The Game's Fans Question Kendrick Lamar Diss Rumors From New Mixtape

BY Gabriel Bras Nevares 2.8K Views
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The Game Fans Kendrick Lamar Diss Rumors New Mixtape Hip Hop News
VENICE, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 12: Rapper The Game attends the release of "Drillmatic" at the Gall3ry By Koll3ctiff on August 12, 2022 in Venice, California. (Photo by Unique Nicole/Getty Images)
While some may be quick to pit The Game against Kendrick Lamar, it's clearly a lot more complicated (and vague) than that.

The Game just dropped his new Mike & Keys-produced Gangsta Grillz mixtape Every Movie Needs A Trailer, and his bars caught a lot of attention. One particular track caused a stir due to its reference to Candace Owens, but a handful of other ones fueled long-standing Kendrick Lamar beef rumors.

Before we get into that, though, a massive grain of salt is in order. After all, The Game just spoke on Kendrick Lamar during a recent interview, claiming he wanted to sign him back in the day. Also, Jayceon Taylor ranked K.Dot above him on his best Los Angeles rappers list, and he has been very praiseful to the former TDE artist many times in the past.

Still, The Game's solid relationship with Kendrick's sworn rival Drake, plus a few battle-related discrepancies here and there, have fueled a lot of speculation that he actually dislikes Lamar or is going at him for whatever reason.

As for what's new with this new mixtape, YoEqTV provided a few theories on Twitter. While there are some interesting interpretations and coincidences, at the end of the day, it's very unlikely that any of these were intentional shots.

Did The Game Diss Kendrick Lamar?

Regardless, it's interesting to try to connect the dots. For example, on "AmeriKKKa's Nightmare," The Game references Drake and complains about fake aspects of the game, but later makes a neutral reference to Dot and GNX. On "Chrome Hearts," he raps about being the Los Angeles King and how "a n***a y'all thought was king ain't gon' do nothing about it." Also, "Left Out" had YoEqTV comparing both Compton lyricists' flows.

All in all, these connections are flimsy at best, and frankly, completely unfounded at worst. For one, there's a shoutout to Dot on the track "Can I." As such, The Game's relationship with Kendrick Lamar seems as distantly respectful and inconsequential as it's ever been. So folks calling for a back-and-forth or celebrating this attack might be getting ahead of themselves.

Fan Reactions

Then again, all of this could change very quickly. After all, if fanbases keep fueling the fire, a simple match might become a furnace. For now, file these diss rumors under "Reaches" and just enjoy the new mixtape.

About The Author
Gabriel Bras Nevares is a staff writer for HotNewHipHop. He joined HNHH while completing his B.A. in Journalism & Mass Communication at The George Washington University in the summer of 2022. Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Gabriel treasures the crossover between his native reggaetón and hip-hop news coverage, such as his review for Bad Bunny’s hometown concert in 2024. But more specifically, he digs for the deeper side of hip-hop conversations, whether that’s the “death” of the genre in 2023, the lyrical and parasocial intricacies of the Kendrick Lamar and Drake battle, or the many moving parts of the Young Thug and YSL RICO case. Beyond engaging and breaking news coverage, Gabriel makes the most out of his concert obsessions, reviewing and recapping festivals like Rolling Loud Miami and Camp Flog Gnaw. He’s also developed a strong editorial voice through album reviews, think-pieces, and interviews with some of the genre’s brightest upstarts and most enduring obscured gems like Homeboy Sandman, Bktherula, Bas, and Devin Malik.

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