The Game recently released his tenth studio album, Drillmatic: Heart vs. Mind. The album spans across 29 tracks and includes guest appearances from the likes of Lil Wayne, G Herbo, Kanye West, YG, Chloe Bailey, Meek Mill and many others. Like every release throughout The Game’s catalogue, he represents the West Coast heavily. He also reflects on his childhood, retells his come up in the rap game, regrets of his own actions in the past, and his unsavory dealings with his previous music industry associates. On the production end, Hit-Boy serves as the main producer for the project. In addition, well known producers like DJ Premier, Timbaland, London on da Track and Big Duke also appear on the project.
Initial Thoughts on DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind
First of all, this album is entirely too long for what it is. A lot of the tracks could have been cut and the weak tracks outnumber the strong. Tracks like “Talk to Me Nice,” “Fortunate,” “Burnin Checks” and “Eazy” take stylistic inspiration from the various artists featured on those tracks. However, The Game is not shining as a rapper on the stylistic interpretations used within the album. Specifically, on the song “Burnin Checks,” popular NY drill production is featured, making it sound pretty much like Fivio’s music. This doesn’t compliment The Game at all.
Even with those complaints, The Game does still have some solid bars and references. Although sonically it’s very unpleasant and is a lazy release, in my opinion. The Game has some artists featured on this project, however, most of the features fall flat. To me as a listener, it seems that most features were placed on the album for streaming numbers sake.
Overall, the album lacks a cohesive sound yet tells an understandable story about The Game’s come up and tribulations he has dealt with due to fame. I really enjoyed listening to the diss track towards Eminem, “The Black Slim Shady,” because The Game was raw and direct about his feeling towards Em. It reminded me of how diss records used to be. “The Black Slim Shady” is a 10-minute track but, the animated and historical cards kept my attention when listening to the track.
Final Thoughts on DRILLMATIC, Stand Out Tracks and Overall Rating
As you can tell, this was not a favorite of mine. I am familiar with The Game as a rap listener via his mixtapes, The Documentary albums, The R.E.D Album and Born 2 Rap. He has released plenty of music over the years that I have enjoyed. This release seems full of filler tracks. I hope to revisit this album eventually to see if my opinion changes. If you’re a Game fan, I am curious to know what you think of this project.
Standout Tracks: “Universal Love,” “The Black Slim Shady,” “Save the Best for Last” and “Heart vs. Mind.”
Overall Rating: 2/5.
