The Game re-took the top slot on the Billboard charts this week with his seminal work, The Documentary, a work that moved over 190, 000 more units according to data derived from SoundScan.
And while the album is already heralded as one of the best offerings of the year, Game took a second to address one point of criticism on his debut – namedropping.
While critics and fans have generally agreed the album is extremely cohesive and Game is an incomparable talent, he’s been panned for the liberal use of others names like Dr. Dre, 50 Cent, Eminem, Eazy-E, Biggie Smalls, Tupac and a number of others.
“All of people [can] say is I do a lot of namedropping. It’s called The Documentary. It like me being a Hip-Hop reporter on the first album, shedding light on some of situation I went through, seen, experienced in my short time that I’ve been signed to Dr. Dre,” he reasoned to AllHipHop.com.
Rapper Nas, one legend that gets mentioned on The Documentary, said The Game’s approach is healthy for rap in general.
“You have to be a student to be a teacher. He’s a pupil and he tells you that. That’s why his name is The Game and I think that is a great look for Hip-Hop,” Nas said. On his latest, Street’s Disciple, Nas also pays overt homage to several old school rappers including Kool G Rap and Rakim.
Like Nas, others see Game’s namedrops as a sign of respect.
“I can appreciate the name drops on the album,” said Dynasty Williams, a producer based in New Jersey. “I’m not a Game-fanatic, but I like the way he’s mentioned Kool G Rap, Eazy-E, Biggie and others, even Serena’s people that died in Compton. It shows he’s got respect for the past and probably has met a lot off people in a short time in the game.”
And Game said, critics may have a point but the nearly 600 thousand units he moved in one week speak volumes.
“People [are] still buying the album. They appreciate it. What about the dudes that ain’t dropping the names that cant sell records? I rather drop names and sell records,” The Game said sternly.
Half A$ from AllHipHop.com’s Ill Community expressed the bottom line. “Damn, I’m not really a fan of The Game and I hate how he namedrops all the time, but he dropped a hot album.”