Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf has been described as a compilation album from Game and his Blood Money Entertainment imprint. But fans who have simply been itching for a new Game album since his 2012 Jesus Piece will be pleased.
The disc, which dropped on Tuesday (October 14), is 15 tracks of the Los Angeles rapper delivering the kind of hard-hitting yet catchy rhymes he’s made a career of. To be clear, he brings along plenty of guests — Lil Wayne, Chris Brown, Jeezy, Tyga, Ty Dolla $ign, T.I. and plenty more appear on the album — but there’s also a healthy dose of Jayceon here.
As he prepares to release his upcoming album The Documentary 2, which is set to drop in January, on the 10-year anniversary of his debut opus, Game reminds why he’s West Coast Royalty on his latest. Here are four tracks to check out.
1. “Bigger Than Me”
Released as the lead single to Blood Moon: Year of the Wold, this is Game doing what he’s done time and again throughout his career: Taking no B.S.
The album’s opening track, it’s a fitting introduction. More than anything, it’s a reminder — of the Compton native’s past successes, approach to making music, and fearless attitude. “These n—as ain’t bigger than me,” he repeats often (which, given the albums and singles on his resume, is probably true about most rappers), adding, “N—as talking that shit ’bout the new generation, man/ Fuck these niggas, I’ll slash your fucking faces.”
If you don’t know, now you know.
2. “The Purge” Featuring Stacy Barth
In August, on the heels of the shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, Game gathered up a bunch of friends — Rick Ross, 2 Chainz, Diddy, Fabolous, Wale, Swizz Beatz, Yo Gotti, Curren$y, Problem, King Pharaoh TGT, and DJ Khaled — to make “Don’t Shoot,” a song in the slain teen’s honor.
On “The Purge,” he takes the confusion and aggression displayed on that track and carries them over for a somber contemplation of not only the killing of Brown — which he again tackles in the third verse — but also the world’s many ills. But this isn’t a socially conscious Can’t We All Just Get Along kind of record.
In classic Game fashion, he’s fired up and ready to take out his opponents: “And shot one, Donald Sterling hopped in his Benz/ I got one beam on the back of his dome/ Palm sweaty on the back of the chrome/ That’s my adrenaline/ So we purge Sandusky, purge Zimmerman/ Purge every motherf–ker raping women and/ Purge n—as killin’ kids, back to back in two vans.”
3. “Food For My Stomach” Featuring Skeme And DUBB
Game actually doesn’t have a verse on this track. But that’s only part of what makes it stand out.
Like he’s done in the past (Kendrick Lamar was featured on his mixtape years before blowing up, for instance), the veteran MC gives some younger cats a chance to shine. Skeme and DUBB are each buzzing Los Angeles natives in their 20s signed to Game’s Blood Money Entertainment. They share this track, which appears towards the end of the album, and it shows why he wanted to be aligned with them. It’s clear that they’ve both got plenty of skills on the mic — not to mention an apparent hunger and stories to tell.
Look out for more from these two soon.
4. “Married To The Game” Featuring French Montana, Sam Hook And DUBB
Not to be confused with his VH1 series “Marrying the Game,” this Boi-1da produced cut allows Game to again solidify himself as the unrivaled King of the Namedrop.
His propensity to shout out celebrities and intertwine their names into his rhymes has earned him some criticism through the years, but its an approach that’s woven into his song-making fabric, and that’s not a bad thing. Because he’s been at it for years, has a knack for it, and clearly no plans of slowing down.
“Sittin’ on a hill son, Keri in this motherf–ker/ Red guts, popped a cherry in this motherf–ker/ I got that white boy, Barry in this motherf–ker/ And I got homes, n—a, Larry in this motherf–ker/ See you on them cameras, Jason Terry in this motherf–ker/ If gay is happy, I’m Tyler Perry in this motherf–ker.”
Tyler Perry, of course, isn’t gay, and actually is expecting his first child with his girlfriend.
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