Thoughts on the Game from someone who just learned about him

[Tanjential]

So like I've mentioned in some other posts, and like some old school cats here just know-My heavy interest in west coast rap declined severely in th 2002 and I went and became a stoner ass hippie until the Bay area rap movement's combination of San Francisco hippie culture and West Coast G-Funk brought me back to the fold. Now in 2002, everyone was still waiting for someone to sit in the throne that 2pac left so dusty.

      Now I read that 'to make a king' article and I agree and disagree personally. Snoop IS the king of the west coast in many senses and I have NOTHING but love and respect for him but when Nasty and Hova talk about who's king, they mean a lyrical mean MC. the west coast has been in need of a representer in such a capacity since like 97. We were looking to Xzibit in 2000, but while restless was good it wasn't a me a against the world, you know? We were looking to crooked I and ras kass and defari but no one was dropping albums. We looked to Kurupt before that and his wallet told him it was more important to recreate "Nookie" than "Lyrical gangbang"..I didn't think it would happen. I didn't think what the Game was would happen...and it's such a Jesus ass soldier's story.....and I realize now why we didn't find him till so late: No one was willing to think a Blood could be THE lyrical representer for the Coast. It HAD to be a crip in so many's minds...even dre's I think...but we found ouir savior in the most unlikeliest of colors....It also contributes to snoop's unifying of the west...it's a new west...when i was listening to rap just 4 years ago i was NOT as okay as it is now for bloods and crips to blatantly be talking about blooding and cripping together even on wax. It's a beautiful thang.

So when the Game came out, I think I was really listening to Bob Dylan heavily (you want some brilliant rap? Download "Subterranean Homesick Blues"  for some real talk, i think as brutal and intelligent of a commentary on society as anything N.W.A did) at the time and i didn't give a fuck who the game was because he was on songs with 50 and cats was rhyming thug with club again, rhyming hug with thuig and club and talking about cake-NOT real talk. I gave half a fuck what The Game was because all i heard was beef and 50 cent-No one TOLD me about Compton! No one TOLD me about LYRICISM. Noone TOLD me about HEAVY DRE PRODUCTION. All i heard was 50, clubs, and cake. And given how much disappointing rap had come out while I was sitting here with you cats waiting for someone like pac and the game to come along, can you blame me for not perking my ears up when this cat came out? But let me tell you, if I KNEW what the Game was when he came out you best believe the documentary woulda been sitting next to my copy of Highway 61 Revisited a LONG ass time ago. It trips me out what he is-he is EXACTLY what we had been waiting for. He fulfills a fucking prophecy he is such a pefect product. I actually often times when listening to him feel he is such a perfect product that he is very likely like a boy-band: a tailor made perfect product for a target audience. like dre was reading our discussions for years tryng to figure out what we would like best. He's a rap geek just like us! He talks about the same shit that we do! Same heroes we got! he considers the same shit classic that we do. he's the ultimate rap geek....do we have any reason to believe he wasn't on this forum in 2002? He's too perfect.

           So yeah, I didn't know what was up with the game. Then I started working at starbucks and met this real cool cat Chris who I would say is about 33 percent responsible for getting me back into rap (the other 66 percent going to my homey sam who put me up on Mac Dre) was real surprised when my long haired hippie ass knew every word to 'cyco-lic-no'  when he'd be bumping it out of his little phone as we washed dishes and shit "don't you listen to the beatles or led zeppelin or some shit?" My repy- "Dre the dude who discovered K-U-R-U-P-T first laced him over a Led zeppelin drum beat on lyrical gangbang dude." and over bong tokes he showed me a shitload of underground game shit where Jaycean or whatever rips it the fuck up.  Still I stuck to my classic rock for the most part and walked away knowing the Game was a dope lyricist. Then my best friend David, a friend that greatly fueled my interest in cats ranging from Tool to Bob Dylan, got the Hurricanes and I learned the Game was CPT and my ears started to perk. Still I was sleepin'...then right around the time I got into mac dre and the bay hyphy thizz, Advocate dropped and i very quickly read up on the beef and am infuriated- After how perfect of a prophecy the game is...dre and em stick with 50 over game? Money, it's all money and I always thought dre and em were the entrepreneurs that wanted to find the balance between artistic accomplishment and sales but FUCK man. Fuck that. 50 is such garbage but I'm sure it was some kind of horrendous pressureful push on interscope's part when dre stuck with 50 over game...JESUS though....
                     

