The Game turned countless hip-hop fans on to his West Coast sound with a huge debut LP, The Documentary, in 2004, but as the Compton-bred emcee has boldly claimed, 2006 is about to bring his best work yet.
The album is Doctor’s Advocate, it drops Nov. 14, and it has already generated tons of buzz from the street single, “It’s Okay (One Blood),” and the album’s second single, “Let’s Ride.”
So what can fans of The Game expect from Doctor’s Advocate? The Game himself has plenty of ideas on that subject.
“This new album, I’ve evolved as an emcee,” The Game said. “My lyrical content, my lyrical growth has been gigantic, man. It’s just from me being a student of the game and still studying the hip-hop greats and staying humble, and staying under the radar, out of people’s way, for the most part.
“There’s no Dr. Dre involvement on this album at all, so far as the beats are concerned," The Game said. “Nothing’s missing sound-wise, not even with the absence of Dr. Dre. I think I refilled my prescription at another pharmacy and got the same outcome.”
The Game, a.k.a. Jayceon Taylor, has brought plenty of big names back into the fold for the 16-track, 73-minutes-plus Doctor’s Advocate.
With star power in the form of Kanye West, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg, Junior Reid, will.i.am, Busta Rhymes, Chauncey Black, Xzibit, Nas, Kurupt, Daz, Jamie Foxx and many more, plus the producing talents of rap industry heavyweights West, Scott Storch, D.J. Khalil, Ervin “E.P.” Pope, Reefa, Just Blaze and others, The Game is sure that his latest effort will continue to propel him into the hip-hop stratosphere.
“The dope people work with the dope people, man,” The Game said. “You know, it’s hip-hop. And we all work with each other collectively to keep this thing afloat, this thing being hip-hop.
“We have so much chemistry on the first album that they were a shoo-in for the first album. You’ll probably see the same producers plus or minus a few on the third album. I just work with the people I’m comfortable working with. When you’ve got those dynasties, man, you don’t trade your players, man. So as long as I keep that in mind and stay focused, it’s always gonna be big.”
As far as the songs are concerned, The Game is promising that you’ll hear more of the same themes that make him who he is. He’s proud to be part of the West Coast movement, he’s happy to pay homage to his favorite rappers -- particularly N.W.A. and the artists (Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre) that landmark Compton group spawned -- and he’s committed to continue writing about the ups and downs of a tough childhood.
“A rough upbringing always just breeds classics, man,” The Game said. “It’s just controversy. It’s always drama that sells everything. You go to a movie, you don’t want to see no boring-ass, one-line, one guy walkin’ down the street in a suburban neighborhood waving hi to everybody.
“You go to the movies, you want to see some action, you want to somebody getting killed, if only in the movie. You want to see some drama, some crying, some tears, some fights, some jumping off buildings, some car crashes, and that’s what my rough upbringing was to my album.
“My album was the stage, the forum, if you will, for me to lay all my cards out and give hip-hop fans and reporters and people and other artists a chance to know Jayceon Taylor outside of being The Game.
“There’s a whole other aspect to my life, and I just want to let people know who I am. Let them inside my mind and my life. Maybe they can relate, maybe they can’t. Maybe I can teach them something, maybe I can learn something. But as long as my cards are on the table, man, we can play.”
There’s certainly plenty to play with on Doctor’s Advocate, and The Game can’t wait for it to drop.
“A lot of adversity I had to face, a lot of hurdles and obstacles I had to get around and jump over, man, but we’re here and it’s time to grind.”


