The Game says he was “hurt” when he was not included in the lineup of rappers who performed at the Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show earlier this year.
In a new interview, the West Coast rapper sat down with the ‘I Am Athlete’ podcast with Brandon Marshall, Pacman Jones, and Nick ‘Swaggy P’ Young, where he spoke about how he felt about being left out and not getting a call.
The Game and 50 Cent have had several back and forths since the Super Bowl, where he mocked 50 Cent’s performance. However, 50 Cent had accused the rapper of being bitter and washed up hence why he wasn’t chosen to be on the show, which featured Eminem, Snoop Dogg, Kendrick Lamar, Mary J. Blige, and even 50 Cent and Anderson .Paak.
The Game, however, offered a great reason as to why Dr. Dre did not choose him to be in the lineup.
“The real reason I wasn’t on the Super Bowl [Halftime Show] is because I’m not a ‘safe’ artist,'” he explained in a teaser. “You don’t know what the Game gon’ do when he get up there. So, it’s just like, ‘He not safe,’ so they went with the safe artists.”
According to The Game, the culture of the Super Bowl is to always honor the culture of that state, and he felt that he, along with fellow L.A. artist YG should have been included in the Half Time performance.
“It’s a Dr. Dre Super Bowl but it is Jay-Z. Jay-Z understands the dynamics of West Coast hip hop very well right and I don’t think Jay-Z would have a problem if Dr Dre said we bringing Game on the set. Outside of myself I also think YG should have been on the Super Bowl…if it was a New York Super Bowl you would have saw jay-Z, you might have saw Nas, you might have saw Mary J, and Fivio Foreign and Alicia Keys…” he said.
The Los Angeles rapper added that West Coast rap culture was not as supportive as in other areas.
“We, on the West Coast, are the only motherF***ers who have this crab-in-a-barrel mentality, where we wanna keep n***as down …” he explained. “Snoop Dogg is an icon. Dre is icon. Em is an icon, but Em is not from L.A. 50 is not from L.A. I’m not taking away from the fact that they were on the Super Bowl, but L.A. [artists] wouldn’t have been in the Detroit Super Bowl or New York Super Bowl. It just wouldn’t have happened … L.A., L.A., L.A. all around the Super Bowl and I didn’t get the call.”
The Game added that he felt that Dr. Dre should have called him and admitted that he was hurt but not bothered anymore.
“I was hurt by that,” he said. “I talk to Dre often. I just know if I was Dre and he was Game, he would’ve been up there,” he continued. “That’s just it. It’s L.A. I am L.A. I’m in the streets … So, yeah, I was hurt. Now am I bothered by it today? I’m not bothered by it today.”
The rapper also added that despite him not being included in the show, it was an amazing Super Bowl Half Time and a “win” for the culture.
