By Odeisel
Through all the beef and controversy, Compton rapper Game is still doing it. Jesus Piece is an attempt to craft him as a legend via proclamation, but falls short due to retread ideas, repetitive lyricism and too many guests. Warning: you will hear Big, Pac, Nas, Dre and Jay many times.
Opening salvo, “Scared Now” features Meek Mill over a repetitive low bottom drum beat and wiry atmospherics that covers the 40 Glocc beat down and a surprising entreaty from Game to 50 Cent to get back together for the money. 2 Chainz and Rick Ross guest on boring “Ali Bomaye,” a sinister, echo organ-driven track paced by snare drums. Rick Ross delivers another verse full of disgust for his opponents and delivers caustic words that are ironic considering his present situation (“You not a g keep it one with yourself.”) Game’s second verse sounds like it was written by Meek Mill, complete with the same cadence, the same delivery and flow.
“Jesus Piece” with its fiddle-fueled urgency, flaunts a murderous deep key piano track. Game borrows some swagger from Kanye but Common steals the show with the line “deny my Jesus piece that’s so Peter like.” J.Cole is up next on the slow, sultry production of “Pray,” a song that finds the duo playing Captain. “Church” is a corny, blasphemous song that takes Game to the Juicy lane with a strip club track. Lines like “thicker than a Bible” “Lord save me, I’m poppin bands for my baby and “Baby oil is holy water” are basura.
D’Angelo’s “Lady” is coopted for “All That” as Jeremih, Weezy, Big Sean and Fabolous drop some big simping. Big Sean and the beat are the only reasons to listen more than once. “Heaven’s Arms” features some of Game’s strongest bars on Jesus Piece as Game apologizes for all the old shots at Jay-Z and engages is top 5 hubris. The aggressive “Name Me King” brings that patented PushaT drug dealer arrogance over a pounding beat. Kendrick continues his m.A.A.d City run, guesting on “See No Evil” delivering superior rhymes that escape the clichés that plague much of this album.
“Can’t Get Right” serves as Game’s version of Kanye’s “Big Brother,” broaching the topic of his break with Dr. Dre while “Hallelujah” finds another dope beat ruined by weak church allegory and unimaginative rhymes. Why bother giving Sherman Hemsley an R.I.P. shout if you can’t remember his actual name?
“Freedom,” featuring Elijah Blake, has that early-millennium chipmunked soul sample shit that sounds fresh now that no one really does it anymore. Game rhymes, “Fuck copying styles, niggas be tracing”; ironic considering the amount of swag piracy on Jesus Piece. The spirit of the Bone Thugz is outright stolen on “Celebration.” Tyga, Chris Brown, Lil Wayne on a second appearance and Wiz Khalifa join in on some 90’s shit. Breezy does more rhyming than singing and Wiz at least shouts out Bone. Wayne’s verse is the highlight of the feel good song.
Game ventures full bore to the trap with Jeezy and Future on “I Remember.” His verse is full of suspect reference; he doesn’t care if Ye or Jay hit it, he’ll eat it and his whip is the color of a cum stain. I swear I didn’t make that up. “Blood Diamonds” closes the deluxe version as Game addresses society’s ills. The song sounds out of place and doesn’t close hard enough.
Jesus Piece is a pastiche of the many current styles of Hip-Hop. Sometimes it works well, other times it doesn’t. The album would have been better without trying to attach allegory and higher meaning to its pedestrian subject matter. Lord-forgive-me rap should have been put to rest with Tupac but everyone from Rick Ross to Game thinks they can blaspheme and throw in a few Lord forgive me’s and it’s all good. It takes more than emulating legends to become one. For Game to take the next step there has to be some real growth. This album isn’t it.
Out of 5
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