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| Flu Game | ||||
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| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | 16 April 2021 (2021-04-16) | |||
| Genre | ||||
| Length | 51:00 | |||
| Label | Revenge Records | |||
| Producer |
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| AJ Tracey chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Flu Game | ||||
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Flu Game is the secondstudio album by British rapperAJ Tracey. It was released through Revenge Records on 16 April 2021. The album features guest appearances fromNav,Digga D,T-Pain,Kehlani,SahBabii, Millie Go Lightly,MoStack, andMabel. The production is handled by AJ Tracey himself and executive producer Nyge, alongside The Elements, 5ive Beatz, AOD,Fred Again,Take a Daytrip, Pxcoyo, Yung Swisher, Kazza, Swidom, Yoz Beatz, Ryfy, Mark Raggio, Venna, and JBJ.
The title of the album refers to a 1997 game in theNational Basketball Association duringits finals in which American playerMichael Jordan of theChicago Bulls got food poisoning, but his team still won against theUtah Jazz. In an interview withNME, AJ Tracey explained what the album is focused on:
I feel like that's what [Michael Jordan] was all about. Even with him being ill with food poisoning, he can barely move, but he's dropping points that the other team wishes they could drop. [The album] is about when we go through hard times, but you have to always make sure you put your best foot forward and be great to try to break boundaries. That's what I'm about to release.
Tracey also praised Canadian rapperNav, who is featured on the second track of the album, "Kukoč", admitting that he has been a long time fan of his music and described him as "dope", further explaining that "the fact that he'sof [South] Asian descent... he's carved out that path and no one before him has really set the precedent for someone from his background". He also thought that he can get a little more "vulnerable" on the album and said that listeners would receive "more of an in-depth insight" of his life. Tracey started recording the album near the start of theCOVID-19 pandemic, while having to deal with struggles with his family as his mother became ill, followed by his father becoming ill.[3]
AJ Tracey released the lead single of the album, "Dinner Guest", featuring fellow British rapperMoStack, on 29 April 2020.[4] The second single, "West Ten", a collaboration with English singer-songwriterMabel, was released on 2 July 2020.[5] The third single, "Bringing It Back", a collaboration with fellow British rapperDigga D, was released on 4 February 2021.[6] The fourth single, "Anxious", was released on 4 March 2021.[7] "Little More Love" was released as the fifth and final single only one day before the album was released, on 15 April 2021.[8]
On 22 March 2021, AJ Tracey announced the album and its complete details, along with a sketch press conference signing to a fictional basketball team called Revenge Athletic.[9] He released sports-themed merchandise with hoodies, t-shirts and jerseys as promotion for Revenge Records and the album.[10]
Flu Game debuted at number two on theUK Albums Chart and debuted atop theUK Independent Singles and Albums Chart andUK R&B Singles and Albums Chart, all charts by theOfficial Charts Company of AJ Tracey's home country of theUnited Kingdom.
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 84/100[11] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| INews |   [12] |
| NME | [1] |
AtMetacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 84, indicating "universal acclaim".
Kate Solomon ofINews opined the album as "fiery" and claimed that it was "laden with basketball references" and figuratively described Tracey's goal and intentions for the album, stating that he would "overcome any obstacle, even sometimes a deadly virus, to succeed".[12] Writing forNME, Dhruva Balram felt thatFlu Game strengthens AJ Tracey's experimentation with different genres of music, calling him "one of an artist soaring above the rest of the country".[1]
The reviews mainly focused on Tracey's versatility on the album, such as usingalternative R&B on some songs.
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Anxious" | Ché Grant | Remedee | 2:41 |
| 2. | "Kukoč" (featuringNav) |
|
| 3:15 |
| 3. | "Bringing It Back" (withDigga D) |
|
| 3:12 |
| 4. | "Cheerleaders" | Grant |
| 3:54 |
| 5. | "Draft Pick" | Grant | 5ive Beatz | 3:13 |
| 6. | "Eurostep" | Grant | AJ Tracey | 2:45 |
| 7. | "Cherry Blossom" | Grant |
| 2:22 |
| 8. | "Glockie" | Grant |
| 3:35 |
| 9. | "Little More Love" | Grant |
| 2:40 |
| 10. | "Top Dog" | Grant |
| 3:20 |
| 11. | "Summertime Shootout" (featuringT-Pain) |
|
| 3:39 |
| 12. | "Perfect Storm" | Grant |
| 2:59 |
| 13. | "Coupé" (featuringKehlani) |
| The Elements | 2:39 |
| 14. | "Numba 9" (featuringSahBabii and Millie Go Lightly) |
| The Elements | 3:54 |
| 15. | "Dinner Guest" (featuringMoStack) |
|
| 3:18 |
| 16. | "West Ten" (withMabel) |
| 3:34 | |
| Total length: | 51:00 | |||
| Chart (2021) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian Albums (ARIA)[13] | 12 |
| Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[14] | 121 |
| Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[15] | 61 |
| Irish Albums (OCC)[16] | 5 |
| New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[17] | 36 |
| Scottish Albums (OCC)[18] | 6 |
| Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[19] | 40 |
| UK Albums (OCC)[20] | 2 |
| UK Independent Albums (OCC)[21] | 1 |
| UK R&B Albums (OCC)[22] | 1 |
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom (BPI)[23] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. | ||
