Album Review: The Game - 1992
By Gabe Dooley, Contributor
[Blood Money; 2016]
Rating: 7.5/10
Key Tracks: “Savage Lifestyle,” “True Colors / It’s On,” “Young Ni**as”
1992 is the eighth studio album from Compton rapper The Game, who has been making waves in the rap scene since 2002. His last releases, The Documentary 2 and The Documentary 2.5, achieved a spectacular degree of success with their gritty and distinctly west coast production.
With this new record, The Game comes off as somebody that you do not want to test in nearly every song. His lyrics and delivery are violent, cold, demeaning and hostile to a point where they're almost grating. However, when reading further into his verses it becomes extremely clear where this attitude is coming from, and it's somewhere you never want to visit.
The Game's descriptions of his violent upbringing are so detailed and graphic, you'll remember long after the album's ended, and the stories expressed through his rhymes are as immersive as they are shocking. From the track "True Colors / It's On," in which his father molests his sister, to the track "Young Ni**as," in which The Game is forced to shoot his childhood friend, the displays of this artist's background give the album a level of depth that thoroughly characterizes The Game's harsh persona.
As for the production on this LP, there's plenty to appreciate as well. The beats throwback to the "Golden Age" of hip-hop, which is to be expected in a project named 1992. However, apart from a couple tracks blatantly copied and pasted from older artists, the production manages to blend the sounds of the 90's seamlessly into the production style of modern artists. With plenty of creative samples, vivid lyricism and intense storytelling, 1992 proves to be an exciting listen from beginning to end.
