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Flu Game

This article is about the AJ Tracey album. For the Lil Mosey song, see Flu Game (song). For the basketball game in the 1997 NBA Finals, see 1997 NBA Finals § Game 5.

Flu Game is the second studio album by British rapper AJ Tracey. It was released through Revenge Records on 16 April 2021. The album features guest appearances from Nav, Digga D, T-Pain, Kehlani, SahBabii, Millie Go Lightly, MoStack, and Mabel. 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.

Flu Game
Studio album by
AJ Tracey
Released16 April 2021 (2021-04-16)
Genre
Length51:00
LabelRevenge Records
Producer
AJ Tracey chronology
Secure The Bag! 2
(2020) 		Flu Game
(2021)
Singles from Flu Game
  1. "Dinner Guest"
    Released: 29 April 2020
  2. "West Ten"
    Released: 2 July 2020
  3. "Bringing It Back"
    Released: 4 February 2021
  4. "Anxious"
    Released: 4 March 2021
  5. "Little More Love"
    Released: 15 April 2021

Background

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The title of the album refers to a 1997 game in the National Basketball Association during its finals in which American player Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls got food poisoning, but his team still won against the Utah Jazz. In an interview with NME, 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 rapper Nav, 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's of [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 the COVID-19 pandemic, while having to deal with struggles with his family as his mother became ill, followed by his father becoming ill.[3]

Singles and promotion

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AJ Tracey released the lead single of the album, "Dinner Guest", featuring fellow British rapper MoStack, on 29 April 2020.[4] The second single, "West Ten", a collaboration with English singer-songwriter Mabel, was released on 2 July 2020.[5] The third single, "Bringing It Back", a collaboration with fellow British rapper Digga 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]

Commercial performance

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Flu Game debuted at number two on the UK Albums Chart and debuted atop the UK Independent Singles and Albums Chart and UK R&B Singles and Albums Chart, all charts by the Official Charts Company of AJ Tracey's home country of the United Kingdom.

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic84/100[11]
Review scores
SourceRating
INews     [12]
NME     [1]

At Metacritic, 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 of INews 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 for NME, Dhruva Balram felt that Flu 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 using alternative R&B on some songs.

Track listing

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Flu Game track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Producer(s)Length
1."Anxious"Ché GrantRemedee2:41
2."Kukoč" (featuring Nav)
  • Pxcoyo
  • Yung Swisher
3:15
3."Bringing It Back" (with Digga D)
  • The Elements
  • AOD
3:12
4."Cheerleaders"Grant
  • Kazza
  • Swidom
3:54
5."Draft Pick"Grant5ive Beatz3:13
6."Eurostep"GrantAJ Tracey2:45
7."Cherry Blossom"Grant
  • Nyge
  • AOD
2:22
8."Glockie"Grant
  • The Elements
  • AOD
3:35
9."Little More Love"Grant
  • Yoz Beatz
  • Ryfy
  • Mark Raggio
  • Venna
2:40
10."Top Dog"Grant
  • Nyge
  • AOD
3:20
11."Summertime Shootout" (featuring T-Pain)
  • Nyge
  • AOD
3:39
12."Perfect Storm"Grant
  • Yoz Beatz
  • JBJ
2:59
13."Coupé" (featuring Kehlani)
The Elements2:39
14."Numba 9" (featuring SahBabii and Millie Go Lightly)
The Elements3:54
15."Dinner Guest" (featuring MoStack)
  • The Elements
  • AJ Tracey
3:18
16."West Ten" (with Mabel)
3:34
Total length:51:00

Charts

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Chart performance for Flu Game
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

Certifications

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Certifications for Flu Game
Region Certification Certified units/sales
United Kingdom (BPI)[23] Gold 100,000‡

‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Balram, Dhruva (15 April 2021). "AJ Tracey – 'Flu Game' review: UK rapper remains in a league of his own". NME. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b "UK rap star AJ Tracey: 'I'm not all the way out of the streets'". The Guardian.
  3. ^ Balram, Dhruva (26 March 2021). "AJ Tracey: "I've gone through so much. It's been so hard, and I'm still here"". NME. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  4. ^ Weston, Christopher (30 April 2020). "AJ Tracey 'Dinner Guest' Sample: New Single ft. MoStack". HITC. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  5. ^ Moore, Sam (3 July 2020). "Listen to AJ Tracey and Mabel's new collaborative track 'West Ten'". NME. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  6. ^ Keith, James (5 February 2021). "Digga D Connects With AJ Tracey For New Drill Heater "Bringing It Back"". Complex. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  7. ^ Rose, Anna (5 March 2021). "AJ Tracey drops his first new single of the year, 'Anxious'". NME. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  8. ^ Gallagher, Alex (16 April 2021). "AJ Tracey pays tribute to DMX with 'Little More Love' video". NME. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  9. ^ Skinner, Tom (22 March 2021). "AJ Tracey announces new album 'Flu Game' with fake press conference". NME. Retrieved 22 March 2021.
  10. ^ "AJ Tracey 'Revenge Athletic' merch: Hoodies, bundles, prices, where to buy & more". Capital XTRA. 26 March 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
  11. ^ "FLU GAME by AJ Tracey Reviews and Tracks". Metacritic. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  12. ^ a b Solomon, Kate (15 April 2021). "AJ Tracey, Flu Game review: fiery but full of filler". INews. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Australiancharts.com – AJ Tracey – Flu Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – AJ Tracey – Flu Game" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  15. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – AJ Tracey – Flu Game" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  16. ^ "Official Irish Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  17. ^ "Charts.nz – AJ Tracey – Flu Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  19. ^ "Swisscharts.com – AJ Tracey – Flu Game". Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 April 2021.
  20. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Official Independent Albums Chart Top 50". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  22. ^ "Official R&B Albums Chart Top 40". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 24 April 2021.
  23. ^ "British album certifications – AJ Tracey – Flu Game". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 3 February 2023.
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