Compton emcee, The Game, was one of the only West Coast artists signed to Aftermath Records during the early 2000s. The lyricist’s path to fame was a strange one, but in 2003, following the success of both Eminem and 50 Cent, the rhymer (real name Jayceon Taylor) became Dr Dre’s primary protégé.
Dr Dre had caught wind of the West Coast artist through his brother, Warren G, who had heard QB.2.Compton, which was exploding on the LA underground. Following the establishment of both 50 Cent and Eminem as credible artists, The Game became Dr Dre’s protégé and even joined G-unit.
However, before his rapid rise to fame, Taylor nearly died in Compton after a deadly shooting that left him in a deep coma. The incident was what sparked the Doctor’s Advocate creator to begin music in the first place, but he may not have had the career he did had he passed.
Taylor was shot five times in his apartment due to a drug game beef. The blood loss and a bullet in his back sent him into a three-week coma, and the Drillmatic creator was rushed to Mount Sinai hospital in LA.
In a since-deleted 2019 Instagram post, The Game detailed his shooting, writing, “OCTOBER 1ST 2001 ‼️ 18 years since I was in a coma after getting shot 5 times in the dope spot… I look at this video of the younger me & I can’t do anything but thank God for the opportunity to have a second chance,”
The Game captioned another video of him as a teenager, posting, “I’m tellin’ y’all, I was a real fuck up… I never expected nor cared to live past 25 years old. I literally didn’t give a fuck !!!! sometimes I do not know how I made it out of all I’ve been through… but, I did… & I guess that’s the only important part of my story at this point in life. I’m here.”
Following the release of The Documentary, Taylor addressed the track ‘Dreams’ when he rapped “Woke up out that coma 2001” stating, “It was like waking up from anything. I don’t know what dying’s like but I know you just go to sleep and you never wake up. And if it’s anything how that little short-lived coma was, then it’s not really nothing no one can deal with. And really your ass can’t do shit about it.”
You can hear Taylor speaking about the experience below.
