Few artists have a better debut album on their resume than The Game. For his first outing in the mainstream, he had the help of every popular producer and rapper you could imagine. Timbaland, Havoc, Busta Rhymes, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and Nate Dogg all came on board off the strength of Dr. Dre and 50 Cent’s cosign. Moreover, Dre and 50 were also responsible for a strong chunk of the album, saving the day when The Documentary was almost shelved completely by the label.
But it’s his outing with Kanye West that arguably stands as the crown jewel of the album. “Dreams” acts as one of his strongest sample flips as well, a prime example of how unstoppable he was as a producer by 2005.
But the connection that they made was only possible because of a chance encounter The Game had with Ye. In an interview with Complex about the making of The Documentary, the Compton MC recalled meeting him when he was still the “freestyle king.” He had no idea Kanye West was even rapping at this point in his career. But at a party hosted by Nelly, he proceeded to shock Game and give him one of his rare losses in a freestyle battle.
How The Game Lost a Rap Battle Against Kanye West and Ended Up With One of His Best Songs
“When I say that if I ever lost a freestyle battle, that’s the one I lost. Because Kanye got in my a**, b*****s was laughing, and s**t was just f**ked up and crazy, man. But then we freestyled again one day on Melrose and I kind of had my s**t ready for him that time. Me and Kanye we go back a long way. Anything happen to that dude, I’m breaking somebody’s face open,” The Game promised.
Then, not long after they struck a meaningful connection, Ye excitedly called him about his idea for “Dreams”. He had the sample ready to go and proceeded to talk about why the Jerry Butler sample meant so much to him. Not long afterwards, The Game recalled rapping some of his strongest verses in one sitting.
However, there was one verse that he couldn’t quite find the words to finish. After a bout with writer’s block for two months, everything hit him all at once.
“Then one day, I was sitting in the crib, and I don’t remember what the f**k happened. But something sparked me to go sit on the couch, put that s**t in this old a** CD player. I played that s**t for like four hours, and then the words started coming to me. ‘Dreams’ was one of the first songs I ever recorded on Aftermath,” The Game told Complex.
Photo by Rick Diamond/WireImage for BMI
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