REVOLT recently recognized The Game for bringing “West Coast Hip Hop back to prominence in the mid-2000s” and for “representing Compton with pride” on its list of 10 rappers who cemented Los Angeles’ legacy as a Hip Hop capital.
He made his mainstream debut with his freshman album, The Documentary, in 2005. The EP features two singles, “How We Do” and “Hate It Or Love It,” that landed in the top five on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with assists from 50 Cent. For a time, his name was regularly mentioned in debates as fans attempted to rank artists by their lyrical prowess.
In a new Billboard partnership with Tres Generaciones Tequila, he joined Rocsi Diaz, D Smoke and the music authority’s Carl Lamarre for a conversation that saw them curate the ultimate list of “Get Up Anthems for LA.” As the group mulled over where to place some of the most iconic and notable offerings from the best coast, a moment was carved out to acknowledge The Game.
D Smoke first lauded that, “On the west, there aren’t — if you talk about the top 10 rappers out of the west — there aren’t another nine ahead of Chuck, ahead of The Game. And he even said today, ‘I like people to think I’m the dumb gangbanger.’ But when you really listen, it’s like, 'Oh, this dude could rap. He’s a real live poet and a writer.'”
According to the hitmaker, the notoriety and fame he experienced at the start of his career did not completely catapult him into a new lifestyle, but did offer him a perspective on what truly matters in life. “I was on the block like Nino Brown, d**n near, on the west. My mother had to come … back to Compton from the place that I put her in, and cry and plead for me to move off Brazil [Street] and Wilmington [Avenue] and get a condo on Wilshire [Boulevard]. It was a tough time.”
Further into his recollection he shared, “I literally thought that I should have died … somewhere between The Documentary and Doctor’s Advocate. The fact that I didn’t, I call [it] pure luck. And my will to survive was purely based on wanting to see my daughter [Cali Lynn Dream Taylor], wanting to walk my daughter down the aisle.” He is also a father to sons Harlem Caron Taylor, King Justice Taylor and newborn Blaze Taylor.
“I had a new mission and a new will to live. That’s what it’s about for me,” he said. Noting that, “it’s easy for me to give my flowers to Kendrick and YG and Ice Cube, and say I love and miss Nip, and do all of that, and I get left out of all the conversations. I get left off the murals. I don’t give a f**k about none of that.”
In the end, the Game said, “I literally am just trying to stay alive to see my daughter walk down the aisle and that’s it. My purpose is only to be a father. … This list is cool, but fatherhood — that’s me.” Check out the full conversation and the complete list of anthems below.
- “It Was A Good Day” by Ice Cube
- “Gin And Juice” by Snoop Dogg and Dat Nigga Daz
- “California Love” by Tupac Shakur and Dr. Dre
- “Still D.R.E.” by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
- “Not Like Us” by Kendrick Lamar
- “Last Time That I Checc’d” by Nipsey Hussle and YG
- “Nuthin’ But A ‘G’ Thang” by Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg
- “We Can Freak It” by Kurupt
- “Regulate” by Warren G and Nate Dogg
- “BPT” by YG