When The Game first entered, no pun intended, the game, he got off to a blazing start.
Joining 50 Cent’s G-Unit at the advisement of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, The Game dropped The Documentary in 2005 and with “Hate It Or Love It” leading the charge, the young Los Angeles rapper carved out his place in hip-hop.
But a public feud with 50 and the rest of G-Unit resulted in The Game leaving the collective, and despite the success of his Documentary follow up, Doctor’s Advocate, the rest of his career has been mostly up-and-down.
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He has had big records since “Hate It Or Love It.” “100” featuring Drake comes to mind, as well as “My Life” and “Red Nation” with Lil Wayne, but controversial statements and sometimes-corny behavior have painted The Game in a less-than-legendary light.
Diehard fans will tell you that the music should be the main focus, as it has never been lost that The Game can really rap, but as he enters his early 40s, he doesn’t get the same respect as other veterans of the game.
And last night, The R.E.D. Album rapper took to Twitter to air out some of his grievances.
“I never got my flowers from the industry cause wouldn’t be a puppet for the dollar bill #ThugLife,” he tweeted. “You know how many of your favorite WEST COAST artists I hand a hand in puttin on ??? Just being a good n***a…. Was offered finders fees, could’ve signed n****s….. etc, I just wanted to see n****s from my side win … Ask Dr. Dre…. Ask Top Dawg, ask n****s… I been solid for n****s since 2003 in this shit. The definition of “GOOD LOOKIN”.
The legend conversation in hip-hop is one of the most difficult ones to have because there are no concrete parameters for what constitutes a legend. The Game has been around a long time, and like he said, he did throw upcoming artists on songs and give them a larger platform, but the fact of the matter is that no one holds him in the same esteem as other hip-hop legends. Where people talk about Nas and Jay-Z, or Drake, J. Cole and Kendrick, The Game doesn’t necessarily fit. But where people talk about other rappers who came and went without making any noise, The Game doesn’t fit either.
What do you think? Does The Game deserve the flowers he obviously wants? Let us know in the comments.