DX: Come on…are you serious?
BW: Yeah, they do that shit all the time man! [So-called activists] don’t want nothing but money.
We had to go to New York for this big meeting. Quincy Jones, Colin Powell, dude who runs Black Enterprise magazine [Earl G. Graves, Sr.], one of Malcolm X’s daughters, Puffy. When Death Row was big. They were trying to tell us how to use our power and use our money. Where were you when we were trying to get this money? None of you were trying to get us a record deal, yet, all of you talk shit about us and then you don’t put a foot forward [in helping us]. They try to tell us how to use our money but they weren’t fucking with us before that.

“’You know what?' asked Busta Rhymes after taking in one particularly take, ‘When you’re rappin’, sometimes your shit is just so borderline disrespectful. I mean you really take it there!’

Everyone busted out laughing.

That’s what’s great about The Game. And that’s his problem too. His 2004 album, The Documentary, is the sound of someone struggling to keep up with the talent around him. He didn’t always respect his place in the process…” – pg 140

DX: So back to 50 Cent and Game. How real was this beef?
BW: Game and 50 wasn’t cool with that situation from jump. Jimmy Iovine was the one who was the brainchild of putting Game in G-Unit because that gave G-Unit a bigger presence on the west coast, plus Game had a bigger buzz on the east than the west at the time. So that way Game could ride with G-Unit and vice versa. Just for bigger album sales.

But you gotta understand that Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo were soldiers for 50. Game already had a deal with Aftermath. Game already had his own people. Game and 50 are very similar in their ways, and never really did like each other. But they understood the game. 50 gave Game a few of his songs for Game’s album and those were Game’s biggest hits. [50 Cent] did the hooks. But 50 wanted Game to be a soldier and Game did not want to be a soldier. That’s just the way it was. 50 wanted to be the boss.

You gotta think about the timing of all this. At one time, everyone was talking about Game. 50 was pushing up his album. All the beef stuff was a little orchestration of jealousy.

The video for “This Is How We Do” was supposed to be like this: one side of the street would be Cali and the other side would be New York. 50’s on one side and Game would be on the other. 50 didn’t want to do the video. Reason why? [50 Cent said] “Game wasn’t on my level if people see me and Game doing a video together they will think that he’s on my level.”

DX: Damn…
BW: I felt Dre should have stepped up to the plate on that. He’s the icon, he could have shut that whole thing down. Sometimes you have to take that role. But if you don’t, the beef is going to go where it’s going to go.

DX: So did you ever hear all these so called projects that were supposed to come out that never did?
BW: Did I hear it? Shit, I still got it!

DX: Are there that many songs in the vault?
BW: He has a whole bunch of songs that never made it out. I still have Rakim songs.

DX: What about the rumored Helter Skelter album with Ice Cube?
BW: We didn’t finish the Helter Skelter album. If Dre ever decides to put out the shit that he has in the vault, you’d be like, “Wow!”

DX: So what finally led to your departure from Dre and the industry?
BW: I want our whole crew to make it. Dre was supposed to be the roots of that strong tree and we were supposed to be the branches. Don’t tell me what we’re going to do. Seventeen years went by and nothing materialized. I got three kids and a wife. He didn’t want to hear my mouth anymore so he had me doing stuff for his wife. I started thinking that I was going to be a retired-ass dude who never got to do what he wanted to do. You want to step out on your own but you think about being around Dre for so long and how is the rest of the world going to accept me? I just finally made that decision. My last conversation in Aftermath with Dre was me telling him I had to go to a meeting…I just never came back.

“In hindsight, things have gone down between me and the biz exactly as they are supposed to.
Experience was the salary at both Death Row and Aftermath. My genius friend can be irresponsible and self-absorbed, but the cat can teach a lesson in his own special way.

I’m happy where I am now. I helped make history with my man Dre. And I got to witness the strengths of street knowledge – and its weaknesses. And even if a part of me wishes I could have been there to watch the Doctor struggle through another album-patient, I’m not complaining in the least. It ain’t all bad being the man next to da man.” – pg 164