The GAME/ L.A.X. (Los Angeles Times)/ Black Wallstreet
If you’re holding your breath anticipating The GAME might cease the excessive name dropping on this album, you just might turn blue in the face. If you’re expecting another stellar project from the self-proclaimed “King of the Coast,” you got it in L.A.X. (Los Angeles Times) – sorta. Expectedly, Starface (a newer handle that speaks to a fresh tat that encircles the “LA” that covers the “you know what”) reps the West on aggressive outpours such as “State of Emergency” and the sinister “House of Pain.” On them, the gifted rapper walks and drives the listener through the streets of Los Angeles. “L.A.X. Files” touches a similar nerve, as Chuck Taylor speeds up his trademark flow over melodic piano chords, urging the listener not to lose him in the madness. “Cali Sunshine” featuring Bilal and the Ludacris assisted “Ya Heard” (both produced by Notts), add fitting dimensions to the Golden state lure.

The absence of Dre is more obvious this go-round and without fail, GAME takes a subliminal stab at his “G-Unot” nemesis on “Money,” suggesting: I’m about a dollar, 50 Cent ain’t real. A bevy of features however, bring balance to a solid third album for the Black Wallstreet head honcho, “Bulletproof Diaries” with Raekwon easily among the most raucous of them.

On the gentler side of the 19 track offering, “The Game’s Pain,” featuring Keyshia Cole, while serving as the lead single to L.A.X., does much to establish an R&B temper, which continues on equally smooth installments such as “Gentleman’s Affair” (Ne-Yo), “Let Us Live” (Chrisette Michelle) and “Touchdown” (Raheem Davaughn). The feature fest continues on the somber “Never Can Say Goodbye” (Latoiya Williams), “Letter To The King” (Nas), “Angel” (Common) and “My Life” (Lil Wayne), ultimately leaving GAME’s listening public to wonder whether this is indeed his last album.

Clearly, L.A.X. is good, but by the lofty standards The GAME has set for himself; it’s simply the most mediocre of his discography and certainly not the curtain call like performance that would support a “retirement.” Our guess is he’ll take a page out of Too Short’s book and won’t stop rappin’. – N. Ali Early