The Game — DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind — Album Review
Hip-Hop | Rap
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The Game is clearly a household name in hip-hop, especially when you consider the impact that the Compton-born rap artist had made in the 2000’s, primarily thanks to his legendary debut album The Documentary. However, despite a few hits on The R.E.D Album, I hadn’t fully delved into the work of The Game.
And while I wasn’t willing to make that same mistake again with his tenth and newest studio album, the sheer size of this project was daunting to say the least. Titled DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind, this project carries an insane portion of thirty tracks, and a runtime of almost two hours to boot! This also planted the seed of worry that this album would carry quite a bit of filler. That being said, the only remedy was to pick a track at random, and see how it represents the album as a whole.
Luckily for me, the song I ended up choosing wound up being what is arguably my favourite cut on the entire record. The track was none other than “No Man Falls”, which boasted features from Pusha T and 2 Chainz. However, the addictively soulful sampling on this track’s insane production stood as the true star of the track.
Speaking of production, DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind boasts a ludicrous selection, including Hit-Boy, Kanye West, Swizz Beatz, Timbaland, and tonnes more. And while this certainly adds a good level of variety to the project, it never felt too polarising once I got into the album itself. The production on this album ranges to soulful, gritty, upbeat, downbeat, and every kind of beat in between.
After listening to the album in full (which was a lengthy prospect, to say the least), I definitely felt very similar vibes to how I felt towards an album like Busta Rhymes’ Extinction Level Event 2; the last album that felt like the best of both worlds (to an extent) when it came to quality and quantity. However, I would say that DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind has a little bit more of both.
Aside from the aforementioned “No Man Falls”, we get a wide range of other great tracks as well. Along with tracks like “Burnin’ Checks” with its UK drill inspired energy, or “How Far I Came” with its whimsical and warm atmosphere, we got what was arguably the most surprisingly great track in the form of “The Black Slim Shady”; an over ten minute Eminem diss track that hit in all the right places.
But, as to be expected from an album as long as DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind, there were a handful of duds here or there. And while some of the tracks in question are borderline cringeable (if not that, they were simply too monotonous or uninteresting), I was far from expecting this project to bang from start to finish. That being said, I felt that The Game did do a great job overall.
While I’m more on the side of enjoying more choppy and narrowed-down albums that I could complete on a singular short journey, it is both enjoyable and refreshing to listen to a lengthier experience every now and again. And while DRILLMATIC Heart vs. Mind may have taken that idea to slight extremes, the sheer musical diversity of the album more than made up for it.
Favourite Tracks: Burnin’ Checks | How Far I Came | No Man Falls | Nikki Beach | The Black Slim Shady
Least Favourite Tracks: O.P.P | Change The Game | Fortunate
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