By Ismael AbduSalaam
The Game treated his New York fans last night (August 26) to an all-star list of guest MCs, as Young Buck, Joe Budden, Jim Jones, Fat Joe, and Kool Herc made appearances at his album release party at the Filmore.
Former rival Joe Budden was the first surprise guest.
Far removed from their 2005 battle which saw numerous diss records thrown back and forth, the New Jersey lyricist performed “Pump It Up” and “Who Killed Hip-Hop” with Game in the role of hypeman.
Young Buck also took the stage to taunt his former G-Unit family, who he stated was just “the Unit” without his presence.
Making light of his reported money problems, the Nashville MC presented Game with a diamond-incrusted watch from his new “Ten-A-Key” Collection, to which the Compton MC joked “I thought you was broke n*gga?”
The two went on to resurrect the infamous “G-U-Not” campaign to the crowd’s roaring approval.
With Fat Joe in attendance, Buck clarified to fans that their former beef had been resolved with his dismissal from G-Unit.
Showing respect to Hip-Hop’s roots, Game brought out Hip-Hop founder Kool Herc and physically bowed down in tribute to the man who birthed Hip-Hop culture.
Touched, Herc announced his love for Game’s musical contributions and declared his favorite Game record is “Hate It or Love It.”
The show ended with Jim Jones, the first New York rapper to collaborate with Game outside of G-Unit.
They performed their hit “Certified Gangstaz” to the delight of the raucous crowd.
Not done, Jones continued on with selections from his own catalogue such as “Love Me No More” and “Byrdgang Money.”
Other guests included Maino, who performed his hit “Hi Hater,” and Ghostface Killah and Raekwon.
The latter pairing performed selected Wu classics and the Game/Raekown L.A.X. collaboration “Bulletproof Diaries.”
The Game’s highly anticipated third LP L.A.X. was released yesterday (August 26), and features a staggering list of guest artists: Nas, Lil Wayne Raekwon, Chrisette Michele, Raheem DeVaughn, Common, Bilal, Ludacris, Ne-Yo, Keyshia Cole, and Ice Cube.
Production for the set is handled by Kanye West, Hi-Tek, Cool and Dre, and DJ Toomp.
The album is favored to debut at #1 next week on Billboard’s Top 200 album chart.