The Documentary 2

The Documentary 2
Studio album by The Game
Released	October 9, 2015
Recorded	2013–15
Studio	Record Room Studios (Miami, Florida, United States) Chalice Recording Studios (Hollywood, California, United States)
Genre	Hip hop
Length	73:18
Label	Blood Money eOne
Producer	The Game (also exec.) Stat Quo (also exec.) Cash "Wack100" Jones (co-exec.) will.i.am Boi-1da Bongo 'the Drum Gahd' Cardo Caviar Cool & Dre DJ Premier Hit-Boy illadaproducer Jahlil Beats JProof Jelly Roll Johnny Juliano Kanye West Mike WiLL Made-It StreetRunner Pops Flippa Sevn Thomas Tarik Azzouz
The Game chronology
Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf (2014) The Documentary 2 (2015) The Documentary 2.5 (2015)
Singles from The Documentary 2
"100" Released: June 25, 2015

The Documentary 2 is the sixth studio album by American rapper The Game; it was released on October 9, 2015, by Blood Money Entertainment and eOne Music. The album is the sequel to The Game's debut album The Documentary (2005). It is considered the first half of a two-piece project, later being supplemented by his seventh studio album The Documentary 2.5 (2015) one week later.^[1] The album features guest appearances from Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Q-Tip, Diddy, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Ab-Soul, Drake, Dej Loaf, Future, Jelly Roll and Kanye West, among others.

The album was supported by the single "100" featuring Drake.

Background

In June 2015, in an interview with Power 106, The Game said that the album was about 90% done, and that he had been waiting on Dr. Dre to get back from vacation, so he could finish the album.^[2] He said that his children were his motivation to finish the album, and spoke 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.'"^[3]

According to The Game, Dr. Dre was excited about the album and called The Documentary 2 the best rap album in five years.^[4] On July 21, 2015, The Game revealed that Diddy said The Documentary 2 is "his best album yet".^[5]

Recording and production

On April 12, 2015, The Game released a video, called "The Making of The Documentary 2", showing him in the studio working with Meek Mill on the song "Soundtrack". The video features Cool & Dre and Travis Scott.^[6] During the 2015 BET Awards, on North Carolina's Power 98, The Game said that he would be working with the following producers on the album: Timbaland, Swizz Beatz, Pharrell Williams, DJ Premier, The Alchemist, Jahlil Beats, Just Blaze, Scott Storch,^[7] and Mike Will Made It.^[8] The Game also stated that he had spent an entire week in the studio with Kanye West. "You get a good solid week out of 'Ye if you have history."^[2] On July 6, 2015, The Game shared footage of himself in the studio with DJ Mustard, Eric Bellinger, YG, Ty Dolla $ign, Bongo 'the Drum Gahd', Busta Rhymes and Keyshia Cole.

A video featuring snippets of a song with Game and Kendrick Lamar surfaced later. Joe Moses, Jay 305 and Skeme appeared in the video.^[9] Many sites posted possible tracklists for the album, but none of them were official.^[10] On July 21, 2015, The Game posted a picture of himself on the toilet, while recording a song for the album on his Instagram account.^[11] A few days later, The Game posted another picture of himself working with Tyrese on the another song, which he said would be on the album as well. He also confirmed that Nas, Lil Wayne, E-40, Scarface, Busta Rhymes and YG were going to be featured on the second disc of the album, titled The Documentary 2.5.^[12][13]

Release and promotion

On August 28, 2014, The Game stated that the album would be released on January 18, 2015, the 10th anniversary of the first installment.^[14] On October 14, 2014, Game released the Blood Money Entertainment compilation, Blood Moon: Year of the Wolf. On January 30, 2015, after the delay, a picture of Dr. Dre, The Game, and Ice Cube was released on Instagram. The inclusion suggested that Dre and Cube were reuniting on the album.^[15] On March 12, 2015, Game announced that the album was going to be released on June 30, on his oldest son's birthday. In an interview with Miss Info, 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?"^[3]

