The Game tries his hand once again on his new album, The Documentary III, with mixed results
Page hosted: 28 August 2026
The Game (Jayceon Terrell Taylor) returns with his highly anticipated new album The Documentary III. Admirable as it may seem, the same repetitive tropes play out across a one-hour, 27-minute canvas, blending contemporary sounds with multisyllabic hardcore hip-hop. It’s a stacked album, stitched together with a medley of high-profile names such as Kanye West. After complaining that Kendrick Lamar failed to “return his calls”, perhaps a little petulance entered his mind as he recruited Drake to feature on it too.
Review
What is being labeled as a flagship track, “Love It Or Hate It“, features Snoop Dogg and samples Bobby Caldwell’s “What You Won’t Do for Love“. It leans into the excitement of the first 2005 instalment, but it peters out, save for Taylor’s verse. This is followed by “Steppers” featuring Lil Wayne over a sample of Glenn Miller’s 1939 big-band record “In the Mood”, but a production misstep that fails to inspire on what feels like filler.
Things quickly picked up with “The Life“, a track lifted by deep piano keys and a calculated delivery, followed by a similar track in “Scary Times“. There’s not much else in the tank, and we arrive at Drake‘s feature who executes a very simple hook on “No Brakes”, against a pitiful production.
Kanye‘s co-production with Mike & Keys on “40 Nights” picks up the pace once again, but it does little to thicken the mixture. While The Game drops some heavy bars, they’re only fiery to an extent, and it stops short of being impressive when compared to the rest of The Documentary III.
Need to Knows
Featured artists
Snoop Dogg, Sela V, Cool & Dre, Lil Wayne, RJMrLA, Lit Papi, Mike & Keys, Drake, Drakeo the Ruler, Kanye West, Leon Thomas, PARTYNEXTDOOR, Kalan.FrFr, ArmonieJAY, Tyga, Lefty Gunplay, YG, AZ Chike, E-40, Serrin Joy, HD, Larry June, Black Thought, Colby Dre and Marsha Ambrosius.
Producers
London on da Track, FBG Goat, Cool & Dre, Bangladesh, Papatinho, Kanye West, Jason Martin, Dom 816, Conductor Williams, Statik Selektah, Sndtrak, Beat Butcha, Cubeatz and Colxmxn.
Executive Producers
The Game, Tommy Brown
Co-executive producers: Mike & Keys, Travis Wilson.
Recording Studio
The Greenhouse, LA
Release Date
21st August 2026.
Ironically, on “Do You Love Me“, Taylor raps “This ain’t that Get Rich or none of that 2005 shit”, but mostly it is. Now, that’s not a bad thing, but over the course of his career, he has failed to evolve and continues to stay in a particular lane. That’s not a problem; at least you’ll know exactly what you’re getting. When he does try his hand at something more in line with 2026, like on “Party at Game’s” featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR, we quite simply get a Drake record with excess mediocrity.
Where the album really amps up is towards the end, particularly on “I Won’t Be Afraid” featuring Black Thought, where the two unload some dirty bars of descriptive excellence. Sampling Sade’s vocals from “Cherish the Day,” it’s one of the album’s better tracks and makes good use of them.
Falling off the wagon would be a harsh assessment of The Game’s career, though it’s clear he remains at a certain level. However, the rapper hasn’t been able to translate such performances into a strong album for a long time. The Documentary III follows that pattern, and while he can spit until the wheels fall off, loading each track with venom, it all fails to resonate after the final track has played.
The Verdict
West Coast hip-hop continues to draw attention from across the genre. Considering his contemporaries, however, The Game remains at the front as a background player. Rappers in 2026 compete across a malleable gamut that not all purists will agree with; shifting units within that remit makes music harder to sell. The rapper plays it safe and tries to please listeners across the spectrum, losing out on a key audience that he has perhaps misunderstood. Overall, The Documentary III is a double-slit experiment, attempting to create more entry points than it can engineer. There’s no doubting his skill and penmanship, but channelling them into a thematic project remains a challenge.
Streaming
You can stream the new album now on Apple Music and Spotify.
Full Tracklist
- “Geezus”
- “Love It or Hate It” featuring Snoop Dogg and Cool & Dre
- “Steppers” featuring Lil Wayne
- “The Life (2026)”
- “Scary Times” featuring RJMrLA and Show Luciano
- “20 Deep” featuring Mike & Keys
- “No Brakes” featuring Drake
- “Sticks”
- “Geekin” featuring Drakeo the Ruler
- “40 Nights” featuring Kanye West and Mike & Keys
- “Do You Love Me” featuring Cool & Dre
- “Run It Up” featuring Leon Thomas
- “Party at Game’s” featuring PARTYNEXTDOOR
- “BABY” featuring Kalan.FrFr and ArmonieJAY
- “In the Way” featuring RJMrLA and Tyga
- “The Part” featuring Lefty Gunplay, YG, AZ Chike and Mike & Keys
- “HELLA” featuring RJMrLA, E-40, Serrin Joy and Mike & Keys
- “Nothing 2 Hide”
- “LA Monster” featuring Show Luciano and HD
- “Meet the Parents”
- “The Pen”
- “The Cookout” featuring Larry June
- “I Won’t Be Afraid” featuring Black Thought and Colby Dre
- “Game Recognize Game” featuring Marsha Ambrosius and Sela V
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