                                   Of course, it's never that simple. here's some food for thought: My friend Sam, dude who showed me mac dre, was telling me that since mac dre died and e-40 has been shouting him out alot, alot of Thizz entertainment cats have been kinda hating on 40 as they're claiming that e-40 wasn't claiming affiliation with mac dre NEARLY as much when he was alive as now that he's dead (they did a few songs together but they're from opposite sides of Vallejo). In other words, thizz cats are saying 40 is capitalizing off of mac dreezy's death and that he could have helped thizz blow the fuck up while mac dre was alive if he was really that close to them. My friend Sam, who is a hardcore e40 and macdre fan said that the way he saw it, E-40 kept his affiliation with mac dre to a minimum while mac dre was a live because he knew mac dre could blow up off of his own clout. E-40 knew mac dre was his own shit and didn't want anybody to perceive him as just 40's little buddy-respecting his respective pimpin'. The way I see it, Dre knew there needed to be a lyrical representer on the west coast, knew there needed to be a Game  (and it didn't hurt that that this cat reps the CPT)  so he mentored game to bring back the west (like Dre said in Deeezz Nuuutzz-"Things will remain the same until I change them.") Now, unavoidably, the game's repping really hard so he's gonna get attacked really hard. Dre knows that if the Game is really going to respectably rep the West he can't just be a dre protege-He has to be his own man-Like Pac-Pac is not associated with a certain producer-Even snoop is associated with certain producers very heavilyn (namely dre) but pac? universal man, he can get banging beats all up and down the coast all left and right the nation-The Game has to be like that too so that no one can say his dopeness is reliant on anyone else.  So while I wish dre was on doctor's advocate, i see that for the prophecy to be fulfilled it had to be done. it's fucking Biblical in scope, prodigal son shit. It's Epic greek in scope! Some Oedipus shit, going into exile still doing your thing you feel?

                                    I notice though, a few things about the game and dre situation-

Anyone else notice how the tide has been turned in regards to opinion on Dre's production credits since that Snoop interview with you guys where snoop HILARIOUSLY said "That shit says PRODUCED by, not 'brought in the beat by'" in regards to daz and warren g getting credit stolen in the DR days? In a warren g interview he even says "I ain't takin' no credit from dre, the nigga's a genius"...A few years ago when i was hanging around her-motherfuckers couldn't WAIT to take credit from dre" Now since snoop got real real in that interview he said shit like dre produced more of dogg food than most people think, I've read that he's had more of a hand in warren's albums than some of us think (the original next episode sounding just like runnin wit no breaks along with dre's protege lamont ALL the fuck over warren's shit, warren INSISTING that dre is gonna be on various projects that we never saw dre's name on like 213 and such)-That said, I know I haven't been around but when i think jelly roll i think of tha last meal and crazy weird funky shit...NOT subtle piano funk with hard ass Dre like drums....I think it's perfectly possible that dre did work on advocate but just was willing to take his name off of it due to the drama. Why else would daz shout out dre like that on that track? A possible counter-argument could be that the Game has kind of made Advocate a celebration of dre's legacy and influence so even if they're not rapping on dre tracks per se, everything they are doing can be traced back to dre and maybe even a feisty hard headed dude like Daz has gotten old and wise enough to admit it.
                          Regardless, I look at The Doctor's Advocate as a parallel to the Slim Shady LP: A brilliant album by a brilliant dre protege letting the world know that dre's creepin' on a come up and implies that this protege will be integral to the awesomeness of said forthcoming dre project. i think they could be cool as fuck with each other right now and they just gotta keep collaboration on the low at the moment due to recent drama.

