The Game - Streets of Compton

The Game
Streets of Compton
2016
Spotify

Half mixtape, half soundtrack Streets of Compton is part of The Game's documentary series about the city and it's influence on culture. What really comes across on the record is just how tight and of a moment everything is. Where a lot of hip hop can get bogged down The Game and his collaborators keep the record super tight, leaving no room for any fluff. They are also able to pay homage to the beats that originally came out of West Side hip hop without making a record that sounds dated. Even The Game sounds more confident on this album than He has in awhile. This makes for an album that is quite enjoyable but is never going to be on the level of the people who are doing the greatness that is coming out right now. What is really interesting is somehow The Game has managed to take reping your hood to an entirely new level as he has been doing it for years. It seems like Kendrick has brought about a Compton, basically South LA, renaissance or just a re-evaluation of it's cultural contributions and The Game is more than willing to jump on and take the ride. But in reality He has been doing it since the beginning so rapping on a doc like this only makes sense. The Game's flows are done really well here it goes to show that when someone really has a passion that comes through directly in their music.

You'll be surprised that there really is not one particular hit on this record, most of it just seeming to exist on one level. A song like "Gang Signs" has some potential, but it never really builds or goes anywhere. That seems to be the theme going through the whole album, it is good, not great but also not bad. As an artist you never really want to allow yourself to be middle of the road, because that usually means people will quickly get over what you are putting out. "The Chronic" features a flow from AD which tries to be fast a la Tech Nine of Twista, but it is so forced and turns in to more yelling than some well crafted lines. Anyone could probably put this on in the background and let it play out, but no one is going to put this on an all time list. The Game also feels like he is taking a step back with this record. With his name on the album you would expect the majority of the music to be coming from him, but that just is not the case He allows his features to take center stage. Often that is the way to boost a song and let a collaborator soar, but here He just sounds a bit disinterested once his verse is over. Streets of Compton is somewhere in the middle, never going to blow people away, but I would not mind hearing a few of these tracks if they ever pop up.

6.5 out of 10