''The Documentary 2'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper the Game. It was released on October 9, 2015, by

Blood Money Entertainment Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29, 1979), better known by his stage name the Game or simply Game, is an American rapper. Born in Compton, California, he initially released a series of mixtapes under the wing of fellow West Coast rapper ...

and

eOne Music MNRK Music Group (pronounced "monarch", formerly known as Koch Records and eOne Music) is a New York City-based independent record label and music management company. It was formed in 2009 from the music assets of Koch Entertainment, which had ...

. The album serves as a sequel to his debut album. The project is first half of a two-piece project with other half '' The Documentary 2.5'', which was released the following week. The album features

guest appearance In show business, a guest appearance is the participation of an outsider performer (such as a musician or actor) in an event such as a music record or concert, show, etc., when the performer does not belong to the regular band, cast, or other ...

s from

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

, Ice Cube, Snoop Dogg,

Kendrick Lamar Kendrick Lamar Duckworth (born June 17, 1987) is an American rapper and songwriter. Known for his progressive musical styles and socially conscious songwriting, he is often considered one of the most influential hip hop artists of his generat ...

, Ab-Soul,

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and fashion designer. Born in Atlanta and raised in Chicago, West gained recognition as a producer for Roc-A-Fella Records in the ea ...

and Future, among others. Preceded the album release, the album was supported by lead single: "

100 100 or one hundred ( Roman numeral: C) is the natural number following 99 and preceding 101. In medieval contexts, it may be described as the short hundred or five score in order to differentiate the English and Germanic use of "hundred" to de ...

" featuring

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Background

In 2015, in an interview with

Power 106 KPWR (105.9 FM) – branded as ''Power 106'' – is a commercial radio station in Los Angeles, California, broadcasting to the Greater Los Angeles area. KPWR is owned and operated by Meruelo Group and airs a Rhythmic Hot AC format. KPWR's studi ...

, the Game announced that the album was about 90% complete and once

gets back from his vacation, him and Dre would be finishing recording the album. The Game also said that his children were his motivation to finish the album, speaking about being confident on his growth as a rapper: "I listened to my first album and everybody thinks it's so amazing, but I think I'm better than that. I listened to it and heard all of the flaws of the young me, and I'm like, 'Man I would have never done this song like that today.'" According to the Game, Dr. Dre was excited about the album that he called ''The Documentary 2'' would be the best rap album in five years. On July 21, 2015, the Game revealed that Diddy said ''The Documentary 2'' is "his best album yet".

Recording and production

On April 12, 2015, the Game released a video, titled "The Making of 'The Documentary 2'", and it shows him in the studio with

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...

, working on a song, called "Soundtrack". The video also features cameo appearances from

Cool & Dre Cool & Dre are a record production and songwriting duo from North Miami, Florida, consisting of Marcello "Cool" Antonio Valenzano and Andre "Dre" Christopher Lyon. The duo are best known for their work with Terror Squad founder Fat Joe, first ...

and Travis Scott. During the 2015's BET Awards on

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and ...

's Power 98, the Game said that he has been working with these record producers such as

Timbaland Timothy Zachery Mosley (born March 10, 1972), known professionally as Timbaland, is an American record producer, rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. He has received widespread acclaim for his innovative production work and distinc ...

Swizz Beatz Kasseem Daoud Dean (born September 13, 1978), known professionally as Swizz Beatz, is an American record producer, rapper, disc jockey (DJ) and songwriter. Born and raised in New York City, Dean embarked on his musical career as a DJ. At the ag ...

, Pharrell Williams,

DJ Premier Christopher Edward Martin (born March 21, 1966), known professionally as DJ Premier (also known as Preemo), is an American record producer and DJ. He is considered one of the greatest hip hop producers of all time. He was half of the hip hop du ...

the Alchemist An alchemist is a person who practices alchemy. Alchemist or Alchemyst may also refer to: Books and stories * ''The Alchemist'' (novel), the translated title of a 1988 allegorical novel by Paulo Coelho * ''The Alchemist'' (play), a play by Be ...

