The Game: The AllHipHop Interview Part 1

Normally, these feature stories start with a wordy, cute

intro followed by an interview. This is not necessary with The Game, né Jayceon

Taylor. This is what you need to know about the Compton rep. First, The Game

has 100 songs to pick from for his upcoming album, L.A.X., expected to drop June 24. Second, somehow The Game has

managed to change and stay the same, all at once. Lastly, kill all those rumors of The Game committing suicide. Not happening. Please read until the words

stop.

AllHipHop.com: First of all let’s talk about the new album,

what everybody can expect, who you’re working with.

The Game: Everything on this album is a step up from the

first two albums, you know what I’m sayin’, as it should be as a Hip-Hop artist, as a musician, as a gangster

rapper, whatever people think I am. This album is going to be monumental. It’s

a summertime album, it’s ‘gon sound like that. You’re still gonna get your

street joints, you’re still gonna get your feel good records, you’re gonna get

all crazy beats because my ear for music; you know, I’m a product of Dr. Dre. And

even before Dre, I had an ear for music, I knew what albums were dope and we all

know the dope MCs and I listened to them just like he did so I know what hit

records are, I know what classic albums are and I know what ingredients it

takes to make those things happen.

AllHipHop.com: Gotcha.

The Game: The Documentary, I had help from 50 you know what I’m sayin’, I had help from Dre. It

was a lot of people in on that. After the whole blow up with G-Unit and parting

ways with Aftermath and leaving Interscope for Geffen and just mixing

my whole career up, The Doctor’s Advocate was a sophomore album where I got a chance to prove myself. But I

spent so much time trying to prove myself and defeat the sophomore jinx stuff

and trying to fight them back, you know Curtis back and Dre back, with the dope

album that I did myself. I’m sayin’ that I forgot to just relax and make just

all the way around dope music so it sounded like a West Coast album. I had

to just let the West know this is how we ride so that was how the album was.

But what L.A.X is or Los

Angeles Times or whatever you wanna call, it

is just Hip-Hop. It’s a good album, it’s a gangster rap album, it’s a Hip-Hop

album, it’s a West Coast album, but it’s a East Cast album, it’s a Dirty South

album, I have all the right elements this time and I had fun.

AllHipHop.com: Who is going to be on this one?

The Game: On this album, I was in the room with these

people, [it wasn’t like] MP3’s go out and hooks come back. I did all the joints

[with the artists]. Like the joint with Keyshia Cole I got coming, I got a

joint with Ludacris, I got it in with Lil Wayne, it’s all Hip-Hop stuff. I ain’t never

told nobody about who my features was or gave nobody insight on the album

[except AllHipHop [:D]], but everybody I got in with was in the room man.

AllHipHop.com : Okay, that’s what’s up. Lyrically

are you going to be talking about different things? A lot of people want to

know what he’s going to bring lyrically.

The Game: You know I wanna set the record straight on

something that Grouchy [Greg] already knows, you already know like everybody

always says “Game he’s always name dropping” and they be listening to me name drop so much that they don’t

listen to other artists for [their name drops]. Everybody be name dropping. But me I kind of started that with The Documentary but I

always figured myself to be like a Hip-Hop analyst, a reporter if so, so I’m

always goin’ to name drop like that’s my style. I do it on purpose, I do it for

a reason. It helps me accent what I’m trying to say.

When I name drop it’s a reason for that and I’m never goin’ to stop. So, if you

don’t like me [name dropping], I can save you some gas, 20 dollars and I can

save your speakers. Don’t buy my record, man, if you ain’t looking for that.

That’s a part of who I am.

AllHipHop.com: Will you be working with Dre on this one?

The Game: Man, I was supposed to go see Dre this week man,

but then I was supposed to see Dre last week, I was supposed to see Dre the

week before last man, so I can’t let Dre or anybody let me break my

concentration. I’m working on L.A.X, I can finish it without Dre. I mean, me and Dre

might get back together again on the fourth album or we might not never get

back together but that’s still my homie, I still got a lot of respect for him.

He’s the sole reason why I’m a marquee artist or an A-list rap star in this

industry and in the world so I’m always gonna give Dre props. When we work

together, is when we work together, but as of today we ain’t worked together.

“Dre can’t finish Detox without me man, I’m the West coast man. Dre reached out and

expressed that he wanted me to be a part of Detox and I also let Dre know that when it’s time for Detox just holla at me, I’m there whether you do my record

or not…”

AllHipHop.com : I always felt like you would be one of the

key reasons Detox would be a good album.

He’s always has an anchor like Snoop or Eminem.

The Game: Dre can’t finish Detox without me man, I’m the West coast man. I’m the West

coast man, Snoop he was the West coast when he was the West coast Snoop’s the

King of the Coast, but he’s like iconic, he’s a legend already. But West coast

now, that’s me. You can’t do it now without me. You can’t do nothing without me

man I’m it and Dre made me it, so why would you want to do it without me?

AllHipHop.com: So y’all gonna make that happen?

The Game: We got to make it happen. Dre reached out and

expressed that he wanted me to be a part of Detox and I also let Dre know that when it’s time for Detox just holla at me, I’m there whether you do my record

or not just on the strength of what I owe you for helping me feed my sons and

take care of my family and taking me from Compton when I walk inside my

million dollar home or when I’m driving my Lamborghini or Range Rover. I used to

be an Impala with no hydraulics n***a

you know what I’m sayin’ and now you know a n***a movin Phantoms through

the city and still 28 years old man. I’m doing it my way out here thanks to Dre so when he needs me for Detox just holla at me.

AllHipHop.com: You just mentioned a fourth album. You were

retiring a year ago or something like that. You announced that this was going

to be your last album.

