The Game has been a mainstay in the world of Hip-Hop since his emergence in 2005. His consistency is commendable. While there may be many varying opinions about the way he goes about handling his business, from his use of name drops to the high number of guests on his albums, it’s still undeniable that more often than not Game goes off on a rap and delivers some of the best stuff out. On Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf, Game does something different from his norm, this time aiming to spotlight his own crew Blood Money Entertainment.
The lead track and first single, “Bigger Than Me” is definitely one of the top 5 Hip-Hop records released this year, if not the best based on his flow alone, complimented by the chain saw. Game follows it up with “F.U.N.” a deceiving title for a track about how little he cares for some of his counterparts in the industry as well as his haters. He’s also sure to throw a shot at the recently reunited G-Unit crew as well.
Blood Moon doesn’t play like your crew albums of past, ie: Puff Daddy & the Family, Roc La Familia, St. Lunatics or even DTP. Game clearly uses just about every track to remind listeners that he wants to be mentioned as one of the best doing it. His Blood Money crew is used sparingly and the project is really a light introduction of what may be to come from them if they can ever get from behind Game’s shadow. A shadow that grows seemingly larger on a track like “Really” where Game annihilates his verse after letting Yo Gotti, 2 Chainz, Soulja Boy and T.I. set the tone for him. “The Purge,” which features Stacy Barth is one of the standouts of the project, using the theme of the film while tying in some of today’s current events.
Blood Money’s team consists of new names, King Marie, Dubb, Skeme and Garchild. Since there isn’t much from them on the album, they don’t have many opportunities to bring the overall quality down. In fact, when they appear they hold their own, as is the case on “Food For My Stomach” and “Cellphone.”
Stat Quo is one of the executive producers on the album, working again with Game, a connection formed through their time at Aftermath, but continued on recent projects. If the music continues to come out like this, hopefully the partnership will continue.
Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf receives a PAR
Rating:
P…Horrible
PA…Tolerable
PAR…Good
PARL… Kinda Great
PARLÉ… Classic
Also Check Out:
Point of No Return – Keyshia Cole album review
Souled Out – Jhené Aiko album review
Eric Bellinger – Choose Up Season Is Here
Blacc Hollywood – Wiz Khalifa album review
The Jagged Edge Era of Greatness: Our Interview