                     I have one more thought to share on the Game before I end this post: I read about people criticizing him for the change of heart show thing. I talked to Chris, the guy that showed me howm dope the game was, and he said that he saw it as legitimate because anyone would wanna get on TV or whatever and that it's not especially soft of him to be doing that show. I want to say that it's not the issue of him being soft that is raised by the TV show appearance but it just makes you think...okay he was like 17 or 18 or whatever and WHAT exactly is he spending his time doing? According to his albums, he was spending his time banging on the streets of compton but now we have reason to believe he was standing in lines in LA trying to have fun on TV shows which IS a completely legiitimate thing to do but not exactly the standard activity of someone who's supposed to be struggling in the street life. Chris responded to that by saying "well he was like 17 or 18 maybe he wasn't that deep into the gang yet, or maybe he would gangbang when he went out at night or.." but I'm saying is there such thing as a real "weekend gangsta"? Oh it's Friday night, better grab my red rag and a gat....really though? I'm hearing now that BF100 a certified blood is claiming that the Game's gangster backstory is lifted from his gangster backstory. The Game revealed to be spending his time in hollywood studios not compton back alleys and he is the absolute most perfect product that has ever been made for US. And when he debuted he was marketed with 50 and Gunit to make g unit a bi coastal Gangsta rap representation for optimal profits on all front. In other words, what i'm getting at, is, I think it is perfectly possible that the Game, as we know him, is a fabrication of Jimmy Iovine and Dr.Dre-BUT I don't care. i could half a fuck if the guys I listen to actually shoot people-I want my 17.99]'s worth when I go to the store. I couldn't believe Crooked I in this interview I read with you guys the other day, Crooked I says something like "Oh the damage I could do to snoop's credibility.." What kind of stupid ASS shit is that to say? A) You're being just as negative as you're criticizing snoop for being and saying that and B) You and the guy who filmed the Rodney King beating can give me a tape of snoop doggy dogg in 1992 giving head to a dude and Doggystyle would STILL be doper than your non existent ass album and Doggystyle would STILL be a classic as album. Michael jackson molested kids? Ain't that a bitch....guess I'll throw away my copy of thriller? nah, dope music is dope music RE-FUCKING-GARDLESS of GUNS. And west coast music will be for the better once music is the focus and not 'realness'. dope music is real.             I'm not saying the game is fake. I'm saying it's possible that he is and that furthermore, it shouldn't matter because the product with his name on it? It's dope.

-T

[J$crILLa]

i dont read fuckin novels on the internet or in real life for that matter

[big mat]

Good read, but I don't agree with all you said, there's no prophecy to me, westcoast will never be on top again, and game, as much as i like his album which i think bangs hard, he's not saying much, and he's not very credible. But he got shot and sold drugs, so much rapper did the same, so i think yes he is gangsta, but he was something else before, something completely opposite to gangsterism. But I could care less, like you said dope music is dope music. I wish he could be more lyrical or drop less name, but i'll take him as he is, a good entertainer doing good music, but not the best there is

[BOX5 the best poster on this site yell]

our savior? are you fucc'n kidd'n me,yall place mere mortals as your gods,because they can rap??? and not even super lyrical? hahahahahahahahahahaa, what happen to saying that cat right there is dope,i'm buying his music, he's the "dopest" cat out,whats up with all this savior talk?? fans need to come bacc down to earth yell

[Black Uhuru]

I only read the first paragraph but come on man Game's appeal is in his mic presence and the beats he chooses, how many times he gonna say Dre, Compton, Dre, 6-4, Dre, Chronic, Dre, Snoop, Dre, Khaki's, Dre, Chucks, Dre etc. If Game is the west coast saviour then Hip Hop really is dead.

[Tanjential]

 In the sense that he's lyrical(if not the most lyrical), and is high profile. There are rappers doper than Pac but they weren't in the position to do what pac did just like there are rappers on the west better than Game that are not in the position to do what he does. What the Game does artistically is a perfect product-his albums are statements that are speculation and analysis about the rap game. It's meta cognition at its best. Also he's like a rap mega-man-anyone that is established that he raps with, he adapts to their style it's actually a really impressive poetic device. On the song with Eminem, he describes himself ind etroit homesick and he proceeds to emulate Em's style "I came/ion this game/...etc.." his rhythm and delivery all of the sudden amalgamates into Em's style. On Advocate he INTENTIONALLY sounds VOCALLY like dr.Dre-it's a statement dogg. it's homage, he's saying "I'm about to be to the MCing aspect of hip hop what Dre is to the djing aspect of hip hop." It's homage, it's an artistic statement. It's not all about flipping lines, it's about your work in CONTEXT. Look at the big picture. On Blue carpet, he sets himself in a scene in long beach and proceeds to rap stylistically and simply like Snoop "just dippn, one blood one crippn" all the sudden he drops his lyricisim down to snoop's level-he ADAPTS, he'sm a fucking chameleon, rap megaman.it's not just about sylabbles dude. it's what you're doing artistically. Kid is perfect, whether it's him or Jimmy Iovine that's actually creating the shit, it's a DPG geeks dream, i feel.
      In other words, he's not talking about gang life, he's talking about cats talking about the gang life and frankly that's as original as it gets when you're talking big names on the west. And hell yeah he's a savior, before Game when east coast heads would say we were wack what the fuck could we say? "Well we got this guy Crooked I he's dope as fuck, he may drop an album some day...." Plezbalev he's the west coast savior, when I was listening to WC rap before game my best bet was to hope for Kurupt's once a month, you dig?

