The Game is getting transparent about his relationship with money. During a recent interview with music journalist Speedy Morman on Complex’s “360,” the “Hate It or Love It” emcee opened up about not wanting to join the billionaire boys club that includes only two rappers — Jay-Z and Kanye West — and described some of the most lucrative deals he’s ever turned down.
“I’ve turned down, like, probably a 6, 7 million dollar tour because I was trying to hit legend on 2K,” the 42-year-old explained. “And this is true.” When a dumbfounded Speedy asked if he ever achieved the status, the “How We Do” rapper shared, “yeah, of course.” He added, “I was first that year too.”
Some empathized with the artist, including journalist Raquel Harper, who confirmed the rapper’s comments, writing, “He is like that in real life. He left a hotel before behind the video game cause of Wi-Fi.”
Others were not so convinced and were quick to bring up his 2019 court case in which he was ordered to pay Priscilla Rainey $7.1 million in damages after she sued him on sexual assault claims. Rainey won her case in 2016 after the rapper failed to appear in court.
“Don’t you owe $7 million?” wrote one critic. “He don’t wanna work cause he gone have to pay those ppl,” commented another.
“Turned it down because as soon as he made a dollar it was going to that lady,” a third person chimed in.
Still, The Game doesn’t appear to regret the decision either, telling host Speedy that it all boiled down to his “happiness.” He added, “It’s all about what makes you happy. I didn’t feel like going on tour at that time. I wasn’t even emotionally there. A lot of people don’t understand that.”
He continued, “Money is money. We need it to, you know, get the essentials in life, But I think that the happiest people in life are the people that play the middle … You know, like schoolteachers and nurses — people that are like well off and not super rich. … But being rich ain’t even always cool. I know more miserable rich people than I know regular people.”