Jahlil Beats Orlando Jahlil Tucker (born February 8, 1988), better known by his stage name Jahlil Beats, is an American hip hop producer. He is currently signed to Jay Z's Roc Nation. He has produced for artists such as Puff Daddy, Lil Wayne, Fabolous, Mee ...

Just Blaze Justin Gregory Smith (born January 8, 1978), known professionally as Just Blaze, is an American hip hop record producer and DJ. Born in Paterson, New Jersey, Blaze attended Rutgers University for three years before dropping out to pursue his mu ...

Scott Storch Scott Spencer Storch (born December 16, 1973) is an American record producer and songwriter. He started off as a keyboardist for the group the Roots. Early life Storch was born on Long Island, New York. He was raised in South Florida and Ph ...

, and Mike Will Made It. While the Game was spending the entire week in the studio with

, the Game stated that "You get a good solid week out of 'Ye if you have history." On July 6, 2015, the Game shared some footage of himself in the studio with

DJ Mustard Dijon Isaiah McFarlane (born June 5, 1990), known professionally as Mustard (also known as DJ Mustard), is an American record producer and beatmaker. He is a frequent collaborator of fellow California-bred artists YG and Ty Dolla Sign; among var ...

Eric Bellinger Eric Aldwin Bellinger Jr. (born March 26, 1986) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Los Angeles. He began songwriting in 2010, and his co-writing credits including "Lemme See" by Usher, " New Flame" by Chris Brown, "You D ...

, YG,

Ty Dolla Sign Tyrone William Griffin Jr. (born April 13, 1982), known professionally as Ty Dolla Sign (stylized as Ty Dolla $ign or Ty$), is an American singer, songwriter and record producer. He first gained major recognition in 2010 for his feature on Ameri ...

, Bongo 'the Drum Gahd', Busta Rhymes and

Keyshia Cole Keyshia Myeshia Cole Johnson; born October 15, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, and television personality. Born and raised in Oakland, California, Cole began her career as a backing vocalist for MC Hammer. After signing with A&M Records ...

. The video features one of the snippets was a song with Game and

that was surfaced later. Joe Moses, Jay 305 and

Skeme Lonnie Kimble (born January 3, 1990), better known by his stage name Skeme, is an American rapper from Inglewood, California. Skeme has collaborated with various West Coast rappers such as the group Black Hippy, Bizzy Bone, The Game, Dom Ken ...

appeared in the video. Many sites posted possible track lists for the album, however, none of them were official. On July 21, 2015, the Game posted a picture of himself on the toilet, while recording a song for the album on his Instagram. Few days later, the Game posted another picture of himself working on another song with American R&B singer

Tyrese Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...

, which he said that this collaboration would be on the album. The Game confirmed that

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air ( ...

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman, joining ...

E-40 Earl Tywone Stevens Sr. (born November 15, 1967), better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper. He is a founding member of the rap group The Click, and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. He has released 26 studio albums to date, ...

, Scarface, Busta Rhymes and YG would be featured on the second disc for the album, called ''The Documentary 2.5''.

Release and promotion

On August 28, 2014, the Game stated that the album would be released on January 18, 2015, and will serve as the 10th anniversary of the first installment. On October 14, 2014, the Game released a compilation album, '' Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf''. On January 30, 2015, a picture of Dr. Dre, the Game, and Ice Cube was posted on Instagram. The inclusion suggested that Dre and Cube were reuniting on the album. On March 12, 2015, the Game announced that the album would be released on June 30, which is his oldest son's birthday. In an interview with

Miss Info Minya Oh, professionally known as Miss Info, is an American radio personality and journalist. Early life and education A native of the North Side of Chicago, Oh is the daughter of Korean immigrants. Oh graduated from Columbia University. Ca ...

, Game said spoke about the release of the album. "I feel like I could've released it after ''The Documentary'', but ten years seems perfectly fine. It's my sixth studio album, my sixth solo album, and I think that the 10th anniversary is huge. So, why not put it out ten years later?" On June 28, 2015, the Game announced that the album would be released on August 7, 2015.

