Author Topic: THE GAME REALITY CHECK HIP HOP DX ARTICLE (Read 340 times)

STILLDRE IS THE GODFATHER · « **on:** December 24, 2004, 01:35:56 PM »

The Game: Reality Check
Friday - December 17, 2004
Bayer L. Mack
In 1988, while newly elected president George Bush, Sr. spoke of a “kinder, gentler nation” and Bobby McFerrin won a Grammy for Best Song by telling listeners “Don’t Worry, Be Happy,” Public Enemy’s It Takes A Nation of Millions to Hold Us Back, Boogie Down Productions’ By All Means Necessary, Ice-T’s Power and NWA’s Straight Outta Compton revealed a different reality.

America was still a country steeped in economic and racial inequality with cities suffocating in the grip of a corrupt police force. Despite the assurances of Bush 41 and McFerrin, things weren’t all good. Somebody needed to say something. That voice of dissent came from PE, BDP, Ice-T and NWA: all niggas with attitude, and even more
frightening to the establishment -- growing influence.

Somewhere in those same Compton, CA streets that spawned “Fuck the Police” and “Express Yourself,”. a seven-year-old Jaceyon Taylor was already witnessing the reality being spewed over rap tracks.

Seventeen years, five gunshot wounds and two dead brothers later, The Game has emerged with The Documentary – a Dr. Dre-produced account of his struggle to be released on January 18 through G Unit/Aftermath.

“I’m telling my story. I’m not trying to glorify the [gangsta lifestyle],” says the 24-year-old when asked how being shot five times and left for dead affected his outlook on life and the content of his lyrics. “I don’t want anyone walking in my shoes – not that I think they could.”

True to the NWA piece dangling from his neck, the six-foot four-inch Game is definitely a nigga with an attitude. Despite the media hype tagging him as a “West Coast savior,” the rapper denies feeling any pressure to live up to expectations and rejects the notion that Killa Cali has been slippin’.

“The West Coast never fell off. It was just asleep,” he defiantly proclaims. Game, however, does concede the fact that “Death Row was really all we had and when it went down, all the West Coast went with it.”

Though relatively new to the rap game, the cocky wordsmith doesn’t shirk the task of putting the “W” back atop the charts – even though he didn’t ask for the job.

“I’ll take on that responsibility if you guys [the media] want to lay it on my shoulders,” says Game who is no doubt a huge fan of his Compton forefathers. From the “NWA” tattoo on his forearm to his hero worship of its members, the respect for the “world’s most dangerous group” is genuine.

“Everybody who’s trying to be a gangsta got it from Eazy E,” says the former Cedar Block Piru Blood. “He’s the original gangsta.”

Game, like his adopted family members 50 Cent and Eminem, rails against what he considers the “commercial bullshit” passing as rap music today. But let's keep it real:

What’s more commercial than gangsta rap? Isn’t his new release The
Documentary just as slickly packaged and marketed as a pop release?

In fact, isn’t gangsta rap the new pop music? Game bristles at the assertion that nothing more can be said that hasn’t been said in “reality rap” and that music fans already know what goes on in the streets.

“Do they know about how many people is suffering? Do they know what types of degrading things people do just to get by?” a somewhat agitated Game counters. “I’m just telling my story over Dr. Dre beats. Who could want more than that? If that’s not enough, I don’t know what it is.”

Game is not alone. Determining the appetite of music fans is far from an exact science, but when you guess right, the rewards can be enormous. In 1994, Sean “Puffy” Combs went against the grain by producing an album that featured a lyrical New Yorker, the Notorious B.I.G. rapping over beats more accessible to West Coast and Down South listeners. Four years later, in his last official act as label head, Def Jam Records founder Russell Simmons saw a golden opportunity in the vacuum created by Tupac Shakur’s untimely death and signed DMX.

Eminem scored an equally impressive success by offering 50 Cent as a testosterone-fused alternative to Ja Rule’s romantic thug.

So what void will The Game fill?

Interscope is betting that the timing is right for a West Coast resurrection.

Although he’s only been rapping for four years, the former prep school basketball star (who picked up rap after studying classics by Biggie, Jay-Z and Kool G Rap) has a wealth of industry buzz and street credibility surrounding him. He also has something Dr. Dre has desired to successfully combine with his sonic production style for years -- a distinctive East Coast flow.

Game, like his rap idols NWA, is unapologetic about The Documentary’s lyrical content and like countless artists before, considers himself a mere street reporter.

“I address every aspect of [the streets],” says the rapper. “I’m a sponge. I make my music based on what I’ve seen and lived.”

True to form, The Documentary is straight up gangsta music. It has no
socially redemptive qualities and doesn’t pretend to. Game isn’t trying to change the world with his pen. He’s just spittin’ hot shit over crackin’ beats.

It’s what D.O.C. called “the formula.”

However, the formula didn’t work wonders for The Firm, Rakim or Xzibit, and there’s no guarantee Dre’s beats and Game’s lyrics will be enough to propel The Documentary to the top of the charts.

“I’m not Xzibit,” Game says boldly. “I’m a prophet sent by the rap gods.”

Documentary’s street banger, “Westside Story,” sounds like what you would expect from an Andre Young special with its menacing bass line and high keyboard strikes. The music video for the album’s first single, “How We Do,” is cinematic in its delivery (another Dr. Dre trademark) and features 50 Cent trading verses with Game about the usual suspects: rims, rhymes, women and money.

“I’m not a prophet,” offers Game somewhat contradictorily when asked about the future of his brand of music. “I can’t tell where [gangsta rap] is going from here.”

No... Game is not a prophet. Ice Cube on Death Certificate was a prophet. Jay-Z on Reasonable Doubt was a prophet. NAS has prophesied for the last 10 years!

To some The Game is just a street nigga with street credibilty on the come up...He's telling his story over Dr. Dre beats...and we all know that Dre's beats are for the masses. If you listen to his performance on Untold Story, the unofficial release of old Game demos, it’s clear the kid has talent. At the very least, The Documentary should be entertaining.

But for true enlightenment, maybe we should take the advice of a man credited with recording the first gangsta rap, Ice-T, and go to the library...