The Recreation
The Documentary 2
Blood Cash/eOne
Options: Kendrick Lamar, Dej Loaf, Sha Sha, Ice Dice, Dr. Dre, will.i.am, Diddy, Ab-Soul, Marcus Black, Jelly Roll, Q-Tip, Eric Bellinger, Future, Sonyae, Kanye West, Snoop Dogg,
Manufacturing: The Mekanicks, Bongo, will.i.am, Jahlil Beats, Cool & Dre, Mike Will Made It, Dr. Dre, DJ Premier, Cardo, Boi-1da
Earlier than the The Recreation made his debut in 2005, the way forward for West Coast hip hop hung within the stability. 50 Cent had simply launched his groundbreaking debut Get Wealthy or Die Making an attempt in 2003, the world was brushing the filth off its shoulders to Jay Z’s Black Album, Kanye West made his debut as an MC on Faculty Dropout and Eminem, T.I. and Ludacris had been all buzzing. To not point out Lil Jon and the East Facet Boyz had been taking on the airwaves after their Crunk Juice album went double-platinum in lower than two weeks. In the meantime the one factor the west coast had going for it was Xzibit’s lackluster Weapons of Mass Destruction.The very best west coast hip hop venture in 2004 was Tupac’s posthumous soundtrack to his Resurrection documentary. How becoming {that a} yr later, The Recreation answered the west’s name together with his personal Documentary.
The West wanted somebody to place it again on the map and Jayceon Terrell Taylor did simply that with The Documentary LP. The album bled the aggression and rawness of a Compton rapper who had been held hostage by the trade for years. A decade later, The Recreation is again on The Documentary 2, the extremely anticipated followup to his left coast traditional. The sequel to his debut couldn’t come at a greater time for west coast hip hop. 2015 noticed Kendrick Lamar’s To Pimp a Butterfly obtain prompt traditional standing whereas N.W.A.’s genre-defining story was introduced again to life within the field workplace hit Straight Outta Compton. The Documentary 2 will likely be one more success on the west coast’s 2015 hip hop resume.
The Recreation struggled to discover a sound that labored for him after his sophomore LP, The Physician’s Advocate. His scrappy persona catapulted him into numerous beefs, Worldstar fights and even a actuality tv present. His concentrate on music appeared to take a backseat to the skin influences on his life. On The Documentary 2 we discover The Recreation matured and extra targeted than he’s ever been. The gritty bars that blared by means of our audio system ten years in the past are there, solely this time, his seventh studio album possesses a regionless sound that has led him to his finest work in a decade.
The hip hop purists of the world will cringe at a tracklist with 19 songs that comprises a function on nearly each one. They’ll go into cardiac arrest as soon as they see the names of hip hop legends Dr. Dre., Ice Dice and Snoop Dogg juxtaposed with the likes of Drake, Future and Dej Loaf. “I grew as much as N.W.A. nigga,” Recreation contends on “Don’t Journey” earlier than his idols Ice Dice and Dre arrive on scene to show that they haven’t missed a step. Nearly all of the options assist The Recreation adapt to hip hop’s sonically evolving panorama whereas taking the listener again to the instances that formed his sound.
The opener “On Me” samples Erykah Badu’s “On and On” and options Kendrick Lamar. The observe exudes a pure really feel due to the chemistry Okay Dot and Badu have whereas The Recreation units the tone for the remainder of the album by not permitting the TDE frontrunner to outshine him as he paints a vivid image of the streets he grew up on. The tune transitions into the Dej Loaf and Sha Sha featured reduce “Step Up” which samples a Pete Rock and InI observe that shares the identical title. Tupac additionally sampled the identical tune on “I Get Round” which is why the observe provides off a west coast vibe. The Recreation’s infatuation with samples make for a novel listening expertise since you don’t know what acquainted sound you would possibly hear over the course of the 19-track venture.
“West facet ni**a, by no means had an issue banging Massive,” The Recreation says on the twelfth observe “Summertime”. Now we perceive why The Recreation has no drawback borrowing Biggie’s “Kick within the Door” and “Issues Performed Modified” cuts on the fifth observe “Standing on Ferraris”. The observe even turns Diddy into an honorary Compton Dangerous Boy — inviting Puffy to kick within the door together with his signature ad-libs and a head-scratching however comical monologue. By the tip of the observe you’ll assume that The Recreation could be Infamous B.I.G.’s confederate on “Gimme the Loot”. On the seventh observe “Made in America” that includes Marcus Black, The Recreation spits in a cadence much like Nas in his heyday. He even shouts him out on the soulful observe earlier than acknowledging the errors he made developing within the recreation — “All of us make errors look what occurred to me and 50.” The east coast affect on The Documentary 2 provides the album a regionless sound nevertheless it pays off, even for an artist who’s been synonymous with west coast gangster rap his entire profession.
It’s no secret that The Recreation has had his justifiable share of child mama issues. He lets us into the tough realities of his broken home life on The Documentary 2. “Circles” is a chilling observe that builds on the ‘late nights spent on the studio’ drawback that rappers in relationships typically face. “I do know you saying you workin, however child boy this sense ain’t proper,” Sha Sha croons from the attitude of The Recreation’s partner. “You ain’t complain once I purchased that Maybach/ Put you in Chanel, your buddy Chanelle can’t even say that,” The Recreation counters. The again half of the tune dives deeper into The Recreation’s pained relationship when Sha Sha lets him know that he’s not as irreplaceable as he thinks — “I suppose you thought they stopped making actual ni**as once they made you.” Future joins the child mama drama occasion on the eleventh observe “Devoted” which enlists Sonyae to play the position of the ladies within the two rapper’s lives. The observe tackles the unstable state of affairs of getting one other man round your children. “Now a nigga feeling like Future, we each coping with a brand new nigga round our children and we ain’t kill ‘em but/ Nig*a I salute you,” The Recreation’s private tracks give The Documentary 2 the identical feeling The Documentary gave followers with songs like “Begin From Scratch”.
The Documentary 2 begins to really feel like an precise Documentary, clocking in at 73 minutes. The size of the album makes it onerous to digest and a number of the songs don’t fairly hit the mark. A slight trim to the album’s 19 songs would possibly give it the traditional feeling that The Recreation’s debut album had. The twelfth observe “Bitch You Ain’t Sh*t” is an incredibly misogynistic observe that doesn’t transfer the album alongside. “Hashtag” is a close to miss due to Jelly Roll’s raspy cackling however The Recreation cleans up the observe regardless of Jelly’s incessant ad-libs that dare your thumbs to hit the skip button.
While you have a look at what The Recreation has completed on The Documentary 2 the album turns into much more spectacular. He proved that he refuses to get categorized as a rapper who didn’t adapt to hip hop’s altering sound with the lead single “100” that includes Drake. He was nonetheless capable of keep true to his roots on “Greenback and a Dream” regardless that he was lyrically examined by Ab-Soul. The manufacturing helps The Recreation create one of the musically dense albums of his profession. Mike WiLL Made It’s “Summertime” is pushed by easy piano keys that complement The Recreation’s gritty bars. On the title observe, The Recreation merely raps his ass off over some exhilarating piano keys courtesy of DJ Premier and Dr. Dre. The Documentary 2 is The Recreation’s strongest most targeted work since his debut album 10 years in the past. Are you prepared for The Documentary 2.5?
C.J. Rucker is a contract journalist from Los Angeles. You’ll be able to observe him on twitter @Ruckmatic
