West Coast rap legend The Game came under fire last week after a number of unsigned rappers teamed up to call him out for allegedly scamming them out of thousands of dollars worth of promotion. According to the allegations, The Game was reportedly contacting rappers via DM on social media and offering his platform to promote their music, but then he failed to follow through after some artists paid his fee.
The accusations came prior to the release of three new mixtapes from The Game, which he used to put on those same unsigned artists. The mixtapes were called End Games and they're available on his secondary SoundCloud page. Game previously hadn't said much about the claims but, in a brand new interview with HopHopDX, he explains that he is simply using his status as a rap legend to "uplift artists with dope opportunities", denying that there's anything shady happening.
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"[My business partner] Trillz came to me and said he had a unique opportunity for underground artists," said Game. "I was once an underground artist, so I understand it. No one services underground artists and unsigned artists in the manner that he and I do. No one cares, right? You find Lil Baby by chance and he blows up, but what about everybody else? So what Trillz has created with me and other artists is just a sort of engine to power you in the early stages of your career. What it would have meant to me to have a video drop from Ludacris in the beginning of my career."
He explains that his promotion was solely meant to serve as a rung on the ladder to success, stating that some people likely thought this would be a life-changing opportunity. "So when someone that doesn’t happen with some unsigned artists, well that person is mad, right? Because they thought that this drop or this mixtape slot was going to change their lives, when in reality it’s just a step on the ladder," he said. "Use it as you may and get as much as you can off of it, but it’s not going to make you DaBaby. Basically, I’m just trying to uplift artists with dope opportunities."
Game suggests that the allegations come as part of a smear campaign by "a group of people" that initially liked the services he was providing but were declined from participating.
He goes on to say that his promotional services are for artists to use as they may. "When someone calls Trillz and they say, ‘Oh, we want Game to do a video drop,’ and say, ‘Yo, this is my song, ‘Fly on the Wall’ and I get on my phone and I do the video drops for ‘Fly on the Wall,’ you gotta take that video drop you paid for and do whatever it is that you do with it, right?" he says. "Like me and you, we pull up to McDonald’s. We know the new McRib is back and we drive up to McDonald’s. We got in our car, we drove through the drive through, we ordered the food, we gave them our money and then we get the McRib, but one of us doesn’t like it. So you throw yours out the window and mine is good. What do we do? You go run and say, ‘Hey, McDonald’s is f*cking trash.’ If you want to, you can. But me, I had a different experience from you and I f*cking enjoyed my McRib. So it’s just that. You can’t make everybody happy. And then again, people think that paying a few hundred dollars for a video drop is going to make them fucking Lionel Richie. Come on, let’s be real. That’s not a reality."
Read Game's full response at the link below.
