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Disc: 1
1. I Want You Back
2. ABC
3. The Love You Save
4. I'll Be There
5. Mama's Pearl
6. Never Can Say Goodbye (Single Version)
7. Sugar Daddy (Single Version)
8. Dancing Machine (Single Version)
9. Lookin' Through The Windows
10. Doctor My Eyes
11. Ain't No Sunshine
12. Got To Be There (Single Version)
13. Rockin' Robin
14. Ben (Single Version)
15. One Day In Your Life
16. Farewell My Summer Love
Disc: 2
1. Can You Feel It (Single Edit)
2. Blame It On The Boogie
3. Enjoy Yourself
4. Show You The Way To go (Single Version)
5. Dreamer
6. Even Though You're Gone
7. Goin' Places
8. Torture
9. Shake Your Body (Down To The Ground) (Single Version)
10. Lovely One
11. This Place Hotel (aka Heart Break Hotel)
12. Walk Right Now (Single Version)
13. State Of Shock (with Mick Jagger)
14. 2300 Jackson Street
15. Nothin (That Compares 2 U) (Video)
16. Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough (Live from the 1981 U.S. Tour)
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1. STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON
It takes too long for Game to start actually rapping, but his passion is contagious enough. Of course, having one of Dr. Dre's best compositions playing underneath you can help matters tremendously.
2. JACKIN' FOR BEATS (FEAT FABOLOUS)
I found myself more impressed with Fabo than with The Game, especially after Fabo references Dick Gregory in his second verse. (For the record, I actually don't hate Fabolous behind the mic. I just wish he would pick harder beats to spit to, but he aims to get all of his songs on the radio, so concessions must be made.) The beats that were jacked just sound lackluster when removed from their original context, though.
3. 1 NIGHT STAND (FEAT E-40)
I'm not familiar with the original, Game-less version of this track (if one actually exists: the creators of this tape do go out of their way to announce that this is a "remix", though), but while this isn't the type of beat I would expect to hear E-40 on, the song itself isn't bad. It's not rocket science, but it's decent enough.
4. DON'T MAKE ME KLAP
I hated hated hated Busta Rhymes when he released his garbage “Make It Clap” single, so you can imagine how I feel about Game jacking this particular beat.
5. 100 BARS AND RUNNIN'
The first of many hip hop marathons run by The Game, this one over a slightly altered instrumental from Jay-Z's “(Always Be My) Sunshine”. Truthfully, it's more impressive that Jayceon was able to string together one hundred bars without repeating entire sentences, than it is that the song exists in the first place.
6. INTERVIEW (PT 1)
Blah blah blah stupid skit blah.
7. .40 CAL
I actually really like this freestyle over Snoop Dogg, C-Murder, and Magic's “Down 4 My N----z” beat: to me, this sounds better that the original song, thanks especially to the references to The Last Dragon at the end. There's a version of this freestyle that doesn't use bullshit sound effects over crucial lyrics, though (and yes, I realize I just used the term “crucial lyrics” while referring to a Game song): you should try to find that one on the Interweb, but it goes by a few different titles, so good luck.
8. .44 MAG
The beat for Baby's/Birdman's “What Happened To That Boy” (produced by The Neptunes) has been described as “sinister” and “creepy”, and I can accept those descriptions. Game sounds decent over this, so of course he would never actually utilize an original Neptunes beat of his own for his actual albums. (My theory is that Pharrell and Chad are priced out of his league, even though those two haven't have a huge hit in, what, five years?)
9. INTERVIEW (PT 2)
Actual real-life journalists should be offended by the bullshit “reporter” that is conducting the bullshit “interview”.
10. WHO SHOT ME?
Game's wholesale theft of the Notorious B.I.G.'s “Who Shot Ya?” takes too long to get started, mostly because the gimmick involved (Game's allegedly rapping on a pay phone while locked up) needs to be introduced, lest folks get confused by the fact that Game was just sitting down for an “interview” one track prior. Because of this, his vocals are in a lower register than usual, making it really easy to ignore the lyrics and just listen to the classic beat.
11. STREET ANTHEM (FEAT CAM'RON & JUELZ SANTANA)
As a rule, I'm not a fan of Dip Set, or the Diplomats, or whatever the fuck you want to call them today. I used to think that Killa Cam was alright (I ran out to buy his Confessions of Fire the day it dropped, I'll admit), but he isn't very good on here. Juelz Santana and Jim Jones (who doesn't actually appear on the track but warrants a mention, since he is Dip Set and all) don't impress me at all, though, and Jimmy's tendency to constantly ad-lib behind his lyrics always makes him sound like he's his own hypeman, which just makes him come off as insecure. Anyway, the bastardizing of Scarface's first lines from the Geto Boys classic “My Mind's Playin' Tricks On Me” should earn all of the rappers involved a fucking beatdown in front of their respective children.
12. INTERVIEW (PT. 3)
Wow, Game was overconfident and cocky right from the start. It is interesting that he basically states on here that he doesn't care about the artists firing shots at his labelmates: shouldn't that have been Curtis Jackson's first clue that the G-Unit partnership might not work?
13. CAN'T UNDERSTAND
If I were Raekwon, and I found out that my beat for the classic “Ice Cream” was reappropriated by some no-name (at the time) rapper called The Game, who proceeded to do a really shitty job with it, I would have some words with him, with the aid of a baseball bat. But I'm not Raekwon, so it makes complete sense that Rae would eventually make a guest appearance on Game's L.A.X. I guess cooler heads prevailed. That, or the Chef has never actually heard this track.
14. SHERM STICK
Can you imagine how much shittier Curtis Jackson's Get Rich or Die Tryin' would have sounded if his collaboration with Lil' Kim, “Magic Stick”, actually made the album as promised, instead of being used for Kim's album? God, that song was embarrassing. As is this shit.
15. HOW U WANT THAT (FEAT LOON)
Kelis appears on the hook, but for some reason, didn't warrant a credit on the mixtape. Loon's original song, if I recall, didn't do that well on the radio anyway (maybe I'm just not in the right part of the country), so I found it strange that Game was willing attach himself to such a suck-ass song.
16. OUTRO
This is just the deejay sending shout-outs to all of his friends. Nothing to see here.
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October 28th, 2009Uncategorized