Game Face

This article is about the Master P album. For other uses, see Game Face (disambiguation).
Game Face
The cover consists of a chrome-colored bust of Master P's face against a black background. The artist's name and album title appear below it, colored white. The record label's logo appears on the top left corner of the cover.
Studio album by
Master P
ReleasedDecember 18, 2001
Recorded2000–2001
GenreHip hop
Length48:56
Label
Producer
Master P chronology
Ghetto Postage
(2000) 		Game Face
(2001) 		Good Side, Bad Side
(2004)
Singles from Game Face
  1. "Ooohhhwee"
    Released: 2001
  2. "Rock it"
    Released: 2001
  3. "Real Love"
    Released: 2002

Game Face is the tenth studio album by American rapper Master P, released on December 18, 2001. It marked the debut of The New No Limit Records and a partnership with Universal Records. There are three singles released from the album, "Ooohhhwee", "Real Love", and "Rock it", Music videos were released for all three. The album received a mixed reception from critics who saw some change in Master P's production choices from his producers and lyrical delivery but felt that it wasn't anything new from the genre.

Reception

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic40/100[1]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[2]
Entertainment WeeklyB−[3]
HipHopDX[4]
Vibe[5]
XXLM (2/5)[6]

Game Face garnered mixed reviews from music critics who saw some change in lyrical content and production but felt that it didn't deliver anything new to the genre. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the album received an average score of 40, based on 4 reviews.[1]

Shawn Edwards of Vibe praised Master P for using simplistic wordplay and different production on his songs to feel more accessible saying, "While P's rhyme schemes haven't changed much, he has improved his musical backdrops significantly."[5] Tom Sinclair of Entertainment Weekly found most of the album to be pleasant concluding with, "there's something oddly comforting about the inexorability of it all."[3] AllMusic editor Jason Birchmeier complimented Master P for changing his Southern sound into a more pop rap direction with the samples he used for his songs saying, "Game Face isn't any more impressive than any of his past few albums since Ghetto D. However, it is a much more accessible album because of the pop approach."[2] Wise Q of HipHopDX found tracks like "The Farm," "Lose It and Get It Back" and "Back on Top" as stand outs from the album but felt that it didn't deliver anything new to the genre saying "Most reviews have substance but, like this CD, hip hop will be left feeling empty."[4] The A.V. Club's Nathan Rabin wrote, "A mercifully brief running time (less than 50 minutes) and a few scattered moments of autobiographical storytelling help make Gameface marginally less disposable than its most recent predecessors."[7] Carlton Wade, in a review for XXL, also compared Game Face to Master P's previous projects, saying that it doesn't reach their level. "P's pitiful verses mixed with too many cheesy interpolations [...] make the album's overall value plummet", concluded the journalist.[6]

Commercial performance

The album debuted at number seventy-two on the Billboard 200 and sold 95,000 copies in its first week of sales. It later climbed up the charts and peaked at number fifty-three in early 2002.

Music videos

There was a music video for the single entitled "Real Love" featuring Sera-Lynn. There was also a music video for the single "Ooohhhwee".

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."Take It Outside"2:20
2."Ghetto Ballin'" (featuring Lil' Romeo and Silkk The Shocker)3:42
3."Ooohhhwee" (featuring Weebie)4:13
4."Real Love" (featuring Sera-Lynn)3:39
5."We Want Dough"3:25
6."The Block"2:55
7."A Woman"2:40
8."Back on Top" (featuring Silkk The Shocker, Lil' Romeo and C-Murder)3:50
9."The Farm"3:16
10."What I'm Bout"3:13
11."Whoadie Gone"4:07
12."I Don't"2:48
13."Rock It" (featuring Weebie and Krazy)3:51
14."Lose It and Get It Back"4:23

Charts

Album

Singles

Ooohhhwee

Chart (2001–2002) Peak
positions
US Billboard Hot 100[11] 52
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[12] 19
US Rhythmic (Billboard)[13] 34

Rock It

Chart (2002) Peak
positions
US R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay (Billboard)[14] 70
US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs (Billboard)[12] 72

References

  1. ^ a b "Reviews for Gameface by Master P". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved September 17, 2009.
  2. ^ a b Birchmeier, Jason. "Game Face - Master P". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 3, 2022. Retrieved August 4, 2011.
  3. ^ a b Sinclair, Tom (January 18, 2002). "Gameface Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on June 1, 2007. Retrieved April 8, 2012.
  4. ^ a b Wise Q (January 28, 2002). "Master P - Game Face". HipHopDX. Cheri Media Group. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  5. ^ a b Edwards, Shawn (February 2002). "Master P 'Game Face'". Vibe. Vol. 10, no. 2. Vibe Media. p. 121. ISSN 1070-4701. Archived from the original on January 3, 2014. Retrieved December 8, 2014.
  6. ^ a b Wade, Carlton (March 2002). "Master P – Game Face". Critical Breakdown. XXL. Vol. 6, no. 2. New York: Harris Publications. p. 148.
  7. ^ Rabin, Nathan (March 29, 2002). "Master P: Gameface". The A.V. Club. The Onion. Archived from the original on February 19, 2023. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
  8. ^ "Master P Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  9. ^ "Master P Chart History (Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  10. ^ "Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums – Year-End 2002". Billboard. Archived from the original on January 29, 2023. Retrieved August 31, 2020.
  11. ^ "Master P Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  12. ^ a b "Master P Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  13. ^ "Master P Chart History (Rhythmic)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2015.
  14. ^ "Master P Chart History (Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved April 15, 2015.