Red State

Just because you’re a big rap star and grew up in a really tough neighborhood doesn’t mean you have to be a hard ass. Take Game. And it’s just “Game” now. He lost his “The” sometime in the last couple years which he spent either touring or banging away in the studio with Dr. Dre trying to finish his fourth studio album. But Game fans know he’s not the kind of hip-hop artist who cranks out two albums a year. Like many dedicated cannabis users—he likes to take his time. Not that the man doesn’t work. He’s got three kids, a wife, a record label and a touring schedule that would incapacitate most mortal beings. He handles it all with aplomb. He’s ready to talk about the imminent release of The R.E.D. Album—and pretty much anything else I can think to throw at him . . .

So, you have a new album coming out I hear.

Oh yeah? You heard that? Where did you hear about that?

I have my sources.

Yeah. Album is coming out Aug. 23.

You wanna tell me about it?

Yeah, man. It’s going down. Gonna be the biggest, best album of the year.

Seems like it’s been a while since your last album. How long did you work on this one?

Two and a half years, man. Mostly because I tour a lot and ’cause I got three kids, man. So I balance hip-hop and fatherhood these days. But we got it done. A lot of dope producers, a lot of dope artists and it’s finally coming to an end. And it’s gonna finally be able to see the light of day come Aug. 23.

Who is guesting on The R.E.D. Album? Who’d you get?

I got nobody. I ain’t saying nothing. [On] Aug. 23 you get to find out about that. It was executive produced by Dr. Dre and Pharrell.

The first single from The R.E.D. Album, “Pot of Gold” featuring Chris Brown, was the most added song in the country last week. Congratulations on that, by the way. Can you tell me a little about the song?

“Pot of Gold” is basically a song about how both Chris and I had our trials and tribulations in our careers, and once I heard the beat I wanted to write a song that kind of championed the fact we made it back into the spotlight. So who else could get on the hook besides my homie Chris? Number one, he had his own controversy, [and] number two, he’s my homie and number three, people love that dude and they wanted to see him come back into the limelight. So we did that with the song. The song is great. It’s starting to get added everywhere.

You may take your time with the albums, but I see you doing live shows all the time.

Yeah, that’s how I keep the bills paid.

Did you take some time off from touring to finish up the new album?

Yeah, yeah; I definitely lost a couple hundred thousand, but the album is coming out and I’ll get to tour that album so everything’s working with each other. Everything.

So, tell me about how you write songs. What’s your studio process?

I listen to the beat. If the beat don’t pull me in off the bat, I’m not f#@*ing with that. I got no time to play no more. I used to just kinda put a verse on everything and hopefully at the end of the night I would love something enough to finish it. But that’s not how I do it these days. If the beat isn’t something I think everybody who hears it is gonna love, I’m not even f#@*ing with it. And the first part is coming up with a hook because if you don’t got a hook, you don’t got a song. What used to happen is I used to write the verses—if I couldn’t come up with a hook fast enough I would write the verses. Then I would be stuck the rest of the night trying to figure out what the hook was gonna be. So now if I can’t get the hook in the first five minutes I’m onto the next beat.

So, who’s making beats for you these days?

Man, it’s this young guy named Dr. Dre.

Some new kid you just met on the street?

Yeah we just met on the street. Cool kid. I think he’s gonna blow up.

Let’s talk about your career. Things blew up pretty fast for you right from the beginning with your first album, The Documentary, selling millions of copies. Then you started collecting all sorts of awards—getting Grammys and all that. That must have gotten your head spinning.

You know from when The Documentary dropped to now—I think I’m just now starting to sorta slow down. The beginning process was crazy. The early stages of my career I did nothing but have a lot of fun. I wasn’t really focused on anything except enjoying it. But now I’m starting to really kick back and relax and start enjoying the fruits of my labor.

Tell me how you started rapping.

Well I got shot and I decided I needed to do something with my life other than gangbanging and selling crack.

Were you surprised at how fast things blew up for you after The Documentary dropped?