-T

[BOX5 the best poster on this site yell]

I GOTTA disagree with that,constantly saying the s ame thing over and over,is nothing to praise,and sounding like somebody else may prove to be profitable,but hip hop was based off of being original and dude for the most part is not that,it's just the take the easy way to make music approach that he's doing,now you are right about the position he's in as far as popularity,and world wide rec for the west,but fucc those east coast cats (not all of them just the certain ones) that said we didn't have no one,we always had lyricist,we just put one side over in the mainstream,but true hip hoppers no that wasn't the case,and when cats say that,to me thats a diss to everyone of them hip hop cats who rep the artform,especially alot of the cats at project blowed,it's a slap in the face to the ras kasses,the freestyle fellowships,the volume 10's,the gift of gabs,hiero's,etc. like i always say,more power to the brother for getting his chipper jones but there's no reason to defend the subpar and biting shit he does networth yell

[Tanjential]

I wouldn't say what he does is biting, I think that is over-simplifying what he does. I would also disagree with saying his work is sub par.

On a track with Eminem, in his verse he sets himself in a scene in Detroit and then proceeds to do his own version of Em's style...i've never heard him come like Em anywhere else...dude ain't biting, he's paying respect. same thing with the snoop song. And in regards to how he mimics Dre's voice in Advocate-dude, he's taking the way dre raps and makes it dope. It's like he's saying "i'm so dope, I'll take Dre's rap style, the style of a cat who ain't even a rapper, and make it dope in homage to the cat." He's all about the Rap Game, that's why he's the Game. it's impressive to me on an artistic level because he is an ideal dre product: artistiscally worthwhile while still very marketable: he's a remarkable fabrication.
           Cats who rep the artform? Honestly I've thought about this for a long time and it's like this for me man, those underground cats are sick poets but that's it-poets. I listen to Ras and Atmosphere and Hiero and other shit like that when it's time to sit and think, be filled with some knowledge to dig on some poetry, you know? But I listen to west coast rap music for a completely different reason and circumstance then when I want to experience some good poetry. I mean when I'm in the mood for some poetry I dig on some Allen Ginsberg, Rumi, Rimbaud, Baudelaire....you know? That's some shit that will provoke a worthwhile thought When I listen to WC rap I want some shit to get hyphy to. Some shit to smoke a blunt too. Some funky shit that will make me smile, make me entertained...game is a worthwhile product in that sense, more worthwhile than just about any other high profile cat on the west I can think of and his shit is mad lyrical if not the most lyrical.
           No attack dude, I see what you mean. Those cats work hard, they need respect and I respect them but I guess I'm kind of referring to M Dogg's King of the coasts article. Peace-T

                             

[redemption7]

I wouldn't say what he does is biting, I think that is over-simplifying what he does. I would also disagree with saying his work is sub par.

On a track with Eminem, in his verse he sets himself in a scene in Detroit and then proceeds to do his own version of Em's style...i've never heard him come like Em anywhere else...dude ain't biting, he's paying respect. same thing with the snoop song. And in regards to how he mimics Dre's voice in Advocate-dude, he's taking the way dre raps and makes it dope. It's like he's saying "i'm so dope, I'll take Dre's rap style, the style of a cat who ain't even a rapper, and make it dope in homage to the cat." He's all about the Rap Game, that's why he's the Game. it's impressive to me on an artistic level because he is an ideal dre product: artistiscally worthwhile while still very marketable: he's a remarkable fabrication.
           Cats who rep the artform? Honestly I've thought about this for a long time and it's like this for me man, those underground cats are sick poets but that's it-poets. I listen to Ras and Atmosphere and Hiero and other shit like that when it's time to sit and think, be filled with some knowledge to dig on some poetry, you know? But I listen to west coast rap music for a completely different reason and circumstance then when I want to experience some good poetry. I mean when I'm in the mood for some poetry I dig on some Allen Ginsberg, Rumi, Rimbaud, Baudelaire....you know? That's some shit that will provoke a worthwhile thought When I listen to WC rap I want some shit to get hyphy to. Some shit to smoke a blunt too. Some funky shit that will make me smile, make me entertained...game is a worthwhile product in that sense, more worthwhile than just about any other high profile cat on the west I can think of and his shit is mad lyrical if not the most lyrical.
           No attack dude, I see what you mean. Those cats work hard, they need respect and I respect them but I guess I'm kind of referring to M Dogg's King of the coasts article. Peace-T

