He sold drugs. He got shot. Five times. He met Dr Dre. His debut is huge. No, it's not 50 Cent. It's The Game [ tickets ], real name Jayceon Taylor. So is he the next big thing?

Traveling the same trajectory as other notable Compton MCs, The Game not only namedrops almost every hip-hop legend from the last 20 years on his new disc, "The Documentary," he actually gets a big assist from some of them: Dr Dre, 50 Cent, Kanye West, Nate Dogg, Eminem, Faith Evans, Mary J Blige, Hi Tek, Timbaland and Busta Rhymes. Whew.

While The Game's story now borders on cliché, he and his team have enough sense to make even the average drive-by sound compelling again. It's this creativity--and the ripe production beneath The Game's brooding rhymes--that make "The Documentary" a worthy platter. "Hate It or Love It," featuring 50 Cent, is the epitome of laidback cool. And buried at the album's closing is the brilliant "Like Father, Like Son," featuring Busta Rhymes.

With all the bling behind the glass it's no shock that "The Documentary" is an album that lives up to the hype. Whether The Game's talent can carry a career remains to be seen.