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Story: Jack Foley
HE'S been billed as 'the new future of hip-hop' and a West Coast
giant worthy of following in the footsteps of Dr. Dre, Eazy-E,
Ice Cube and Snoop, so it's probably worth checking out the story
behind the hype.
The Game (aka Jayceon Taylor) was raised in a foster home and
started selling drugs on the street at the age of 10.
He was a talented basketball player at school, but after losing
two brothers, a cousin and numerous friends to gang violence,
he gave up his hoop dreams and completely immersed himself in
the gang way of life.
Three years ago, during a drug deal, he took five bullets to
the chest, arms and leg and woke up in hospital from a three day
coma.
"It could have been fatal," he says defiantly. "But
it wasn't so, fuck it, I came back to terrorise hip hop."
Since that moment The Game has been focussed on nothing other
than hip hop in order to make his way out of the gang environment.
Five months later, he was signed on the strength of a mixtape
track that fell into Dr. Dre's hands, who promptly signed him
to his Aftermath label and labelled him as an artist capable of
putting the West Coast back on the map.
But the story merely puts The Game in perspective. The real
deal is the music and the music is what's got people talking.
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Producers include Dre, Eminem, Kanye
West, Timbaland and Jus Blaze, while guests include Eminem, 50
Cent, Mary J. Blige, Nate Dogg,
G Unit's Tony Yayo, Busta Rhymes and Faith Evans.
Tracks already burning up the street are Westside Story,
featuring 50 Cent, and Higher.
How We Do will be the first single, complete with a video
featuring Dr. Dre and 50 Cent, which has been directed by Hype
Williams.
And the album itself, called The Documentary, will be repackaged
in March to include an extremely hard, riveting short film about
The Game, his music, his life in the troubled ganglands of Compton,
an insight into his relationships with gang members on all sides,
his home and family and the death of his close friend Billboard
who was shot down during the making of the film.
Signing The Game to Aftermath Entertainment and hooking him up
with 50 Cent is the fulfilment of a long-held personal dream for
Dr. Dre.
It allows him to nurture a West Coast artist with a similar background
to his own, and allow that artist to turn a page in his life and
truly fulfil his potential.
The Game's devotion to Dr. Dre, NWA and his West Coast heritage
is carved into his body - the NWA logo is tattooed across his
chest and he has a portrait of Eazy-E across his forearm.
Anticipation for his debut album is huge and this young man willingly
carries the weight of West Coast rap history on his back.
"I feel like I woke a monster," he says, "I'm
a one-man NWA."
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