The Game

Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29, 1979), better known by his stage name the Game or simply Game, is an American rapper.

Born in Compton, California, he initially released a series of mixtapes under the wing of fellow West Coast rapper JT the Bigga Figga.

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.

His stage name was coined by his grandmother, who was a huge fan of the 1997 blockbuster, The Game.

Game first gained prominence when he attended a hip-hop summit hosted by Russell Simmons and Louis Farrakhan.

After he had fully recovered, Game and Big Fase made a mixtape together.

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.

By the early 2000s, Taylor had become heavily involved in selling drugs and participating in gang activities.

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.

He released his first mixtape You Know What It Is Vol. 1 in 2002, and landed a record deal with the independent label Get Low Recordz owned by JT the Bigga Figga.

Game's 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 mixtape that had been produced by his brother.

Dr. Dre contacted Game and signed him to his Aftermath Entertainment label in 2003.

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.

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.

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 fame in 2005 following the release of his major-label debut album The Documentary, which peaked the Billboard 200 along with its 2006 follow-up, Doctor's Advocate.

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).

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).

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.

He 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 respectively on the Billboard 200.

His fifth album, Jesus Piece (2015) served as his final release with Interscope and peaked within the chart's top ten, along with his following independent 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.