Having worked for Parlé since 2009, I’ve interviewed quite a few artists, and after reviewing his latest feat, The R.E.D. Album, I was surprised and elated to get an interview with Game, who has breathed new life into West Coast rap. A follower of his music since 2005’s The Documentary, I gained some insight into his ideology regarding getting into the industry, how he takes criticism, and his motivation for being a rapper.
Parlé: Tell me about The R.E.D. Album and your motivation behind it.
Game: My kids, always my kids. My kids are the motivation behind any and everything I do – period.
Parle: How would you say The R.E.D. Album differs from your previous albums?
Game: I just feel like The R.E.D. Album does a good job of representin’ who I was, and who I’ve become. It’s like the evolution of Game, from The Game all the way to Game. It’s just a good album, it’s colorful, it’s dark at times, it’s lyrical and gangsta. It’s everything you want in a Hip-Hop album. As far as the features are concerned, Dre and Snoop, as far as the West Coast. I put new dudes on the album, like Wale and Tyler and Kendrick.
Parlé: What is the next single after “Pot of Gold”?
Game: The fans are gonna pick that, whatever the people want to be the single.
Parlé: What do you think about “The City”?
Game: Yeah, but see niggas like me and you love “The City,” but then the broads would be looking for something different. It’s difficult because with the street shit, you only got so much mileage. The next single has to be something that everybody’s feeling, you know, but I’m gonna let the people decide that one.
Parlé: Is there an artist that you want to work with that you haven’t yet?
Game: Not really, I mean I’ve been doing this shit since 2002 when I signed to Aftermath. It’ll be my tenth year in this, come January. I think over the last 10 years I think I’ve really covered all the bases as far you know artists to work with. There ain’t nobody I’m really looking forward to working with. Maybe Adele, something off the wall like that, that nobody would expect. Some soulful singers, you know. My next album won’t have no rap features or name drops, so who knows.
Parlé: Recently you were the guest editor over at HipHopDx. How did that end up happening?
Game: Yeah, man. HipHopDx they bumpin me, I’m bumpin them and then my publicist, Greg Miller, like he got me on the phone with you, he got me on as guest editor over at Dx. My team is strong. I got people with me that wanna see me win and I wanna see them win. Ain’t nobody the boss over here, we do it collectively and get things done.
Parlé: Why do you feel there was so much criticism directed at “Red Nation” and the video?
Game: Because that’s what people do when I drop shit. I don’t care about that. People like that, do that. They have opinions. It’s gonna be what it’s gonna be, no matter what they think. All the people hating on “Red Nation,” that shit ended up getting like 10 million hits on YouTube and VEVO. Think whatever you wanna think but at the end of the day, you’re gonna have to deal with it. That’s how I’ve been my whole career. If you think about anything I do in a negative light, fuck you. I don’t care about people’s negatives, that don’t move me.
Parlé: How do feel about the state of Hip-Hop?
Game: Hip-hop is beautiful. It’s gives niggas another option to make it in life.
Parlé: Who are some of your hip-hop musical influences?
Game: Probably the same as yours man. Those that came before our time. The Dre, the Nas, Biggie, Pac, Eazy, E40, Snoop, Spice 1, Dana Dane, LL Cool J, Grandmaster Flash, KRS-One, Erick Sermon, Flava Flava, Eric B. and Rakim, so many man.
Parlé: Are there any other projects you are working on besides The R.E.D. Album?
Game: When I’m working on my album, that’s all I’m focused on. I’m gonna promo this and let it do what it do. I spent a lot of time working on it and perfecting it and now is the time.
Parlé: You were quoted by Billboard as saying that you were deliberately trying to drop the album in the middle of Jay-Z and Kanye’s new one and Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter IV. What was the goal behind that?
Game: Man, cause you can’t have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the peanut butter. Let Kanye and Jay be one side of the bread and Wayne be the other side. You can’t have the sandwich without the motherfuckin inside man. That’s what I wanted to do. Make it a competition, that’s what this is anyway.
Parlé: How would you advise people trying to get into the industry?
Game: Only use the positive. Anybody saying anything about you negatively, fuck them, they ain’t shit. You have to be real with yourself. As long as you keep it 100 with yourself, you’ll be good. Don’t lie to yourself. The best promotion is self-promotion. You can be negative about yourself.
The R.E.D. album is in stores now. It debuted at Number One on the Billboard Charts. Game has authored his first book, The Making Of Game’s The R.E.D. Album. The book chronicles the making of Game’s fourth major label album. The book was the #5 Book On Amazon.com’s Digital Music Book Chart, making him the first rapper to have a top 5 book and a top 5 album in the same week.
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