                             

Read your post and all your following comments. And I agree with most of what youre saying. BUT I dont necessarily think Game is quite there yet. But given his improvement over the last year, if his career keeps moving forward he has the potential to be to the West Coast, what Nas is to the East. But i think that is something that comes with age and time spent perfecting your craft. I'd say let dude chill for a couple years and perfect his craft, mature a little & get his mindset right, hook back up with Dre, and he will probably drop a Doggystyle, Chronic, or Illmatic. But like I said, he's not quite there yet, still gots some growing to do, but the potential is definitely there...

PS
I can only Imagine what the Doctor's Advocate would of been like if this whole 50/Game beef never happened

[Samoan Enforcer]

game is not near deep enough to be havin this long ass discussion about him

[GangstaBoogy]

i dont read fuckin novels on the internet or in real life for that matter

lmao +1

[Detox Is A Myth!!!]

game is not near deep enough to be havin this long ass discussion about him

Yep.

Game is probably the LEAST interesting rapper on the West right now upon "further scrutiny" and "deep analysis" and such.

I find Game to be most tolerable when I don't try to take anything he says seriously, because, really, as you admit, his whole m.o. is studio manufactured from the get-go.  Therefore, it is IMPOSSIBLE for me to listen to his music from a content standpoint -- the only thing he has going for him is style.  And style, of course, is completely subjective.  I prefer Snoop and the 90s Death Row members' more relaxed style on the mic.  You seem to prefer Game's, and good for you.  I'm glad you get enjoyment out of it.  But, please, don't come in here and say Game is the westcoast SAVIOR based on some subjective preference for his style of rapping.  That's asanine.

I know you're going to argue that Game has at least an inkling of content in him, so, let me just take preventitive measures and say -- tell me a SINGLE Game verse that is as socially relevant as the music NWA and ICE CUBE solo were making content-wise in the late 80s and early 90s.

I await your response.

[BIGG-A]

damn, that shit was super long. how long that take ya 2 write

[Tanjential]

Okay, when I say savior all i fucking mean is The Game fulfills every desire that people on this very forum has for the west coast four years ago when i was last here. All you cats disagreeing with me I guess weren't around then, that's fine. I mean he's a figurehead to look to when people try to say that west coast isn't at all about lyrics. He's representing for the west really hard and bringing activity buzz, to a west that needs it. I also was over the top in stating him as savior to accentuate how ridiculously crafted of a fabrication he is, or I find him to be.

Also, how does anything I said lead people to believe I like his style more than snoop and the other laid back dpg shit? I'm a stoner that's my shit but those guys just weren't doing anything lyrically-the Game comes nice. i think you guys like to understate how nicely he comes cause a)he's young b) people feel cool when they're not impressed by commercially popular acts but dude comes nice and that's coming from a dude who didn't give a fuck about him the first two years of his presence on the scene.

           Also, I'm not saying he's a successor in lyrical content to NWA or anything like that. I'm saying he's a west coast figurehead, a west coast lyricist with high profile production and a direction of a kind...exactly what everyone that I was talking to on this forum was saying the west needed to bring some buzz to the coast. I was just observing that it's crazy to me that after I left the rap scene oor whateever, a product so ready for this demographic appeared in the way that he did. I'm just having the discussion you guys had in 04 or 05 or whatever and if you don't want to participate in my novels or whatever than don't but there's no reason to say I'm stood because of the way i see this cats art. And it's spelled asinine. -T

[So Much Style]

tangent!! its your boy the narrator

anyway,
i think dre worked with game for his album but kept his name off due to the drama too. "da shit", "lookin  at you", and "one night" have dre written all over them