When The Game visited New York to premiere the behind the scenes footage of him working on his upcoming album, The Documentary 2, he sat down with photographer Jonathan Mannion for a pictorial question and answer session of anecdotes.
During the questionnaire, the photographer flashed various pictures of The Game at the beginning of his career including photographs of The Game and Dr. Dre from his The Documentary cover shoot.
The Game describes what that moment meant to him.
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“From being a young kid and only being able to see Dr. Dre or Eazy if they was riding through the hood or if it was toy drive or a Thanksgiving turkey or something like that,” The Game says in the interview. “To go from being on the receiving side to being right under Dre, being able to study under Dre and him being my mentor for me has always been real huge for me. Dr. Dre. It doesn’t really get anymore 100 than Dr. Dre. A lot of people might have shit to say about Dre. This way or that way but they won’t say it out loud if I’m around because it’s going to be a problem. That dude really gave me an opportunity to be something. People don’t come along in everybody’s lives and give them an opportunity to change their lives in such catastrophic proportions. What he did for me is major. It really helped mold me. It really helped the legacy from my city going. It helped cast YG and Kendrick [to] get on. Just Dr. Dre. A lot of people think the headphones is Dr. Dre or he got a billion dollars and that’s cool. Dre still wear the same outfit, the same white Air Force 1s. He got a billion dollars you can’t really see if you see him because he don’t wear jewelry or nothing like that. If I call Dre he picks up on the first ring.”
Elsewhere in the interview, when shown a photo of himself as a 25-year old upcoming rapper, dressed in a white wife beater and a Cincinatti Reds fitted cap standing outside of the gates of his home, the “El Chapo” rapper described where he was at that point in his career.
“I was 25 in this picture,” The Compton, California rapper says. “Still on the same block. Same house. I had money at this point and I still didn’t move. I just loved my block. I remember getting to a point where I was a huge rap superstar at this point but I still stayed on my block. Before you would even come on my block at that time you would get guns drawn on you as soon as you hit the corner because we stayed on the cul-de-sac and they would just ask you who you’re hear to see and if you wanted to see me, it made me feel like a Nino [Brown] in the Carter. Even though now when I look back at it we was all taking penitentiary chances. Back then it was cool to be the boss of something.”
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The Game also details asserting his presence in his neighborhood in Compton, California and it’s importance.
“I was felt that I paid my dues in Compton,” the multi-platinum rapper says. “I grew up in Compton. I lost two brothers to gang violence in Compton. They dead in the grave. I got shot in Compton. My sister got shot in Compton. That is my block and I always made it able that myself and make that there was no one around Compton and can’t nobody tell that I can’t come to my city. My block. It’s ain’t a force field over Compton you just get off the freeway and you drive through it if you want to. I just felt like I paid my dues and my block is my block. So whenever I feel like going back I hop out and it’s usually all love. When I was doing my thing when I was young I was an asshole. I was stupid. Everybody knows the real stupid Game. A lot of times that saves the new Game because nobody really be tripping.”
The full The Game interview with Jonathan Mannion is as follows:
For additional The Game coverage, watch the following DX Daily:
