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2006

Wednesday, 22 November 2005
2Pac: Pac's Life
Website: www.2paclegacy.com/ (Wikipedia)
- The track listing for this album tells the whole story.  Every song features a handful of guests, and for good reason; on all but a couple tracks, Pac contributes only one short verse, and sometimes a snippet used for a chorus.  The disc's opening salvo, Swizz Beat's "Untouchables" remix, is energetic and catchy -- but even this opener cannot avoid sounding patched together, with Swizz simply stringing together a couple Pac lines from the song itself (and repeating them over and over) to generate the chorus, with no small contribution from Krayzie Bone. 

Many of the songs on Pac's Life have an R&B flavor that never permeated Pac's previous work, posthumous or otherwise.  This provides the basis for appearances by guests like Ashanti, Kayshia Cole, Carl Thomas, and others; "Pac's Life," the album's title track, appears twice, once with its chorus sung by Ashanti and a second time by Chris Starr (the former includes a Pac verse revived from Better Dayz; the latter includes a Snoop Dogg verse that should have been on both versions of the song).  The Outlawz make several appearances, though I remain convinced they rank among the worst hip-hop posses of all time (even Jason Terry's West Coastra Nostra, who are unequivocally terrible rappers, at least possess a certain charm).  And Ludacris' forced interplay with Pac at the end of "Playa Cardz Right [Male]," with the rappers "exchanging" outro lines, is laughable at best.

All that said, this is a surprisingly listenable album.  While nobody will mistake it for a good Pac album per se, it is enjoyable music, with some magnificent (albeit regrettably short) contributions from the greatest rapper of all time.  "Whatz Next," "Sleep," "International," and the aforementioned remix of "Untouchables" are all hard-hitting glimpses into what might have been had Pac lived to bring his music to the contemporary void that is hip-hop.  Over ten years after his passing, that's really all anyone can ask for.  2Pac, rest in peace.


Tuesday, 14 November 2005
The Game: Doctor's Advocate
Website: www.comptongame.com/ (Wikipedia)
- The Game's sophomore release, Doctor's Advocate, was hailed by the New York Times as the best rap album of 2006, and I can't say I disagree.  The Times put it best: while Game's first album was more fun, his second effort is more memorable.  In other words, while Doctor's Advocate may not be as immediately accessible or catchy, it's a greater listen over the long run. 

The album's title track features Game's answer (with a little help from Busta Rhymes) to all the beef and all the drama that's gone down since The Documentary; in the process, Chuck Taylor reveals an emotional core rarely seen among today's rappers.  Other highlights include "Compton," "One Night," "California Vacation" (featuring Snoop and Xzibit), and "Bang" (featuring Tha Dogg Pound).  The singles -- "One Blood," "Let's Ride," and "Wouldn't Get Far" -- are all solid, with the latter featuring a particularly entertaining homage to 2Pac's "All About U."  And the album culminates with the epic "Why You Hate the Game," featuring a guest verse by Nas and production by Just Blaze.  This song is a neat little microcosm of the Game's progression from his first to his second album; while Blaze contributed the beat to one of Documentary's most fun songs ("No More Fun and Games"), his work on the final track of Advocate is sweeping and poignant -- providing the backdrop for a 9:22 outro that left me eagerly anticipating the next album by the best West Coast rapper alive.

The listed dates are when I bought the respective albums, which do not always correspond with the dates they were released.