Key Takeaways
- These are the 15 best songs from Compton rapper The Game, a two-decade West Coast pillar with no bad albums.
- The list spotlights era-defining collaborations like “Hate It or Love It,” “How We Do,” and “Westside Story” with 50 Cent, as well as key joints with Kanye West, Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Wayne, and others that show his range and influence.
- Anchored around albums like The Documentary, Doctor’s Advocate, The R.E.D. Album, and The Documentary 2, the piece doubles as a career overview ahead of his VERZUZ-style “Compton Forever” showdown with YG.
There is something poetically ironic about The Game rapping, "You 38 and you still rapping," on "It's Okay (One Blood)."
The line, which came in 2006, was a diss toward Jay-Z, from a spry rapper who was only 26 at the time. Twenty years later, Jayceon Terrell Taylor is still going strong, showing no signs of slowing down.
The Compton, California, rapper caught the attention of Dr. Dre in 2002, who signed him to his Aftermath Entertainment imprint. Despite the label's growing reputation for signing artists and then shelving their albums, The Game prevailed. His debut album, The Documentary, served as the label's first release by a West Coast artist not named Dr. Dre. The album was a massive success, debuting at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, not only marking The Game as a new rap star—one who was rugged and raw but also smooth with real storytelling knack and a compulsion to name-drop no matter the situation—but also providing the spark the West Coast needed at the time.
Critical to the album's success was 50 Cent. Not only did he sign Game to G-Unit at Jimmy Iovine's suggestion, but 50 also contributed to several of the album's key tracks, including its first three singles: "Westside Story," "How We Do," and "Hate It or Love It." The partnership, however, was short-lived. An explosive and highly publicized feud broke out between the two, leading to 50 kicking Game out of G-Unit live on New York City's Hot 97—which in turn led to a shooting outside the station. In the fallout, The Game was transferred off Aftermath.
Even after all the turmoil, The Game rose to the occasion. Doctor's Advocate—which featured the aforementioned "It's Okay (One Blood)"—asserted him as a viable hitmaker in his own right. Two albums in, and he was California's most important MC, consistently putting out strong albums and mixtapes while also highlighting newer, up-and-coming talent coming out of LA, from Kendrick Lamar to Nipsey Hussle.
Despite a career plagued by sometimes self-inflicted controversies, there is not a bad album across The Game's ten-album discography. Jayceon Taylor has captivated fans across two decades by being unapologetically Los Angeles:
This Thursday, July 23, The Game will face off against fellow Compton heavyweight YG for the ultimate West Coast edition of VERZUZ, simply titled Compton Forever.
In preparation for the battle, we're taking a look at the 15 best The Game songs of all time.
(This story was originally published in 2015. It has since been updated.)
The Game feat. Drake, “100” (2015)
Album: The Documentary 2
Producer: Cardo Got Wings, Johnny Juliano & 40
It wouldn’t be right for The Game to roll out The Documentary 2 without a momentous first single. If the red Toronto Blue Jays jersey in its music video wasn’t enough indication, “100” is the ultimate unifier between a West Coast titan and The North’s greatest spitter.
While Game spends his verse vowing his loyalty to the OVO rapper—revealing he turned down putting a hit on the artist—Drake’s guest spot sees some of the first instances of subliminal shots towards Kendrick Lamar, rapping “I would have all of your fans/ If I didn’t go pop and I stayed on some conscious s**t.”
The Game feat. Lil Wayne & Tyler, The Creator, “Martians vs. Goblins” (2011)
Album: The R.E.D. Album
Producer: 1500 or Nothin’
For an artist with such a signature style, it’s impressive the many ways Game can shapeshift.
One of the best instances of the rapper displaying his chameleon instincts can be found on The R.E.D. Album standout “Martians vs. Goblins.”
Here, we find the West Coast veteran meeting a rookie season Tyler, the Creator at his level of lunacy, for a Slim Shady-level of name-dropping cartoon-like violence.
The Game feat. Kendrick Lamar, “On Me” (2015)
Album: The Documentary 2
Producer: 1500 or Nothin’
Nearly a half decade removed from The Game giving Kendrick Lamar the keys to “The City,” the two Compton MCs reunited over an intoxicating Erykah Badu flip to kick off The Documentary 2.
The prophecy was fulfilled, with Kendrick—now King of the Coast—holding his own alongside an OG who paved the way.
“Put You on the Game” (2005)
Album: The Documentary
Producer: Timbaland & Danja
For an unapologetically West Coast album, one of the album’s most intoxicating moments comes by way of a Timbaland beat.
The album’s final single is one of the earliest instances of The Game putting on a clinic in name-dropping, mentioning everyone from Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Public Enemy, G-Unit, while also proclaiming himself “the rebirth of LA” and “the next Hova.”
Jim Jones feat. The Game & Cam’ron, “Certified Gangstas” (2004)
Album: On My Way to Church
Producer: Bang
Jim Jones’ "Boyz-n-the-Hood"-inspired debut single, “Certified Gangstas,” also doubled as the world’s formal introduction to Jayceon “The Game” Taylor.
The song came roughly a month before “Westside Story” was released and it would cause a slight rift, with 50 annoyed he would debut under a song from another crew. But regardless, the soft launch proved he could steal a track a mere weeks before he had one of his own.
The Game feat. Kendrick Lamar, “The City” (2011)
Album: The R.E.D. Album
Producer: Cool & Dre
Album: The R.E.D. Album
Producer: Cool & Dre
In 2011, The Game famously hailed Kendrick Lamar “Prince of the West” during a show at The Hollywood Music Box. That same week the two Compton natives would connect for the opening track of The R.E.D. Album—a moment that functioned as a symbolic passing of the torch to the next generation.
The Game & Kanye West, “Eazy” (2022)
Album: N/A
Producer: The Game, DJ Premier, Wack 100, DONTMINDIFIDUKE, Kanye West, MIKE DEAN & Hit-Boy
“It’s crazy that Ye did more for me in the last two weeks, than Dre did for me my whole career,” The Game drunkenly exclaimed during a 2022 guest appearance on Drink Champs.
Despite expressing regret for his comments the following year, it’s undeniable that Kanye West has been a secret weapon for The Game throughout his entire career. On “Eazy,” the pair flip the iconic intro of Eazy-E’s “Eazy-Duz-It” for one of Chuck Taylor’s best late career outings.
The Game feat. 2 Chainz & Rick Ross, “Ali Bomaye” (2012)
Album: Jesus Piece
Producer: Black Metaphor
On “Ali Bomaye,” Black Metaphor stretches a Florence + the Machine sample into a plaster mold of a rap banger formed in the image of other songstress-favoring vocal chops (think Imogen Heap, Ellie Goulding, and La Roux).
The song’s title comes from a chant used during Muhammad Ali’s knockout of George Foreman at the Rumble in the Jungle, meaning “Ali, kill him,” and in that vein, many of the raps are punches. The Game delivers a few haymakers, but 2 Chainz steals the show with most, if not all, of the real quotables (“In my four door looking real photogenic”).
The Game feat. 50 Cent, “Westside Story” (2004)
Album: The Documentary
Producer: Dr. Dre, Scott Storch
The Documentary's lead single, “Westside Story,” was the Game’s coming out party, dedicating its time to his mission statement of restoring West Coast rap, which had been stagnant commercially.
The Game rides around in his six trey Impala on gold Ds and chrome hydraulics with 50 Cent and the entire weight of the Aftermath conglomerate at his back. “The West Coast never fell off; I was asleep in Compton,” he raps, defiantly staking his claim as heir apparent to Dr. Dre. It helped establish his signature sound, sneaking in striking raps like “I might be, Spike Lee, of this gun clappin’/Prior to rappin’, I was drug traffickin’/In the dope spot playing John Madden.”
The Game feat. Lil Wayne, “My Life” (2008)
Album: LAX
Producer: Cool & Dre
“The Game fooled just about nobody by announcing that 2008’s LAX would be his retirement album.
Nonetheless, if you’ll humor the rapper for the album’s biggest single. “My Life” is the rapper’s own Once Upon a Time in America, a gangster taking a nostalgia trip on the journey that brought him to the top—hold the opium den.
My Life” takes a casually rapped Lil Wayne hook from a Birdman song almost no one has heard (“So Tired”) and repurposes it into an impassioned plea to a higher power.
This isn’t Peak Auto-Tune Wayne, but it’s close, and trite Kurt Cobain reference aside, this is the Game nearing his apex too. The Game has never been a hypertechnical or super interesting rapper; his strength lies mostly in his distinctively gruff voice and how he uses it to maneuver in and out of beats, and on “My Life” he saunters carefully through the Cool & Dre production, matching its tone.
“Dreams” (2005)
Album: The Documentary
Producer: Kanye West
Powered by an iconic mid-2000s Kanye West beat, “Dreams” serves a flawless lyrical exercise in cultivating a track anchored by its sample. The Game uses a Jerry Butler soul chop as a confessional, pouring out libations for fallen legends like Aaliyah and Eazy-E, positioning his own survival of a 2001 shooting as destiny to drive his purpose.
The Game feat. Kanye West, “Wouldn’t Get Far” (2006)
Album: Doctor's Advocate
Producer: Kanye West
For a career cultivated so heavily around a gangster persona, it’s easy to forget just how funny The Game could be. An updated reimagining of 2Pac’s "All Bout U,” “Wouldn’t Get Far” serves as a sarcastic salute to video vixens of the 2000s, with an irresistibly entertaining guest verse from a pink polo-era Kanye.
The Game feat. Junior Reid, “It’s Okay (One Blood)” (2006)
Album: Doctor's Advocate
Producer: D-Roc & Reefa
Following his tumultuous departure from Aftermath Entertainment and G-Unit Records in 2006, the pressure was on for The Game to prove he could hold it down without Dr. Dre and 50 Cent. “It’s Okay (One Blood)” was the perfect declaration of independence. The dancehall-infused scorcher proved the rapper did not need hitmaker handholding in order to sustain a career.
Plus, it’s impossible to hear this rowdy record without calling back to Def Jam: Icon or The Game’s ridiculous 12 minute remix.
The Game feat. 50 Cent, “How We Do” (2004)
Album: The Documentary
Producer: Dr. Dre & Mike Elizondo
Over 20 years since its release, “How We Do” remains one of the most bankable club anthems. It’s the Aftermath machine at the peak of its powers: Dre couldn’t miss on production and 50 couldn’t miss on writing a hit hook. The Game’s effortless swagger across his verses made the single the optimal launchpad to propel the Compton MC into superstardom.
The Game feat. 50 Cent, “Hate It or Love It” (2005)
Album: The Documentary
Producer: Cool & Dre
The Game and 50 Cent trade career-best verses, showing off the sharpest of their storytelling skills to recount their respective rises to the top over a lush Cool & Dre instrumental.
The pair were three for three with their collaborations, hip-hop’s own Shaq and Kobe. Their falling out left us with one of hip-hop’s biggest “what ifs,” wondering what could have been had they stayed on good terms.