The Game: It still might be my last album, man I don’t know

man because just the appreciation level of good music has depreciated. I don’t

like how if people knew what it took, like somebody need [to create a] reality

show on creating an album from scratch ‘til when it’s done so people can

see actually what the f**k is going on. People don’t really appreciate music

like they used to and it’s only because they don’t know. I just say that Hip-Hop always changes faces and it was down

all last year—record sales weren’t how they were supposed to be but I

think it’s gonna lift. I’ll be around for that, but if not, then why do it man

when I got scripts coming in every other day? And people want me

to read scripts for these movies and, you know, it’s bigger money out there man.

AllHipHop.com: You mentioned albums like it’s not a whole

lot of focus on albums right now, mostly like ringtones and singles and stuff

like that.

“Somebody need [to create a] reality

show on like creating an album from scratch ‘til when it’s done so people can

see actually what the f**k is going on. People don’t really appreciate music

like they used to…”

The Game: Look at that s**t.

AllHipHop.com: What do you think of that?

The Game: We Hip-Hop and we’re focused on ringtones and

singles, man. I don’t know I just think that that’s bad, man. I think it’s

trouble. I think that ringtones are great everybody want their phone to jingy

jingiling, I keep mine’s on silent

so my silent ringtone cost zero dollars and it ring all day so I mean ringtones

is cool. Kids love’em and it’s all good, it’s made me some money it makes all

these young Souljah Boys and all these other cats a little cheese so I’m not

mad.

AllHipHop.com: You worked with Kanye. Since

Kanye dropped it’s like a whole new crop of sort of hip/artsy rappers. They

call them the ‘hipsters’ what’s your opinion on those type of rappers?

The Game: Them n***as need a new name first. The hipsters

that sound like a f***in group at the convalescence home or some s**t — the hipsters. That n***a better not be

like, “Yo I’m a hipster.” That ain’t cool. But yeah man like I said about the

ringtones man to each his own man. No matter what people say, like I said,

Hip-Hop has difference faces and when it’s on, whatever it’s on, you just

appreciate it and it changes again and the way that you appreciate.

AllHipHop.com: You might work with some of them at some

point?

The Game: I’ll just take the leader of them,

Kanye. I work with Kanye, you know,

the leader of the hipsters and that’s my man. I leave the little

mini-hipsters to everybody else man.

AllHipHop.com: You’re in the new movie Street Kings. Where are you trying to take the acting?

The Game: I get a lot of scripts man and I’m just reading

’em and try to take it serious. I been in my acting classes, I got a coach.

It’s something I want to take

serious because I’m already getting big checks just off of who I am in

music, but once I get one of those key roles and kill it and get that Grammy

nomination up. I don’t care if I ever win a Grammy ever, just get that

nominated man.

AllHipHop.com: You haven’t been nominated for a Grammy yet?

The Game: I’ve been nominated on the music side but I’m

talking about on the…

AllHipHop.com: Oscar….

The Game: Yeah an Oscar, see I got it mixed up. I don’t know

s**t about acting but I’ma get it done. If I can end being an

actor then it’s dope because that never ends for you. Look at Samuel L. Jackson

and Morgan Freeman, them is old cats still puttin’ it down and been puttin’ it

down.

“I’m going for Obama man, that n***a could say ‘I’m going to kill every

n***a in the hood when I get in [the White House]’ – I’m going for Obama man. That’s

it. Gotta see a Black man [win], man I’m biased man. I’m biased.”

AllHipHop.com: Who you got in the election? Who you going

for?

The Game: Man, I’m goin’ for the n***a man. Obama. Man I

don’t give a f**k what he talkin’ bout I ain’t heard Obama say nothin’. I just

know that n***a black and he about to win this s**t. Hillary need to fall

back man. I’m going for Obama man, that n***a could say I’m going to kill every

n***a in the hood when I get in there – I’m going for Obama man. That’s

it. Gotta see a Black man, man I’m biased man. I’m biased.

AllHipHop.com: So you have no other reason than that?

The Game: No, I’m following the n****s. Goin’ in.

AllHipHop.com: Alright, but you know you got kids now you

–

The Game: N***er. N***ers, following the n***ers, man, to the

underground railroad ‘til we find the light we goin’ all the way to the White

House man, gotta see that. If you Black and you don’t vote for Obama you just

need to find a revolver spin that b***h and pop ‘til your noodles’ on the

f***in side of the bed man. That’s just a no brainer man. That’s so big man! A Black dude running [for president] – where the f**k did Obama come from

man? You sure he ain’t Osama’s nephew or son? Like Obama just out of nowhere –

just Obama. We’ve been knowing about Colin Powell, Condoleeza Rice, Jesse

Jackson and Al Sharpton all of a sudden, n***a, like a year ago [a] light skinned n***a lookin’ like Tiger

Woods’ brother just runnin’ for president and I don’t know man it’s a

conspiracy. [Laughs]

“If you Black and you don’t vote for Obama you just

need to find a revolver spin that b***h and pop ‘til your noodles’ on the

f***in side of the bed man. That’s just a no brainer man.”

AllHipHop.com: He’s not really from the Civil Rights

Movement which is part of why we

didn’t know about him – he’s not like a Jesse or Al from seeing them from back in the day.

The Game: So you’re sayin’ he ain’t like a real n***a?

Because I don’t think Obama would like you sayin’ he ain’t a real n***a.

AllHipHop.com: No, he did his thing back in the Democratic

Convention a couple of years ago that’s when everybody heard of him nationally.

The Game: I want to see his high school pictures and s**t if

they exist you see that n***a playin’ with some little n****s when he was

little.

AllHipHop.com: He was nice on the basketball court.

The Game: You seen like a picture of him doing a lay-up?