First things first, Kanye West doesn’t deserve his name on the marquee of this one. Yeezy may have absolutely murdered Rihanna’s “Diamonds” last month, but he contributes only a single slurred-out line (repeated for the chorus) to the Game’s latest single: “Something like my Jesus piece.” That’s it. Not even a solid adjective or verb to stand on — just the open-ended “something,” leaving Los Angeles’ shirt-averse gangsta gawd to flesh the half-lyric out into a full thought. With that out of the way, “Jesus Piece” deserves its status as the titular track on the Game’s forthcoming fifth LP, due December 11. Made taut and tense by a swarm of strings, the beat bumps with a soulful grace, leaving ample room for the former G-Unit member to do his thing — “[at] 14 had a brain that could throw flames / So strange had to blow they mind, Cobain” — followed by Common, who arguably lays down his strongest guest verse in years. While the Game uses his time to reminisce over his city’s once religious commitment to gangland ideals, the Chicago Soulquarian takes the track’s title more literally, but speaks on the spiritual without verging on preachy.