Nope, because I was signed to Dr. Dre, man, and I was one-fifth of the biggest rap group in the world at the time.

So, you had a sense of destiny: This was gonna happen.

A sense of destiny. I like that. Smart guy, man. Where you learning these big words?

Oh, I got some learning in me. Tell me about making The Documentary. Was that an amazing time for you?

No. It was three f#@*ing long years. It was pretty f#@*ing long and pretty f#@*ing boring after a while, man. It was like Dre was shooting down everything. Everything was “wack, wack, wack.” But we finally f#@*ing got it.

Were there times when you thought, “This isn’t gonna happen”?

Yeah, man. There were times when I was ready to give up and go back to selling crack. A hundred times actually. But 50 [Cent] came in, smoothed it out and made it work for me. So, that’s what it was.

Do you have a plan for the future?

My short term plan is to be the best dad I possibly can; be the best rap artist I possibly can; be the best friend; be the best man for my woman I possibly can; to be the best owner for my dogs; to be the best on Xbox.

Is it hard to find balance in this business?

Nope, because I use my kids for that. That’s where the balance comes from. I’m a father first. That’s where my love is drawn from, then my woman, my family—that’s it, that’s where I get the balance.

Tell me about the average day in the life of Game.

Average day I wake up, brush my teeth. I probably have either a bowl of cereal or a tuna sandwich. I’m like a fiend, a tuna fiend. Tuna salad and cool ranch. Then I’m going for a run. Going to the gym or playing with my kids. Playing video games with my sons or teaching my daughter how to walk.

How old are your kids?

My kids are 8, 4 and almost a year.

Wow. You’ve got your hands full, don’t you?

Yeah, man. But I can’t wait for my daughter to walk. She’s my everything, man.

Was fatherhood part of the plan?

Nah, I was just winging it. That’s how I did it. I just kind of do it. It’s just life, though. Nobody should take life too-too seriously, you know? You just gotta wake up and kinda go left one day—go right the next.

Let’s talk about some of the hurdles you had to clear. Your family life growing up wasn’t exactly ideal, was it?

It was just the everyday trials and tribulations of the ’hood; getting pulled from left to right because people needed money. That was what pulled me into the game, man. My parents were always in trouble and I ended up growing up in this kind of boys home.

How did you maintain during that time?

I just took to the streets. Hooked up in my ’hood and did the best I could with the circumstances I was put in.

I see a lot of famous people who came from tough neighborhoods getting dragged back down by old friends. Did you have a hard time making a break from those early relationships when you became a star?

Yeah, when you try to do something you feel alone a lot and the only person who helps you out is God, but I wasn’t in tune . . . I mean I didn’t have a relationship with Jesus then like I do now. So, it’s kind of like I was left to the wolves. You gotta figure out life on your own sometimes, but when you’re young you don’t really have any experience or wisdom so you fall astray.

When did you get involved in a gang?

When I was born, man. You’re just born into this shit. In Compton or any of the surrounding areas like Watts or Inglewood. There’s sort of nothing you can do.

It’s hard to survive outside a group in those neighborhoods though, isn’t it?

Of course, especially when you come from a broken home like I did.

Did you play a lot of sports growing up?

Yeah, I played basketball. I played everything. That’s how I got the name “Game.”

You also have your own label, Black Wall Street Records, right?

Yeah, man. That’s for life.

Running a label is a whole lot harder than starting one, isn’t it?

It ain’t easy. You gotta choose the right artists, man. Or you can try to put on your homies, which is what I’m doing now. I’m just kinda letting everybody around get into the studio and be themselves, and we[’re] having more fun and doing it that way. We about to put out this mixtape on Aug. 1 called Hood Morning, which is gonna be crazy. But running a label is kinda crazy because you got the clothing aspect, the music. And then when you’re an artist it’s two times the battle. But, you know, I’m trying to level it all out.

Going into business with friends can be tricky.

