December 15, 2006 @ 2:07 pm

EXCLUSIVE: Game Time (Vol. 3)

Peter Relic

From where in your fam do you get your light eyes? Game: No one. There’s no one but me. I’m funny like that. Kinda hoped my son would come out with the light eyes but he didn’t. He came out with the chocolate browns. Do you know the story of the basketball legend Chuck Taylor, who they named the sneaker after? Game: Um, I know he was aiight, but LeBron would’ve kicked his ass. That was back in the day when you could shoot with two hands, and probably get away with traveling. That day is gone. Appreciate his shoe, man. It’s a great shoe. His story is a classic tale of exploitation. He was an alcoholic and signed away the rights to use his name on the shoe for money to go out drinking. Game: What an idiot. Signed away the license like that? Fucking idiot. Maybe he needed an Olde English instead of that Heine he was drinking. The reference to Chuck Taylor is dope but my moniker Chuck Taylor is not from the man or the shoe. I had a brother Charles Taylor who's dead now. He was [called] Chuck and it just comes in as a coincidence that it aligns with the history of the shoe and the man. Tell me a story about an experience that you had at the Compton Swap Meet. Game: An experience I had at the Compton Swap meet was...walking through the Compton Swap Meet—which was heavily Crip-, ese-, and Blood-infested—and seeing some Crips I really didn't get along with. I was about 15. They were about seven, eight deep and I was by myself. I was like, Fuck, I got these red Chucks on, red strings. It’s not my fucking day. I’m walking through and a police officer walks up to me and says, “Don’t worry, Blood, I got your back.” I looked at him, like, Woah, police officers gangbang too! And that was the craziest realization. He watched over the situation, and I kept my hard look on, and it turned out those Crips were bluffing that day. I walked away unscathed. But I can’t say the same thing about the next time I seen those guys, because I ended up getting my ass whooped. You win some, you lose some. That’s how it works in the ’hood. What's your favorite doughnut shop in Los Angeles? Game: Randy’s. The one down on La Cienega Boulevard by LAX? Game: Yeah, it's that one. It’s got that big fucking donut, like thirty feet tall, on top of the shop. They got the best fucking doughnuts, man. When Krispy Kreme came out they fucked up the doughnut game. They started fucking over everybody, because they took a little bit more pride—the [baking] process is slower. But you go to Randy’s and you get that sloppy glaze. Man, there’s so much glaze on there your teeth should fall out after the last bite. Krispy Kreme and Randy’s. If I want to go mainstream, I go to Krispy Kreme, but when I want to keep it gutter I go with Randy. Randy’s gives you the milk in the Styrofoam [cup], and you can pick your milk. He got blue top, red top, 2 percent, all that, purple top—he’s even got skim milk. Randy’s got it all! What’s it like having a son who's crying one moment and laughing the next? Game: I know him so well. When he cries, he’s not a crybaby, he’s not crying because his tongue is cut. He’s a tough kid. He’s crying because people saw him fall, and he's embarrassed. But when I see him cry I want to get to the bottom of the situation and diffuse it and come up with a solution. To see your kid cry hurts you deep in your soul. That’s your little you. That’s my little mini-me running around. So to see him cry is the worst feeling. I want to solve the problem before too many tears drop. And he knows that. If I’m around or his mother’s around, he knows we’re there for him. Why did you name your son after a neighborhood in New York? Game: Because it’s one of the more prominent neighborhoods in America, and has been for a long time. I wanted my son to have a strong name, so I named him Harlem—first name. Middle name? Caron, after the Muslim Bible, although I’m not Muslim so I didn’t make a mockery out of that so I spelled it differently. And my last name is his last name. So he’s got a strong name, but it’s a cool name for a kid. What appealed to you more about N.W.A than say, a group like Public Enemy or Eric B. & Rakim? Game: N.W.A did not give a fuck at all about anything. Those are the guys who said, “Fuck the police.” Who would say that?! I want to know who thought it up. I bet it was Eazy. But “fuck the police”? Who has the balls to say that? A cop walks up to you. Say, “Fuck you,” to him. Try that. That’s what Eazy was saying, and had the whole world saying. And that was the trigger for you to speak your mind—no filter—in your lyrics. Game: That’s where I come from. I come from that N.W.A melting pot. And even worse than N.W.A, who says that they’re a “cop killer”? Ice-T. How much balls did that take? Another MC from the East Coast who gravitated to the West Coast and often gets an honorable