A former gang member who turned to music after being shot five times and left for dead, Jayceon Taylor a.k.a. The Game is considered to be one of the most talented rappers to come out of East L.A.’s gangsta movement. Born on November 27, 1979 in Compton, California, The Game was nicknamed by his grandmother who said he was always “game” for anything. The rapper came up with an independently produced demo, Untold Story, after turning away from a life of crime. The demo sold a few thousand copies and caught the attention of music producer-mogul
Dr. Dre, who began wor
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king with The Game in 2002. The Game's first album was highly anticipated, thanks to the news that collaborators included
Dre,
Kanye West and
50 Cent. A duet with 50 Cent, the single "How We Do," added to the excitement, and when The Documentary was released it sold nearly 600,000 copies in the first week. Coinciding with The Game's chart success was a public argument with 50 Cent which reached its peak with a shooting incident outside a New York radio station in March of 2005. The feud, over The Game getting the boot from the group
G-Unit, ended with Game and 50 having a press conference in which both donated money to various organizations and publicly made a truce, which led to even greater notoriety for The Game.
In mid-June 2005, The Game released a 15-minute-long diss song entitled 300 Bars and Runnin' (the title an homage to NWA's 100 Miles and Runnin' EP), addressing various enemies of his, including Memphis Bleek, 50 Cent,
Lloyd Banks, Olivia, and
Tony Yayo, among others. He continued to court controversy even as he diversified his activities, founding a record label—The Black Wall Street Records-- as well as clothing and hat lines. The rapper's second album Doctor's Advocate was released in November 2006. This album was set out by The Game to prove that he was able to make good music and be a successful artist without the help of Dr. Dre or 50 Cent. In May 2007, The Game said while filming Beef IV that his third album, L.A.X., would be his last, explaining that three albums will be enough to have allowed him to "[get his] point across". Most fans of west coast rap would agree that he has not only gotten his point across, but has entertained millions by doing so.