Target Target may refer to: Physical items * Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports ** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports ** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...

started promoting the album in stores. The cover shown a new release date of August 28. On July 16, 2015, the Game posted a picture of

Tupac Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

with the caption, "Almost time to wrap this album. #TheDocumentary2". On August 30, 2015, he released the cover art for the upcoming album and announced a release date of September 25, 2015. On September 9, 2015, it was revealed that the release date was pushed back to October 9, 2015. On September 18, 2015, the album made available for pre-order, detailing the track listing. On September 22, the Game announced that ''The Documentary 2'' would be a double disc album with a total of 38 tracks, detailing to have disc one releasing on October 9, 2015 and then disc two releasing on October 16, 2015. A documentary about the album, showing how the album was made with studio sessions and video shoots, was released after disc one was released; it is titled ''The Documentary 2: The Making of the Album''.

Critical reception

''The Documentary 2'' received strong reviews from contemporary

music critics Music journalism (or music criticism) is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music, and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on w ...

. '' Billboard'' gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars. At

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an

average In ordinary language, an average is a single number taken as representative of a list of numbers, usually the sum of the numbers divided by how many numbers are in the list (the arithmetic mean). For example, the average of the numbers 2, 3, 4, 7 ...

score of 75, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 13 reviews.

Commercial performance

''The Documentary 2'' debuted at number two on the US ''Billboard'' 200, with 95,000

album-equivalent unit The album-equivalent unit, or album equivalent, is a measurement unit in music industry to define the consumption of music that equals the purchase of one album copy. This consumption includes streaming and song downloads in addition to traditio ...

s, which included 85,000 pure album sales. It serves as the Game's seventh top-ten album in the United States. The album dropped to the number 11 in its second week, earning an additional 28,000 album-equivalent units. As of November 2015, ''The Documentary 2'' had accumulated 140,000 album-equivalent units in the United States, with 116,000 being pure sales.

Track listing

Notes * "On Me" features additional vocals from

Sample credits * "On Me" contains a sample of " On and On" (written by Jaborn Jamal) performed by

Erykah Badu Erica Abi Wright (born February 26, 1971), known professionally as Erykah Badu (), is an American singer-songwriter, record producer and actress. Influenced by R&B, soul, and hip hop, Badu rose to prominence in the late 1990s when her debut al ...

. * "Step Up" contains a sample of "

Step In the Arena ''Step in the Arena'' is the second studio album by hip hop duo Gang Starr, printed as a 1990 release, and commercially released on January 15, 1991. In 2007, it was named the greatest hip hop album of all time by IGN. HipHopDX called it "the al ...

" performed by

Gang Starr Gang Starr was an American hip hop duo, consisting of Texas record producer DJ Premier and Massachusetts rapper Guru. For the entirety of their association, they were based out of Brooklyn, New York. Gang Starr was at its height from 1989 to 2 ...

, in addition to chorus vocals from "I Get Around" performed by

Tupac Shakur Tupac Amaru Shakur ( ; born Lesane Parish Crooks, June 16, 1971 – September 13, 1996), also known as 2Pac and Makaveli, was an American rapper. He is widely considered one of the most influential rappers of all time. Shakur is among the b ...

; and samples "

I Wanna Be Down "I Wanna Be Down" is the debut single of American recording artist Brandy from her self-titled debut album (1994). It was written by musicians Keith Crouch and Kipper Jones, with production helmed by the former, it was released on September 5 ...

" performed by Brandy. * "Don't Trip" contains samples of "

Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat) "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)" is a song by American hip hop trio Digable Planets, released as the first single from their debut album, '' Reachin' (A New Refutation of Time and Space)'', in November 1992. The black-and-white music video was ...

