The Game is one of the most recognizable faces of hip-hop music today, and a new quartet of magazine covers--Rap Fanatic, Grip, RIME and Scratch proves it once again.
The Rap Fanatic cover boasts a portrait of Game pointing to the signature "L.A." tattoo under his right eye. Beneath the shot, the headline reads, "The Game: What would the West Coast be without 'One Blood?'a reference to "It's Okay (One Blood)," the first single off his latest album, Doctor's Advocate.
Inside the feature, Game's manager, Jimmy Rosemond, answers questions about The Game and the rap game in general. "This record is masterfully put together by The Game," Rosemond says. "Also, we can see the way people perceive West Coast rap, and that the whole thing will be changed after this record. It will come down to the fact that he can rap."
In the extensive story, Rosemond also responds to a question about the perceived feud between Game and his former collaborator, 50 Cent. "The best thing is to keep things healthy, and hip-hop was built on these battles," he says. "When you are dealing with the verbal acrobatics, it is all cool. But if you want to take it further, that's a problem. It's important for The Game and 50 Cent to set precedence and show people we ain't got a problem like you all thought we did."
The current Grip cover shows Game's face and previews the feature article inside with the teaser, "Playin' the hand he was dealt," while Scratch's upcoming March-April issue shows Game along with Nas and will.i.am with the menacing headline, "Life after death."
And on the cover of RIME, Game sports a red bandana with the Dr. Dre-influenced headline, "The next episode," which previews a revealing Q&A inside the pages of the magazine. "Don't think that I was ever in the studio not paying attention to the legend," reads the first quote from Game in RIME. "I soaked up so much motherfuckin' game from Dre that I don't have to ever work with Dr. Dre again and I'm going to survive off of what I learned the last four years."
Game also shares his take on the corporation he founded, Black Wallstreet. "It's just me giving artists that I like and that I fuck with, whose music that I appreciate or I'm feeling, a chance to blow just like everybody else."
"Black Wallstreet is like a hip-hop boot camp. My door is always open for talent and all that. What seems like a roster change is just me letting people come in my house and do their thing, and if it don't work out or if they get a better situation or don't feel like Black Wallstreet is home for them, then I give them their walking papers. I'm not trying to hold nobody to no contracts and do no crazy shit ..."
Game also mentions that while he's from South Central L.A. and proud of it, he feels that New York is his "second home" and "that's why I got the East Coast flow with the West Coast mentality."
In conclusion, he was asked if he's worried about possible repercussions from all the beef that's surrounding him. Game answered calmly and bravely, saying, "Like Malcolm X and Martin Luther King, sometimes niggas got to be killed before their greatness can be recognized."


The Game's becoming a familiar site on the cover of music magazines