When I’m in the studio we gotta get it on, man. Once somebody gets behind the mic—we ain’t f#@*ing friends no more. You gotta either step it up or step the f#*k out because I ain’t got no time to be playing. I got work to do. There’[re] studio costs. The engineer needs to be paid and the lights gotta stay on, man. So we gotta get it movin‘.

I hear ya. Do you work out of your own studio or do you rent places?

I got a studio at the crib but, you know, that shit is like working from home. I like to relax when I want to relax, you know, so I like to go out into the big studios and work from there. That’s just where I’m most comfortable and where I’m motivated. And that’s just how I’ve done it since the beginning of my career, and I’m four albums in so that’s how I love it.

You’ve have had a number of high-profile hip-hop feuds starting with you and 50 Cent.

Well after The Documentary, we fell out, me and 50. Man, I think he was mad at me being allies with Nas and Fat Joe. But I don’t think it was just that. I think it was bigger than that. I think he was jealous of me. So, he choose to do what he called “kicking me outta the group.” But I already knew it was coming so I was prepared for it, basically.

It seems like you fell in with such a heavy crew so quickly. Going from slinging crack to getting produced by Dre and working with all these big hip-hop stars. How did that happen?

Man, everything is possible through Dr. Dre.

How did you hook up with him?

Through my demo which was the hottest in the streets. I worked hard on it and it was raw and it was gutter and everybody loved it.

Do you remember your first meeting with Dr. Dre?

I walked in the studio and there was Busta Rhymes and Snoop Dogg and Nate Dogg and Dr. Dre.

You must have been freaking out a little.

I was so f#@*ing shocked but the thing about it is I felt comfortable right away, and I knew once Dre listened to the music that he would be sold and I would be a part of that team. I felt that would be a 100 percent true by the end of the night.

How did it end up going down?

I remember Dre playing my demo and he played it for about 20 seconds then he stopped the tape and said, “Welcome to Aftermath” and that was the end of that meeting.

Wow. You must have been on the moon.

I tried to keep my cool but it’s hard when you’re in the studio with Dr. Dre and Nate Dogg and everybody.

Alright, enough about you. Let’s talk about us. Have you ever seen CULTURE Magazine?

Yeah. I’ve seen it.

Ever rolled a joint off it?

I’ve never rolled a joint off it, but I’ve definitely seen weed crumbs on it.

Do you have a studio water pipe?

Nah, we just have a white boy named . . . uh . . . named . . . uh . . . Damn I forgot the name of my white dude!

We all look kinda similar.

We just call him Wide Right. You know when you kick a field goal and it misses and they are like, “Oh, it’s wide right.” That’s how high this dude is when he comes to the studio. His name is Palmer but we call him Wide Right.

And what is his role in the studio?

His job is he’s always got the weed. He’s always got the hash. He’s like the fucking Transformer of weed. He’s always got a different f#@*ing weed part. He’s got the hashish, and some other slow burning shit. He’s got oils. He’s got a special lighter that lets you hit the weed just right. Dude is crazy, man.

So, getting baked in the studio is a regular occurrence?

Every time, man. You gotta get baked, man. What’s life without getting baked?

So I heard you’re a Kush guy?

Yeah, of course, man. What else is there?

What about the Purps?

F#*k the Purps, man. It’s the Kush, man.

It’s like a freakin‘ war over there between the different factions.

Purps is like Eastern. We smokes the OG Kush. If it was a boxing match Kush would f#*k it up. Kush is Pacquiao.

So, what is your pre-album release schedule?

I’m on my promo tour. I’m going all over the country in my big f#@*ing bus with all my homies and a whole bunch of weed. Pull me over and the weed will evaporate.

I’m sure you have a plush ride.

Man, my tour bus is the shit. You should come on tour with us. I’ll get you a lot of pussy, a lot of weed, man. Have a lot of fun.

Yo, Game, if your boy Palmer can’t make it and you need a replacement white dude—gimme a call.

www.comptongame.com.