The Game is making headlines not just for his new album but for a public grievance he aired at his own release party, claiming that Kendrick Lamar and Black Sam, the brother of the late Nipsey Hussle, have gone silent on him.
Speaking at the release event for his latest project, Documentary 3, the Compton rapper made his frustration plain. “I can’t seem to get in touch with Black Sam to holler at him,” he said. “I don’t understand you. I put Kendrick on his first mixtape. I show Kendrick nothing but love, but I can’t get on the phone.”
The Game was direct in framing the situation as a one-sided freeze-out rather than a mutual falling out. “I ain’t no hoe,” he said. “I’m going just let you know that it ain’t no static. So you hear it from my voice. I can call on the phone and everybody know that I ain’t holding my tongue for nobody. I’mma say what I say.”
The comments have been widely connected to The Game’s alignment with Drake. The two have a longstanding relationship, with Drake appearing on Game’s albums going back years. “When this Drake came in the game, he adapted to me, homie,” Game said. “Like we got close. I’m not no type. I don’t flip flop with my friends.
That loyalty to Drake appears to be at the root of the tension. Documentary 3 contains tracks where Game is seen as standing in Drake’s corner, a position that sits uneasily with many on the West Coast following the high-profile conflict between Drake and Kendrick Lamar.
Observers have pointed to the song “100,” which Game recorded with Drake and which included shots directed at Kendrick, as the moment the distance between Game and the TDE camp began to grow.
Game also referenced his history with Top Dawg Entertainment, noting that he introduced Kendrick to key figures and opportunities early in the rapper’s career without asking for anything in return. “I put Kendrick in places that I wanted to be that I wish put me and I didn’t ask for money,” he said.
The irony of the moment is that Documentary 3 arrived to strong numbers, reportedly pulling over 1.61 million streams on its opening day on Spotify.
The album has drawn genuine praise for its musicianship, and Game himself gave a measured response to press outside the party when asked whether he was throwing shots at Kendrick, telling reporters to simply listen to the full album.
What happened inside the party told a different story. The outburst has shifted attention away from the music and onto the personal fallout, a pattern that has followed Game throughout his career.
He is an artist widely respected for his technical ability and his ear for production, yet moments like these consistently pull the conversation away from the work itself.
Whether Kendrick, Black Sam, or anyone connected to Top Dawg Entertainment responds remains to be seen. For now, Game has made his position clear and done so loudly, on his own night.
