Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29, 1979), better known by his stage name The Game or simply Game, is an American rapper and actor. Born in Compton, California, he initially released a series of mixtapes under the wing of fellow West Coast rapper JT the Bigga Figga. After releasing his debut album Untold Story independently in 2004, he was discovered by record producer Dr. Dre and signed to his Aftermath Records label imprint. The Game rose to prominence following the release of his major-label debut album The Documentary (2005), which peaked the Billboard 200 along with its sequel, Doctor's Advocate (2006). The former album received double platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and two Grammy Award nominations—Best Rap Song and Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for its single, "Hate It or Love It" (featuring 50 Cent).
A rising artist in the 2000s, the Game was considered to be a driving force in the resurgence of West Coast hip-hop into the mainstream, and competing with many of his East Coast counterparts. The Game was placed into G-Unit by Dr. Dre and Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine. As a result of his disputes with group leader 50 Cent, Game left Aftermath and signed with Geffen, another label under Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M corporate unit to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit in 2006. This foresaw the release of Doctor's Advocate, which was met with continued success and spawned the singles "It's Okay (One Blood)" (featuring Junior Reid), "Let's Ride," and "Wouldn't Get Far" (featuring Kanye West).
The Game found similar critical and commercial success with his third and fourth albums, LAX (2008) and The R.E.D. Album (2010), which peaked at numbers two and one on the Billboard 200, respectively. His fifth album, Jesus Piece (2012), served as his final release with Interscope and peaked within the chart's top ten, along with his next self-released albums: The Documentary 2, The Documentary 2.5 (2015), and 1992 (2016). His ninth album, Born 2 Rap (2019) was announced as his final; however, his career continued with the release of his tenth album Drillmatic – Heart vs. Mind (2022), which was met with mixed critical reception.
Early life The Game was born Jayceon Terrell Taylor on November 29, 1979, in Compton, California, to parents George Taylor and Lynette Baker, who both were members of the Crips street gang. He grew up in a primarily Crip-controlled neighborhood known as Santana Blocc, although Taylor himself grew up to become a member of the Cedar Block Piru Bloods through his brother. In an October 2006 interview with MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway, the Game described his family as "dysfunctional". His older half-brother, George Taylor III, a.k.a. the rapper Big Fase 100, was a Cedar Block Piru Bloods leader in West Compton, California.
Taylor and his sibling spent six years in foster care. Taylor attended Compton High School. He went on to attend the community colleges Antelope Valley College, Harbor Community College and Cerritos College each for a time before leaving school.
By the early 2000s, Taylor had become heavily involved in selling drugs and participating in gang activities.
Music career Early career (2002–2003) While recovering in the hospital from gunshot wounds he incurred in late 2001, Game told his brother to go out and buy all of the classic hip-hop albums. Over the course of five months, he studied all of the various influential rap albums and developed a strategy to turn himself into a rapper. With the help of his older brother Big Fase, they founded the label. It originally featured such artists as Glasses Malone, Vita, and Nu Jerzey Devil, along with Game himself. His stage name was coined by his grandmother, who was a huge fan of the 1997 blockbuster, The Game.
At the start of his career, Game attended a hip-hop summit hosted by Russell Simmons and Louis Farrakhan where he met Bay Area producer JT the Bigga Figga. The two agreed to record music and JT packaged some of these songs with Nas verses, releasing them as the mixtape Q.B. 2 Compton (He would later release the rest of these recordings on 2004's Untold Story and 2005's West Coast Resurrection). This mixtape reached the hands of Sean Combs, founder of Bad Boy Records, who originally was on the verge of signing him to his label. Five months later, he was discovered by Dr. Dre who listened to the same mixtape. Dr. Dre signed Game to his Aftermath Entertainment label in 2002 and he released the mixtape You Know What It Is Vol. 1.
In late 2003, Interscope Records CEO Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre decided to have Game work with 50 Cent and G-Unit in order to help build a growing buzz around Game which would also fuel interest in G-Unit. Game made his first cameo appearance in the music video for 50 Cent's "In da Club", where he is seen dancing with a girl. Since then, he has made numerous cameo appearances in music videos by 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, and Fabolous. Game spent the next two and a half years working on his major label debut album and being mentored by Dr. Dre.
The Documentary (2003–2005)
Not having dropped an album despite being signed onto Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records for a while, Game was still able to create hype around his image alone. He appeared in ads for Sean Combs's Sean John clothing company and had an endorsement deal with Boost Mobile, appearing in a commercial alongside Kanye West and Ludacris. Game also appeared heavily on the mixtape circuit and guest starred on mixtapes for DJ Green Lantern, The Diplomats, and G-Unit. The first single released with Game on it was "Certified Gangstas", which also featured Jim Jones and Cam'ron. Though the single wasn't considered to be mainstream, the buzz increased around the West Coast rapper.