On June 28, 2015, The Game announced that it would be released on August 7, 2015.^[16] Target started promoting the album in stores. The cover was shown with a new release date, August 28.^[17] On July 16, 2015, The Game posted a picture of Tupac with the caption, "Almost time to wrap this album. #TheDocumentary2".^[18] 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 had been pushed back to October 9, 2015.^[19] On September 18, 2015, The Game made the album available for pre-order, detailing the track listing.^[20] On September 22, 2015, The Game announced that The Documentary 2 was a double disc album with a total of 38 tracks. He also detailed that disc one would be released on October 9, 2015, and disc two would be released 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

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	75/100[21]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[22]
Billboard	[23]
Exclaim!	7/10[24]
Pitchfork Media	7.2/10[25]
HipHopDX	[26]
Consequence of Sound	B[27]
The Source	[28]
XXL	[29]
Zumic	[30]
NOW	[31]

The Documentary 2 received generally favorable reviews from contemporary music critics. Billboard gave the album 4.5 out of 5 stars. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 75, which indicates "generally favorable reviews", based on 13 reviews.^[32]

Commercial performance

The Documentary 2 debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard 200, moving up to 83,171 in pure album sales, and 95,000 copies including streams.^[33] As of November 4, 2015, the album had sold a total of 116,000 units.^[34]

Track listing

The Documentary 2 — Standard version
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Intro"	Jayceon Taylor	Stat Quo The Game Jelly Roll	0:58
2.	"On Me" (featuring Kendrick Lamar)	Taylor Kendrick Lamar Uforo "Bongo the Drum Gahd" Ebong Jaborn Jamal	Bongo Pops[35]	4:45
3.	"Step Up" (featuring Dej Loaf and Sha Sha)	Taylor Deja Trimble Ebong Kipper Jones	Bongo	2:47
4.	"Don't Trip" (featuring Ice Cube, Dr. Dre and will.i.am)	Taylor O'Shea Jackson William Adams, Jr.	will.i.am	4:59
5.	"Standing on Ferraris" (featuring Puff Daddy)	Taylor Sean Combs Orlando Tucker	Jahlil Beats	4:11
6.	"Dollar and a Dream" (featuring Ab-Soul)	Taylor Herbert Stevens IV Marcello Valenzano Andre Lyon	illadaproducer Just BonaFide Kent Jones Cool & Dre	5:52
7.	"Made in America" (featuring Mvrcus Blvck)	Taylor Marcus "Mvrcus" Black Ebong	Bongo	3:14
8.	"Hashtag" (featuring Jelly Roll)	Taylor David "Jelly Roll" Drew Ebong	Bongo Jelly Roll	2:59
9.	"Circles" (featuring Q-Tip, Eric Bellinger and Sha Sha)	Taylor Eric Bellinger Johnathan Davis Ebong	Bongo Flippa JProof[36]	4:11
10.	"Uncle Skit"	Taylor Stanley Benton	Stat Quo The Game	2:04
11.	"Dedicated" (featuring Future and Sonyae)	Taylor Nayvadius Wilburn Ebong	Bongo Hit-Boy	5:45
12.	"Bitch You Ain't Shit"	Taylor	Caviar	3:05
13.	"Summertime" (featuring Jelly Roll)	Taylor Drew Michael L. Williams II	Mike WiLL Made It	3:43
14.	"Mula" (featuring Kanye West)	Taylor Kanye West Matthew Samuels	Sevn Thomas[37] Boi-1da West[38]	3:55
15.	"The Documentary 2"	Taylor Martin	DJ Premier[39]	4:38
16.	"New York, New York"	Taylor Nicholas Warwar	StreetRunner Tarik Azzouz[40]	2:21
17.	"100" (featuring Drake)	Taylor Aubrey Graham Ronald LaTour Johnny Julianno	Cardo Juliano	5:34
18.	"Just Another Day"	Taylor Ebong	Bongo	3:50
19.	"LA" (featuring Snoop Dogg, will.i.am and Fergie)	Taylor Calvin Broadus, Jr. Adams, Jr. Stacy Ferguson	will.i.am	5:27
Total length:				73:18

Notes

• "On Me" contains additional vocals performed by Dr. Dre.

