From: ThePresident
Jayceon Terrell Taylor (born November 29, 1979), better known by his stage name Game, formerly The Game, is an American rapper and actor. As a member of G-Unit, he rose to fame in 2005 with the success of his debut album, The Documentary, which earned him two Grammy Award nominations. Followed by two more successful albums his second album Doctor's Advocate in 2006, and his third album LAX in 2008. Game also runs his own record label The Black Wall Street Records. Since then, he is considered to be a driving force in reviving and bringing back the West Coast hip hop scene, which had been overshadowed by artists from the East and South.[3][4][5] Early life The Game was born Jayceon Terrell Taylor on November 29, 1979 in Los Angeles, California, and grew up in Compton, California in a primarily Crip gang neighborhood known as Santana Blocc,[6] although he grew up to become a member of the Bloods.[7][8] He was born into a life of gang-banging and hustling. In an October 2006 interview with MTV News correspondent Sway Calloway, Game described his family as "dysfunctional" and claimed that his father molested one of his sisters.[9] When later interviewed, Game stated that at a young age, he recalled seeing both of his parents preparing to do drive-bys. His father was a Nutty Block Crip and his mother a Hoover Crippelette. Drugs and guns were all around Taylor while he was growing up. At around the age of 6, Game stated that a friend of his was murdered in the neighborhood by a teenager, for his clothes and shoes.[10] At the age of 7, Game went into foster care. In foster care he was teased by other children, he didn't go unnoticed however. Game's intelligence was acknowledged by his caretakers and he usually helped his foster brothers and sisters with their homework. Around 1989, Game met his idol, Eric Wright also known as Eazy-E founder of the rap group N.W.A, this being a defining moment in his life. Game's adolescence was one of many hardships, at 13, one of Game's older brothers, Jevon who was just 17 at the time was shot at a gas station. His brother had just received a record deal. Game stated that he felt his father played a hand in this by not being there and felt that if he had, his brother would not have been shot. Jevon died the day after Game visited him in the hospital promising that things would be better and lost time would be made up. Two years later at the age of 15, teenage Jayceon was removed from the foster care system and back into his mother's home. Taylor and his mother, Lynette, had a tumulutous relationship at first and Taylor's father was no longer around.[10] Game attended Compton High School where most of the students with gang affiliations were Crips. His older half brother George Taylor III, known as Big Fase 100, attended Centennial High School and was the leader of the Cedar Block Piru Bloods. In high school, Game was beginning to follow in his brother's footsteps. However, Game's natural abilities in althletics led him into a spot as point guard on the basketball team. He also ran track and did various other sports. Game graduated from Compton High School in 1999 and had received scholarship offers from various colleges,[11] Game enrolled at Washington State University on a basketball scholarship. In his first semester, however, Taylor was caught with drugs in his possession prompting the university to revoke his scholarship. He was suspended from athletics in his first semester because of drug allegations. However, the university's athletic department refutes these claims.[12] It was then that Taylor started fully embracing street life and turning towards selling drugs and running with gangs.[13] Game and his brother Big Fase owned an apartment on the outskirts of Compton in Bellflower. Shortly after moving there, they quickly had a monopoly on the drug trade, but the operation was short-lived. In October 1, 2001, while Taylor was in the apartment alone, he heard a knock on the door at 2 a.m. Expecting a late night sale, Taylor opened the door to see a regular customer. The man, however, was accompanied by two other visitors and a fight ensued between Taylor and another man. Before he was able to reach for his pistol, Taylor was shot execution style by one of the assailants five times. After laying still for several minutes, Game used his cell phone and called an ambulance. Due to the severity of his wounds, Taylor went into a three-day coma.[10]