The rappers The Game calls “hard as fuck” without being good lyricists
The Game knows a thing or two about rap having come up under the wing of the legendary Dr Dre and put together some classic albums of his own. He’s also never been one to shy away from giving credit to legends that came before him.
Shortly before the release of The R.E.D. Album in 2011, the Compton rapper spoke to Complex about his 25 favourite albums of all time, with his varied list including the likes of De La Soul, DMX, Jadakiss, 2Pac, Nas and JAY-Z.
Coming in at number 13 was Geto Boys’ 1996 album The Resurrection, where he pointed out the vigorous attitude of Scarface, Willie D and co, and put it down to the influence of his mentor’s trailblazing group. “Those were three motherfuckers with attitudes,” he said. “You know where they got the ‘attitude’ from, right? They were dope, and it just showed that they appreciated N.W.A just as much as everyone else did.
“One of my favorite lyrics was… Give me a second to remember. It’s been a long time since I talked to anyone about someone who isn’t fucking Wiz Khalifa or Drake. Willie D said, ‘I’m the type of n-gga that throws a party when the flag burns/ I’m at the point of no return.’”
The Resurrection was mostly produced by Mike Dean and remains Geto Boys’ highest-charting album in America, peaking at number six on the Billboard 200.
Despite Geto Boys being among his personal favourites, The Game admitted they weren’t at the top of the totem pole when it comes to lyricists. In his opinion, Willie D and other rappers should be placed in different category altogether. “I’ll tell you some rappers that are just hard as fuck but aren’t lyricists: Willie D, Big Mike, Baby, Lil Boosie,” he said. “They need their own category called ‘Hard As Fuck.’
“When I was young, I thought he was talking about he’s the type of n-gga that’ll throw a party when the Ku Klux Klan were burning flags and shit. That didn’t make too much sense and I got told I was stupid so many times.”
He continued, “Later, I figured he was talking about the American flag burning. At that time it felt like all rappers were fucking anti-American. Reagan was in office and motherfuckers didn’t like Reagan. He was saying if somebody burned the American flag, then that’s when it was time to get the 40’s out and start kicking it. People don’t even understand, but that shit was crazy.”
The Game went on to reiterate that Willie D was his favourite member of Geto Boys despite his comments, and gave credit to Scarface when it comes to outright bars. “Willie D was my favorite, I don’t give a fuck what nobody says,” he said. “Scarface was dope. He was the dopest member in the group lyrically, but fucking Willie D didn’t give a fuck.
“He didn’t even know how to rap too much either, he just didn’t give a fuck. You have some rappers out there that are lyricists and some rappers that are just hard as fuck.”