mention, but he should be classified as a legend. A legend, that’s what Ice-T is. Made “Cop Killer” [as a member of heavy metal band Body Count] and “Colors.” Ice-T is definitely a role model. He is to me what LL Cool J is to 50 Cent. 50’s got LL, and I’ve got Ice-T. Have you had personal contact with Ice-T? Game: Yeah. Dope guy, very smart. I respect him and what he’s done musically, and what he’s bestowed on me in just a few short meetings that we had. I’m 35 years old. I’m an old man in the context of hip hop. So when you make comparisons between yourself and Ice Cube, Ice-T, Eazy-E, I remember when those artists first came out. So why should I listen to your music when I heard it the first time? Game: Because I don’t sound shit like them. I’m a whole new MC. And another thing is, I’m not begging you, I’m not begging anybody, to listen to my music. If you don’t like my music, just go buy what you like and support the movement of hip hop—of any music. I’m a musician. I’m not just a hip hop artist. I think I’m more than that. Especially since I’m an inspiration to some people. I know this because people tell me this. So there’s a lot more to it than just being a hip hop artist. I’m a musician. People love and respect me. I’m not begging you to buy my album. You can leave that shit on the shelf because the guy behind you is going to come pick it up. But this year there’s been a lot of product left on the shelf. T.I. is the only artist who’s gone platinum. Game: I won’t have that problem. I’ll be platinum in a week and a half. Do you remember the first time you rapped into a microphone? Game: I was garbage. Awful. I really was garbage. But I didn’t give up, and garbage turned into classic material. That must have been an incremental process. Game: I’m a fast learner. I’m a trial-and-error type of guy. I did it one way, it was wrong, I did it another way and there it was. The first day I rapped into a mic and was garbage was the same day I recorded one of the dopest songs that got me signed. Which song was that? Game: “The Promised Land.” That was the song that Dre heard and got me signed to Aftermath. How does that song go? Game: I don’t remember the lyrics no more. Look at all the shit I’ve recorded since then. As someone who so fiercely represents for Compton, in your opinion why is it that the human animal is so territorial? Game: I don’t know, man. I think that might be a question for Jesus or God. I don’t know how we work, and definitely can’t make a broad analysis of humans. But the reason I might seem like an animal is because…I might share that territorial animal state with that of a bear or a lion is because I worked hard for what’s mines and I want to keep it, and anyone too far in my area is trying to steal my thoughts or my plan or wearing out their welcome. When a bear finds a cave and settles and makes it cozy for the winter, he doesn’t want no goddamn rabbit jumping in his fucking cave. It’s just like that. My home is my home and my company is my company and I take a lot of pride in that and want it to stay that way. Keep elevating and evolving until Black Wall Street becomes one of the most potent hip hop labels in the world. Is Glasses Malone still down with Black Wall Street? Game: No. After this interview you’re going to film your top 25 videos for BET. Did you pick all West Coast videos? Game: Yep. How deep did you go? Game: I went real deep. Can you remember DRS, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, who had “Gangsta Lean”? I went Above The Law’s “Black Superman.” I have Tha Dogg Pound’s “New York, New York,” I got Ice Cube’s “Today Was a Good Day,” and I got Dr. Dre and Snoop’s “Deep Cover.” I got Tupac’s “I Ain't Mad At Ya.” Let’s end with this: you’ve gone from being considered expendable by society—which is to say, growing up without a father and as a gang member in Compton—to being exploitable as a commodity, meaning there are corporations and a lot of people who stand to make money off of you as a successful rapper. Which of those two identities feels more difficult, more challenging to live with? Game: Neither. I live around those. Those things exist outside my house. I didn’t build a house on top of those things. I didn’t build a house under those things. I built a house separate from those things, and I leave them in the backyard. And rarely do I go into the backyard to water. So, they’re weeds, and I’ll just let them die. Inside I exist separate from either of those perceived identities that have been placed upon me. Check out vibe.com next week for an exclusive behind-the-scenes with some of G-Unit's most outspoken members, to say the least.

January issue of VIBE—featuring The 60 Best Songs of 2006, as well as the Game, Nas, Ciara, Gerald Levert, and the NFL’s Reggie Bush—on sale now.

Article tags: The Game 

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