The Joe Budden Podcast cast recently debated the VERZUZ event between YG and The Game, and struggled to pick a clear-cut favorite in the showdown.
During a Patreon-only episode of the show that dropped on Wednesday (July 22), almost every co-host chose YG, though for some it came with a caveat.
Ice argued that people would assume The Game is the popular choice before saying, “I think y’all in for a rude awakening. YG is gonna surprise.”
He continued, saying that the deciding factor will be YG having more of a connection with the Los Angeles crowd, to which Parks responded, “YG out there is different.”
“He has anthems out there,” Ice added.
Ice maintained that The Game may look better than YG in almost every category on paper, but when it comes to going head-to-head in California, he may have met his match.
“Game raps better. Game makes better albums. Game is the better artist,” he said. “For a VERZUZ stage…it’s apples to oranges.”
Parks cited the reception that YG received when he hopped onstage for Kendrick Lamar’s Pop Out: Ken & Friends in 2024 to support Ice’s claim.
“Game has, in my opinion, a top-five discography in hip-hop,” Ice said. “We not talking about that on a VERZUZ stage. I’m only speaking to this being a VERZUZ. If this was anything else, it’s not close. And in California. I know what YG music does in California. Because California fucks with YG music way more than Game.”
The show’s titular host, however, had a different take.
When Budden was asked for his opinion, he was emphatically in the corner of The Game. Budden also conceded that, “On a VERZUZ stage, we have seen the regional sound be dominant.”
“I think Game is gonna learn a lot of people,” he said. “YG may win in that building because of L.A., but I don’t even know about that ‘cause I expect Game to make it look like it’s supposed to look.”
Watch The Game and YG go head-to-head tonight at 6:30 p.m. PT, streaming live on Apple Music.