" performed by

Digable Planets Digable Planets () is an American hip hop trio formed in 1987. The trio is composed of rappers Ishmael "Butterfly" Butler, Mariana "Ladybug Mecca" Vieira, and Craig "Doodlebug" Irving. The group is notable for their contributions to the subgenre ...

and

Funky Worm "Funky Worm" is a song by American funk group the Ohio Players, from their album ''Pleasure''. It peaked at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' R&B chart in 1973 and also peaked at number fifteen on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. ''Billboard'' ran ...

, and "More Peas" performed by

Fred Wesley Fred Wesley (born July 4, 1943) is an American trombonist who worked with James Brown in the 1960s and 1970s and Parliament-Funkadelic in the second half of the 1970s. Biography Wesley was born the son of a high school teacher and big band lead ...

and the J.B.'s. * "Standing on Ferraris" contains samples of "

I Put a Spell on You "I Put a Spell on You" is a 1956 song written and composed by Jalacy "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins, whose own recording of it was selected as one of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's 500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll. It was also included in Robert ...

" performed by

Screamin Jay Hawkins Jalacy J. "Screamin' Jay" Hawkins (July 18, 1929 – February 12, 2000) was an American singer-songwriter, musician, actor, film producer, and boxer. Famed chiefly for his powerful, operatic vocal delivery and wildly theatrical performances of s ...

, and "California My Way" performed by

the Main Ingredient The Main Ingredient was an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song "Everybody Plays the Fool". Early history The group was formed in Harlem, New York City in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer Dona ...

. * "Circles" contains samples of Going in Circles performed by Isaac Hayes, Montara performed by Bobby Hutcherson, and "Song Cry" performed by Jay-Z. * "Uncle Skit" contains a sample of

Cutie Pie "Cutie Pie" is a song performed by One Way, issued as the second single from their album '' Who's Foolin' Who''. The song was the band's only appearance on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking at #61 in 1982. Chart positions References 1 ...

performed by One Way. * "Mula" contains a sample of "Fall in Love" performed by

Phantogram Phantogram may refer to: *Phantogram (band) *Phantogram (optical illusion) Phantograms, also known as Phantaglyphs, Op-Ups, free-standing anaglyphs, levitated images, and book anaglyphs, are a form of optical illusion. Phantograms use perspectiv ...

. * "The Documentary 2" contains a sample of "Rickard Escapes" performed by

Jerry Goldsmith Jerrald King Goldsmith (February 10, 1929July 21, 2004) was an American composer and conductor known for his work in film and television scoring. He composed scores for five films in the ''Star Trek'' franchise and three in the ''Rambo'' franch ...

. * "100" contains a sample of "Feel the Fire" performed by

Peabo Bryson Robert Peapo "Peabo" Bryson (born April 13, 1951) is an American singer and songwriter. He is known for singing soul ballads (often as a duet with female singers) including the 1983 hit "Tonight, I Celebrate My Love" with Roberta Flack. Bryson ...

. * "Just Another Day" contains a sample of "Where I'm From" performed by the Game and Nate Dogg. * "LA" contains a sample of "Savoir Faire" performed by

Chic Chic (; ), meaning "stylish" or "smart", is an element of fashion. It was originally a French word. Pronounced Chick. Etymology '' Chic'' is a French word, established in English since at least the 1870s. Early references in English diction ...

Personnel

*Adam Turchin – saxophone *Koofreh Umoren – trumpet

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

''Collector's Edition''

The three-disc collector's edition of ''The Documentary 2'' was released on January 22, 2016. The bonus disc features guest appearances from

Trey Songz Tremaine Aldon Neverson (born November 28, 1984), known professionally as Trey Songz, is an American R&B singer and rapper. His debut album, '' I Gotta Make It'', was released in 2005 through Atlantic Records. His follow-up album, '' Trey Day' ...

and

. On the chart dated February 13, 2016, Disc 3 debuted on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart at number 134.

Track listing

Weekly charts

References

Background

Recording and production

Release and promotion

Critical reception

Commercial performance

Track listing

Personnel

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

''Collector's Edition''

Track listing

Weekly charts

See also

References