The Game Recounts His Nerve-Wracking First Meeting With Nipsey Hussle

In the latest exclusive clip from The Game’s appearance on People’s Party With Talib Kweli, the Compton rapper details his meeting with the late, great Nipsey Hussle and how the two rappers crossed LA gang color lines to collaborate early in Hussle’s career. Nipsey died in March of this year after he was shot in front of his Marathon clothing store on the corner of Crenshaw and Slauson — a corner which figures heavily into his work as the focal point for his exploits, both legal and illegal. The Game spent much of 2019 mourning and celebrating Nipsey, with whom he stayed in close contact for the last decade.

“This sh*t is crazy,” Game says of the day he met Nipsey. He explains that the meeting wasn’t entirely by chance, but was more of a result of the legendary reputation Crenshaw has had in the imaginations of LA County residents combining with Game’s own bad sense of direction (and looking for girls). “I want my whole LA, rapper n**** experience,” he says, explaining that meant driving around in a white Range Rover with a Glock in his lap, just to get his car washed in Hollywood and show off for the hood. However, he says, he got caught at a red light in Nipsey’s neighborhood, the 60s, where Nipsey approached with a group of fellow Rollin 60s and a demo in hand.

“Nip saw the Glock in my lap and he was like… ‘Ay cuh, my name Nip and we the Slauson Boyz,'” Game recalls. “I took the CD and he was like, ‘You a real one, cuh.'” Game says Nipsey’s confidence and resemblance to Snoop Dogg impressed him so much he called Snoop, who confirmed that Nipsey was becoming a known quantity, and Game invited him to the studio to record, making what could have been the usual deadly gang confrontation into a historic moment for hip-hop.

The full episode of The Game’s appearance on People’s Party With Talib Kweli releases this Monday, December 9. Watch Game talk about his rivalry with 50 Cent in another exclusive clip here.

People’s Party is a weekly interview show hosted by Talib Kweli with big-name guests exploring hip-hop, culture, and politics. Subscribe via Apple, Spotify, or YouTube.

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