Unless you’re Lil B or Curren$y, it’s more or less assumed there will be a (often lengthy) hype build up before a rapper drops a new mixtape. Especially for an MC as widely recognized as Game. However, the Cali rapper surprised fans yesterday by suddenly announcing his new mixtape, California Republic, would drop this week. Not surprisingly, this in part turned out to be an April Fool’s joke, complete with silly, fake coverart. Nonetheless, Game and DJ Skee then stated it was all in good fun, and that the tape would indeed release this week.
This doesn’t come as a complete surprise as Game began talking about the tape a few weeks ago, but for it to actually release this quickly was a shock to all, expecting the rapper to take into the summer with the tape. From a buzz perspective, one’s led to believe Game thinks the tape is strong, strong enough to break his downwardly trending sales, come his next album, awkwardly titled F.I.V.E. (Fear Is Victory’s Evolution…yeah). This isn’t in fact too much of a stretch, as the rapper’s last online efforts outrank the actual album that followed.
Beyond all this, Game’s declared that the tape will feature a strong supporting cast, primarily composed of up-and-comers. Just the sort of thing to return the aging MC to blog and message board relevance. Features hinted at by the rapper himself include none other than Kendrick Lamar, Schoolboy Q, 2 Chainz, Rick Ross, Lil Wayne, Waka Flocka, Nas, and Busta Rhymes. For an abrupt, free project, that’s a cast to envy, and only increases the hopes that we may have a big one on our hands. It’s easy for scenesters to dismiss Game, but it’s worth remembering that The R.E.D. Album won HipHipDX’s reader’s choice award for Album of the Year by a wide margin, despite it being a relatively weak effort compared to the MC’s past work. Game has some life in him yet, and it’d be foolish to ignore it.
Personally, this writer is very hopeful for this project, stay tuned for more regarding the effort as it’s unveiled.
Finally, just for your amusement, the joke cover:
