Way Back: The Documentary (2005)
“The rebirth of L.A., the rebirth of hip-hop
Another memorial for Makaveli and Big Pop'“
-The Game on “Put You On The Game”
On January 18th, 2005, Game released his debut album, The Documentary.
The hype surrounding Game was real. As far back as 2002, rumors were spreading about a new Compton rapper that would bring the west coast to dominance again. Dr. Dre and Aftermath scooped him up, but it would still be years before he’d debut. Fans were teased with a brief cameo in 50 Cent’s “In Da Club” video and that’s when the strategy became clear. The label could leverage the popularity of 50 Cent and his G-Unit imprint to ensure that their new artist was properly introduced to the public. He was seemingly placed (or forced) into the group, giving them a presence in each of rap’s major US regions.
Game isn’t the best MC, but much like the leader of his old G-Unit crew, he can provide passable bars over good hooks and dope beats. His most unique attribute lies in his name. He makes it a concerted effort to give props to people in the rap game that have influenced him. In fact, it’s hard to find a song where he doesn’t name drop at least one rapper, singer, or producer. It’s his gimmick and he sticks to it.
But, maybe Game’s star was simply to big for what Aftermath had planned for him. You can see remnants of the growing divide between he and labelmate 50 Cent as soon as his second video.
The story has it that 50 Cent was upset at the amount of time Dre put into completing production on The Documentary, as opposed to preparing for his anticipated sophomore project, The Massacre. It’s been said that 50’s album was pushed back to ensure Game’s could release first and flourish. Even though they completely split both hook and verse duties on the hit “Hate It Or Love It”, 50 Cent made sure to sit in the back seat of the car in the music video. His refusal to sit next to game was his first subtle form of protest against Game.
Still, this project was built for success. In addition to Dre and 50’s guidance, Game received beats or features from Scott Storch, Havoc, Kanye, Timbaland, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Nate Dogg, and Faith Evans among others. That’s a lot of connections for a rookie effort, so much so that it was primary critique next to his incessant shoutouts. We just didn’t get to hear enough unique insight from game, it was the standard gangster raps with tales of a rough upbringing.
By the time the fifth single “Put You On The Game” was released in August of 2005, there were no signs of his G-Unit affiliation in the associated music video. By that point he was already wearing chains of his Black Wall Street crew and refusing to recite parts of the lyrics that mentioned G-Unit. Still, like Lloyd Banks and Young Buck before him, he benefited from 50’s star and hot producers to release a memorable multi-platinum debut and jump start a long rap career.