On September 28, 2004, Game released his first promo single, "Westside Story", from his major label debut album. He had originally chosen to title the album Nigga Wit' An Attitude Volume 1 (as heard in the lyrics to "Dreams"), changed the album title to The Documentary, which featured Dr. Dre and 50 Cent as executive producers. The album spawned the hit singles "How We Do" and "Hate It or Love It", the latter receiving two Grammy nominations. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and was the sixteenth best selling album of 2005 in the United States. It also debuted at number seven in the United Kingdom and sold over five million copies worldwide. In October 2004, he released Untold Story through Get Low Recordz, which sold over 82,000 copies within its first three months. The album featured artists like Sean T, Young Noble (of the Outlawz), and JT the Bigga Figga. Game also appeared on various mixtapes hosted by DJ's such as DJ Kayslay, DJ Whoo Kid, and DJ Clue. Game also released a second mixtape You Know What It Is Vol. 2 through his own record label and appeared on the video game NBA Live 2004 on a song produced by Fredwreck called "Can't Stop Me".
Later that year, the young rapper Lil Eazy-E, son of rapper the late Eazy-E, entered a feud with Game. The two used to be close associates and recorded music together. Lil' Eazy-E has since directed numerous diss songs targeting the rapper and has expressed his anger over what he felt was Game's misuse of his father's name. Game responded by claiming that Lil' Eazy-E was trying to establish himself off the success he had made since releasing The Documentary. He released a song titled "120 Bars" where he claimed that Lil' Eazy-E does not write his own lyrics. However, on the same track, Game stated that he would rather not feud with Lil' Eazy-E due to the deep respect he has for Lil' Eazy-E's father. Lil' Eazy-E later responded with "They Know Me". On October 30, 2006, Game went on KDAY and said that he and Lil' Eazy-E had ended their feud.
Dr. Dre's nemesis, Suge Knight, also had an ongoing feud with Game that stemmed from Yukmouth's claim that Game had been slapped by Suge Knight. Game responded on his website, saying that if Suge Knight had ever touched him, he would be "six feet under". After the 2005 BET Awards show, associates of Death Row Records had their invitations to a party hosted by Ciara rescinded. Supposedly, a member of Death Row Records tried to steal Game's chain. Game stated on his website that he disliked Suge Knight because of "the lives he has endangered". In Miami for the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Suge Knight was shot and wounded at Kanye West's party by an unknown gunman. Game vigorously denied involvement in the shooting, but the incident renewed efforts to pacify hip-hop feuds and Game has consequently been discouraged from attending certain events in hopes of averting retaliation. Later, Game and various representatives of California's rap cliques formed a West Coast "peace treaty" to end many rivalries between West Coast rappers. Although Suge Knight did not attend, he and Game declared their feud over.
Doctor's Advocate and feud with G-Unit (2005–2007)
In early 2005, Game entered a feud with G-Unit. Even before Game's major label debut was released and their feud became public, there was tension between Game and 50 Cent.March 2005 issue of Vibe magazine. The interview asks about Game's and 50 Cent's physical altercation. Soon after The Documentarys release, 50 Cent talked about an accident that occurred in the strip club by stating that he felt that the rapper's actions of not partnering with 50 Cent to react to Fat Joe and Jadakiss after the New York song written by Ja Rule were wrong and then booted Game out of G-Unit. 50 Cent also claimed that he was not getting his proper credit for the creation of the album, as he had written six of the songs, all of which Game denied. During that dispute, a member of Game's entourage was shot during a confrontation that occurred at the Hot 97 studio in New York City. After the situation between them escalated, 50 Cent and Game held a press conference to announce their reconciliation. Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the two albums the pair had just released. Nevertheless, even after the situation had apparently deflated, G-Unit continued to feud with Game, denouncing his street credibility in the media and claimed that, without their support, he would not score a hit if he made a second album. Game responded during a performance at Summer Jam and launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".
After the performance at Summer Jam, Game responded with a song titled "300 Barz and Running'", an extended "diss" aimed at G-Unit as well as members of Roc-A-Fella Records on the mixtape You Know What It Is Vol. 3. The track is unique in that it is nearly 14 minutes long, in which Game criticizes all members of G-Unit, amongst many others. 50 Cent responded through his "Piggy Bank" music video, which features Game as a Mr. Potato Head doll and also parodies other rivals. Since then, both groups continued to attack each other. Game released two more mixtapes, Ghost Unit and a mixtape/DVD called Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin. 50 Cent's rebuttal was "Not Rich, Still Lyin'" where he mocks Game. In addition, G-Unit started to respond on numerous mixtapes and then-new G-Unit member Spider Loc began dissing Game. Game responded with "240 Bars (Spider Joke)", a song mainly aimed at Spider Loc, but also addressing Tony Yayo and rap group M.O.P., and on the song "The Funeral 100 Bars".