really rhyme about guns or hardcore street life anymore, whereas that is right up Game's alley. The last time Jay got really gully in a diss song he went too far talking about leaving used condoms in NaS's baby seat after he banged Carmen, NaS's baby's mother. And he lost a lot of respect for that rhyme too.

Not to mention I think Jay has lost it. Just a bit, but it's noticeable. Or maybe he needs to start writing his rhymes again and stop going off the top of the head in the booth.

Whatever the deal is, Jay didn't sound very fluid on Jeezy's "Put On" remix, and his new song "Jockin Jay-Z" suffers from the same malady, among others.

I have a feeling Game noticed the same thing and decided now was the right time to stage his preemptive strike, however passive aggressive it really is -- don't you love how he said he'd turn the Roc-a-Fella chain into a pee stain and then in the very next breath said he'll always be a fan of Jay? Classic hypocritical rapper.

Meanwhile several songs from Game's new album have leaked, and none are really all that appealing. So I guess I can't blame Game for trying to rummage up all the support and attention he can before the entire album leaks and it is no longer a secret how bad his album is.

Here's a video of Game talking about his new album followed by a live performance.

50 Wins Again! RIP to Young Buck

Thisis50 - Full Conversation Between 50 Cent And Young Buck
Uploaded by Thisis50-tv

"All is fair in love and war."

A couple of Google searches for that quote yielded the following results:

The cliché, "All is fair in love and war," implies that people can suspend the law or the rules in special circumstances.

Behavior that is unpleasant or not fair is acceptable during an argument or competition.

Personally, I agree with the quote. And obviously so does 50 Cent, who yesterday leaked a phone conversation with Young Buck that he taped unbeknown to Buck.

On that tape, Buck can be heard acknowledging to 50 that he owes 50 a lot of money and that he hadn't been doing anything at all to try to pay 50 back. At one point 50 forced Buck to admit that he had just been sitting idle in his house doing nothing to try to generate revenue -- revenue owed to 50. (On a side note, when do we finally refrain from referring to Buck's hometown as Ca$hville ever again?)

To be sure, Buck was literally whimpering to 50, claiming that he is "confused" because he wasn't sure of his role in the G-Unit army. (For the record Buck's image is still present on 50's Web site and Buck will still be featured on G-Unit's new album T.O.S. (Terminate on Sight), which comes out next month.)

To add some perspective, Buck has been running wild the last few months spewing anti-G-Unit venom for anybody who cared to listen. So 50 decided to kick Buck out of G-Unit. The public expected this to happen so it seemed like no big deal.

That is until Buck yelled "F*ck G-Unit!" on stage at a recent concert. Video footage of that show spread across the Web immediately, and I can only imagine what 50 thought when he first saw that footage.

Actually, we don't have to imagine because we already know what 50 did.

The question that everybody wants to know is which came first -- 50 taping the conversation or Buck dissing G-Unit live on stage?

To me, that question is irrelevant considering 50 Cent is Buck's boss. Regardless of what 50 may have done to or said about Buck, Buck is supposed to take it on the chin and keep grinding (pause). But for Buck to get up on stage and bite the hand that feeds/fed him is irrational at best.

So whether the crying and sobbing and whimpering came before or after has nothing to do with anything. It's the principle of the matter.

Think about it like this -- if you're having problems with your boss are you going to chide your boss in a public forum and not expect any ramifications?

Regardless 50 has been burnt in a similar fashion before with rapper The Game, and like he says on the phone call, he would only have himself to blame if he let that happen to himself for a second time.

In the day and age of the infamous Summer Jam screen, everybody needs to watch their backs and not supply the enemy with enough ammunition to ruin your career, which is exactly what I believe happened with Buck and 50.

Buck has already responded to 50 with a new song, but even if it was a Dr. Dre track with Premier scratching on the hook (alas, it is not), it's too little too late from Buck.

Industry rule # 4080, record company people are shady.

My guess is Buck was never into A Tribe Called Quest when he was growing up.

Bonus: Buck's mea culpa in the form of a song, The Taped Conversation (50 Cent Diss).

New Jersey Loses Again

While perusing the AP Daybook for New Jersey I came across a curious listing for an event scheduled for right now in Newark: a celebration of the end of the school year, called "Peace in Our Streets," headlined by none other than rapper The Game -- otherwise known as a proud gangbanging Blood who has made millions from violent raps that depict him as a gun-toting, weed-smoking womanizer with a big "N.W.A." tattoo on his chest.

And sohh.com reported earlier today that Jersey City, also in New Jersey, decided against Jim Jones headlining its upcoming HIV Testing Day concert, citing Jones' lyrics -- filled with violent and sexual imagery -- as the one and only reason.

"Mr. Jones' lyrics speak of violence to women and police, of the drug trade and guns, and other activities that Mayor Healy could not endorse by sponsoring an event featuring Mr. Jones," City spokeswoman Jennifer Morrill said in a press release.

My question is who is making these decisions?

It's OK for The Game -- who produced and distributed his own DVD where he is seen recklessly playing with guns and plotting to stalk and harm 50 Cent -- to promote peace in the streets, but it's not OK for Jim Jones -- who's father's life ended at the hands of AIDS -- to promote AIDS awareness?

If one artist's lyrics are too harsh then anybody with knowledge of both artists can tell you that obviously the other artist has equally as damning lyrics.

Yet and still, for two cities in the same state that are less than six miles away from each other, this is a serious head-scratcher.