The Game

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.