Sample credits

• "On Me" contains samples of "On and On", written by Jaborn Jamal, Erica Abi Wright, performed by Erykah Badu.
• "Step Up" contains samples of "Step in the Arena", written by Keith Elam, Christopher Martin, performed by Gang Starr, in addition to chorus vocals from "I Get Around" performed by Tupac Shakur; and samples of "I Wanna Be Down", written by Keith Crouch, Kipper Jones, performed by Brandy.
• "Don't Trip" contains samples of "Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)", written by Ishmael Butler, Craig Irving, Mary Ann Vieira, performed by Digable Planets, Funky Worm, "Fudge Pudge", written by Lawrence Baskerville, Troy Jamerson, Omar Credle, performed by Organized Konfusion.
• "Standing on Ferraris" contains samples of "I Put a Spell on You" by Screamin Jay Hawkins and "California My Way" by The Main Ingredient.
• "Circles" contains samples of Going In Circles, performed by Isaac Hayes and Montara by Bobby Hutcherson, and "Song Cry" performed by Jay-Z.
• "Uncle Skit" contains samples of Cutie Pie, performed by One Way
• "Mula" contains samples of "Fall in Love", written by Sarah Barthel, Josh Carter, performed by Phantogram.
• "The Documentary 2" contains samples of "Rickard Escapes" performed by Jerry Goldsmith.
• "100" contains samples of "Feel the Fire" performed by Peabo Bryson.
• "Just Another Day" contains samples of "Where I'm From" performed by The Game featuring Nate Dogg.
• "LA" contains samples of "Savoir Faire" performed by Chic.

Personnel

• Adam Turchin — saxophone
• Koofreh Umoren — trumpet

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2015) Peak position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[41] 32 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[42] 43 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[43] 122 Canadian Albums (Billboard)[44] 3 Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[45] 35 Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[46] 39 French Albums (SNEP)[47] 49 German Albums (GfK Entertainment)[48] 22 Irish Albums (IRMA)[49] 10 New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[50] 5 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[51] 22 Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[52] 50 Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[53] 9 UK Albums (OCC)[54] 4 UK R&B Albums (OCC)[55] 2 US Billboard 200[56] 2 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[57] 1 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[58] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2015) Peak position US Billboard 200[59] 195 US Independent Albums (Billboard)[60] 11 US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[61] 32 US Rap Albums (Billboard)[62] 20

Collector's Edition

The Documentary 2 / 2.5 (Collector's Edition)
Studio album by The Game
Released	January 22, 2016
Recorded	2013–15
Genre	Hip hop
Length	147:08
Label	Blood Money eOne

The three-disc collector's edition of The Documentary 2 was released on January 22, 2016.^[63] The bonus disc features guest appearances from Trey Songz and Meek Mill. On the chart dated February 13, 2016, Disc 3 debuted on the Billboard 200 chart at number 134.^[64]

Track listing

Collector's edition bonus tracks — Disc 3
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Producer(s)	Length
1.	"Ride Solo"	Taylor Marcello Valenzano Andre Lyon	Kent Jones Cool & Dre	3:11
2.	"Do It To You" (featuring Trey Songz)	Taylor Tremaine Neverson Marcello Valenzano Andre Lyon	Cool & Dre Kent Jones	2:53
3.	"The Soundtrack" (featuring Meek Mill)	Taylor Robert Williams	BC Beatz Kiid Planet	5:23
4.	"El Chapo" (with Skrillex)	Taylor Sonny Moore Shondrae Crawford	Mr. Bangladesh Skrillex	3:39
Total length:				15:06

Weekly charts

Chart (2016)	Peak position
US Billboard 200[65]	134
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[57]	25
US Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums (Billboard)[58]	33

See also

• List of Billboard number-one R&B/Hip-Hop albums of 2015
• List of 2015 albums

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