No one in hip-hop can Stan quite like the Game. His impression of Biggie Smalls and Tupac on the nights of their respective deaths made his career. So I was not surprised at all when I was forwarded photographs and an accompanying video of the Game getting tatted with 44’s visage on his abdomen.
Shortly after the debate that made the 2012 presidential election resemble a competitive race, when the known world was criticizing Barack Obama's dull performance, the Game defended the man he would one day emblazon upon his stomach:
"Let me tell you something, Obama could have comeoout and said his A-B-Cs in the debate and he would have gotten my vote," [the Game] said. "I like Obama, he’s cool he got swag and that’s my president. Mitt Romney is a Republican. I’m not down with anything they stand for. Not to diss anybody else’s beliefs and what their vote is but I like Obama. He can’t do me no wrong."
Fascinatingly enough, however, the 2012 politician Jayceon Taylor most closely resembles is the guy with whom he is not down. Jeff Weiss from LA Weekly was the first to observe that the Game actually bears some striking similarities to one Willard Mitt Romney.
As Weiss astutely points out, the Game boasts a Romney-esque ability to morph into different characters for different audiences.'
Just last year, as Romney chased down the Republican nomination, Mitt described himself to the 2012 CPAC audience as "severely conservative" despite a career in public service that was anything but.
The Game is just as malleable. He built his career on G-Funk grooves produced by muse/sensei/life partner Dr. Dre. And ever since their highly public divorce, the Game has been lost in the hip-hop ether, releasing records that are sonically distant from his Southern California gangsta rap sound. For an industry that champions authenticity, the Game is famed for his hero worship—to the point where he has been known to, on occasion, mimic other rappers. His latest record, Jesus Piece, an album that deviates far from his base, was better known for causing a public beef with Michelle Malkin than for any of its songs.
If the Game knew that he had more in common with Romney than he had with Obama, maybe America would have been spared from Born Free.