
Compton, California emcee, songwriter, actor & professional attention whore The Game linking up with Mike & Keys for his 16th mixtape. Originally taken under the wing of JT the Bigga Figga. His 2002 debut mixtape You Know What It Is would catch the attention of Dr. Dre & 50 Cent. Both of whom signed Game to a joint venture to their individually respective labels Aftermath Entertainment & G-Unit Records, distributed by Interscope Records. With their help, his debut album The Documentary the following year would go on to become a West Coast essential. However, a falling out between Game & 50 just months after the album’s release would result in Game moving over to Geffen Records to complete his 5-album contract. His next 4 albums Dr.’s Advocate, LAX, The RE.D. (RE-Dedication) Album & Je5us PiecE all showed that Game didn’t need Dre or 50 to make quality music. Once fulfilling his major label obligations, he went the independent route by founding his own label Numinati Records & showcasing the artists with a compilation entitled Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf in 2014. Game then put out an overloaded yet decent sequel to his debut with The Documentary 2+2.5 the next year as well as his previous album 1992 the year after & Born 2 Rap on his 40th birthday. Hit-Boy helped him come out of “retirement” again with the more consistent Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind, although it was DONDA levels of bloated. In preparation of The Documentary III after siding with Drake in his beef with Kendrick Lamar, I was hoping Every Movie Needs a Trailer wouldn’t carry over any of that corny “Freeway’s Revenge” energy.
After the chopped & screwed “Silver Lining” intro, the first song “Caviar x Cartier” begins with a jazz rap opener talking about how you can turn around & lose it all today whereas “Can I” passionately gives us a look at the way he writes his rhymes over a soulful instrumental. “Chrome Hearts” works in some sampling to talk about him rather being feared than loved leading into “Amerikkka’s Nightmare” addressing people praying on his downfall.
“🤡🤡” takes 2 & a half minutes to poke fun at all the cornballs who ain’t poppin’ like they thought they’d be just before the sample drill/chipmunk soul fusion “Good Enough” speaks of the thin line between fatherhood & his neighborhood. “Quarter Zips x Matcha” kinda has some jazzier undertones to the beat cautioning that this real life with him instead of some corny Druski shit while “Rotation” co-produced by Jason Martin formerly known as Problem ends the 1st half with a club-oriented pop rap joint.
To begin the 2nd act, “The Coast Guard” talks about breaking down anybody who speaks ill of the Bloods calling back to Game’s origins with the infamous street gang while “Head of State” soulfully lets the world know what he’d do if he was president. “The Assassination of Candace Owens” heads towards chipmunk soul turf instrumentally talking about how people would rather be lied to & live in a fantasy world while “Left Out” experiments with an industrial hip hop sound basically giving a middle finger to everything.
“Blood Tears” featuring Mozzy jazzily talks about keeping their experienced pain to themselves while “So Contagious” offers food for thought to digest. “Just Like Me” soulfully shouts out those who made it out the trenches similarly to him prior to O.T. Genasis ruining “Scheme” despite “New York, New York” by Kurupt being flipped. “Livin’” finishes up sampling “Ain’t It Fun”by Paramore for an outro dedicated to the west coast.
Putting aside his bullshit defense of R. Kelly & Puff Daddy a.k.a. P. Diddy or Diddy at a private birthday celebration last weekend especially with The Reckoning documentary coming out on Netflix merely a few days ago, I have to admit that Every Movie Needs a Trailer was more of a stronger listen than Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind was a few summers previously. Obviously there’s a lot less filler on here compared The Game’s last full-length, but he only brings a couple guests on board to flow over Mike & Keys’ production mostly well.
Score: 4.5/5
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