If you believe everything you read then The Game is the best thing to come out of Cali since Snoop Dogg hit the scene.

With his new release, The Documentary, its time for all the hype to stop and for the real deal to show up.

The Documentary just may be the kick in the ass that the West Coast rap scene needs. The Game is a former gangbanger, he has been shot, he has the dark past that every rapper needs...but he has something else. He has the lyrics and the flow to bring about the resurrection of story telling.

The Game is spitting lyrics about his past, but it ain't just a laundry list of who shot who, bitches he bagged...naw, he tells stories. He pulls you into what he went through. He makes you feel the moment.

The track about the birth of his son, Harlem, is not your typical macho bullshit. He actually tells you from the heart how he felt. Running for the camcorder, cutting the cord...that ain't gansta, that's real.

My initial reaction to this CD was lukewarm...but sometimes you need to take a second listen, in a different atmosphere to really hear something. For me it was in my car...I turned the volume up and just drove and listened. I listened to the music, I listened to the words, I listened to the story.

Dr. Dre just may have done it again...only time will tell, but if hype lives up to reality then The Game has just begun.

Read more of my reviews at my site In Over My Head