The Game

Rappers and producers who appear on The Game's third album, LAX, include ... everybody. There's Kanye West, Scott Storch, Travis Barker, Keyshia Cole, and Ne-Yo, for starters, and Game says he recorded more than 220 tracks for the CD. But with the exception of two admittedly lights-out bangers — "My Life" and "Dope Boys" — the album is a bloated, sentimental, name-dropping mess. There's unverifiable, probably untrue braggadocio ("House of Pain," "LAX Files"), a tribute to Tupac and Eazy-E ("Never Can Say Goodbye"), and yet another song about cash and dough and stacks and stuff ("Money"). Game is a versatile, passionate MC, and we hope he doesn't quit, as he's threatened. But LAX is not a cohesive piece of art — and that's a shame, because he's completely capable of making one.