The R.E.D. Album

The Game released The R.E.D. Album this past August and for some strange reason, this weekend was the first time I decided to listen to it. I guess maybe because I don't really like The Game. I think he talks a lot of shit and is not that good of a rapper. I always considered him the weakest member of G-Unit (why the FUCK is a West Coast rapper in an East Coast group?? Mysteries of the universe.) but I really, really like this album. It has some amazing tracks and is an overall great album. Definitely added it to my best albums of 2011 list. Here are the reasons I like this album so much:

• There's a very diverse list of guest rappers. Everyone from Lil Wayne to Lloyd to Tyler, The Creator to Young Jeezy to Dr. Dre to Kendrick Lamar to Snoop Dogg to Chris Brown to Big Boi to E-40 to Nelly Furtado. Wow, what a group of great musicians. There's no G-Unit appearances, though, which I find odd.
• The Game seems to have gotten a lot better at rapping. He's actually pretty decent and very hood. 
• It's got a dynamic sound that melds all the styles of the above musicians and of course Game's West Coast flavor. The track with Tyler sounds very Odd Future-y. The Jeezy track sounds straight out of Atlanta. 
• The best track, in my opinion, is "Paramedic" featuring Young Jeezy. 
• Jeezy and Game are GREAT together. They're both so hood and good.
• This song goes SO hard. So so so hood.
• The guitar-sounding synth sample is amazing.
• The beat is so fat, but is drowned out by the synth, in a good way.

Overall, it's a fantastic album. I highly suggest listening to it. Stupid Spotify only has the edited version so I might have to buy the actual album.