"My Life" is the third single from The Game's third studio album, ''

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'' which was released on July 22, 2008. The song, produced by Cool & Dre, features

Lil Wayne Dwayne Michael Carter Jr. (born September 27, 1982), known professionally as Lil Wayne, is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, and record executive. His career began in 1995, at the age of 12, when he was signed by rapper Birdman (rapper), ...

Background

Recording

Producers Cool & Dre have released a video documenting how they created the beat. The Game spoke on his working with Lil Wayne stating:

Samples

Lil Wayne re-sings sections of "So Tired", a song by Birdman in which Wayne is featured. Game tried to make this song have the same instruments of

Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...

's song "

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" of the album '' Marshall Mathers LP'' (2000).The Game feat. Lil' Wayne - My Life > The Hype Factor
Accessed August 23, 2008. Also at the beginning of the second verse, The Game samples a twice used Lil Wayne line from the remix of " Party Like a Rockstar", and "Phone Home", from ''

Tha Carter III ''Tha Carter III'' is the sixth studio album by American rapper Lil Wayne, released on June 10, 2008, by Cash Money, Universal Motown & Young Money Entertainment. It follows a long string of mixtape releases and guest appearances on other hip h ...

'' (2008): :''We are not the same, I am a Martian'' Although multiple samples were used for the song, the album credits only list the sample of "So Tired".

Release

The song started to receive airplay on July 22, 2008, but was leaked in early July. As of early August 2008 the song was released for download on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Music video

The video which was filmed on July 23, 2008, was directed by Bryan Barber, and premiered on '' FNMTV'' on August 15, 2008. The setting takes place mostly within a graveyard and other areas in and around

Compton Compton may refer to: Places Canada * Compton (electoral district), a former Quebec federal electoral district * Compton (provincial electoral district), a former Quebec provincial electoral district now part of Mégantic-Compton * Compton, Que ...

and features Lil Wayne, with appearances by Xzibit, Birdman, Cool & Dre, and

Young Buck David Darnell Brown (born March 15, 1981), best known by his stage name Young Buck, is an American rapper. He heads his own record label, Cashville, and was a member of the former hip hop group G-Unit. Early life Brown was born in Nashville, Te ...

, with references to the deceased

Sean Bell Sean, also spelled Seán or Séan in Irish English, is a male given name of Irish origin. It comes from the Irish versions of the Biblical Hebrew name ''Yohanan'' (), Seán (anglicized as ''Shaun/ Shawn/ Shon'') and Séan (Ulster variant; angli ...

. The video also makes references to the gang the Bloods Also in the video is a reference to the "Beats by

Dr. Dre Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...

" headphones made by

Monster A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive with a strange, grotesque appearance that causes terror and fe ...

. The video has over 200 Million views on The Game's YouTube channel. In the video The Game also wears a shirt that read
"Hip Hop Broke My Heart"
which, in an interview with website HipHopDX.com, he stated, among other things,

Build up

In addition to the controversy surrounding the supposed "diss" to Eminem and deceased rapper Proof, on August 1, 2008, DJ Skee released a behind-the-scenes video on his official "SkeeTV"

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

account. The video has many people speaking to the camera including director Bryan Barber speaking on different subjects within the video. Young Buck is seen speaking about his label, Cashville Records, and artists signed to the label such as the Outlawz, and C-Bo. Also on "SkeeTV", a trailer was released to promote the video, on August 14, the day before the video was officially released.

Chart positions

"My Life" was released was first released on iTunes in

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for digital downloads. In the United States, it debuted at #21 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 making it The Game's highest debut on the chart. It also debuted at #32 on the Pop 100 which was also based on downloads. In Canada it debuted #42 on the

Canadian Hot 100 The Canadian Hot 100 is a music industry record chart in Canada for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. The Canadian Hot 100 was launched on the issue dated March 31, 2007, and is currently the standard record chart in Canada; a n ...

chart the same week also based on downloads as well. On the

British Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

it peaked at #34.

Cover versions

This song was covered by the Swedish band jj on their

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album jj no. 3. There's a remix with French rapper La Fouine singing

's bits.

Lupe Fiasco Wasalu Muhammad Jaco (born February 16, 1982), better known by his stage name Lupe Fiasco ( ), is an American rapper, singer, record producer, and entrepreneur. He rose to fame in 2006 following the success of his debut album, ''Lupe Fiasco's ...

's Audubon Ballroom features a slightly uptempo sample of My Life.

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Controversy

When "My Life" was first leaked, many believed The Game was insulting

. However, later on his website, Game denied these allegations, and apologized to anyone who might have misinterpreted what he had intended to say: The exact lines which many understood as a diss were: :''You see them 24's spinning? I earned 'em'' :''And all the pictures of me and Em, I burned 'em'' :''So there ain't no proof that I ever walked through 8 Mile'' :''And since there ain't no

Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a con ...

, I'll never walk through 8 Mile''Archie Fucque (July 25, 2008
Pulse Report: The Game Explains Alleged Eminem Diss...
SOHH. Accessed August 16, 2008. On the version used in the music video,The Game - "My Life" on FNMTV

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

. Accessed August 16, 2008. the lyrics have been changed to: :''You see them 24's spinnin'? I earned 'em'' :''And I ain't no preacher, but here's my Erick Sermon'' :''So eat this black music, and tell me how it taste, now'' :''And fuck

Jesse Jackson Jesse Louis Jackson (né Burns; born October 8, 1941) is an American political activist, Baptist minister, and politician. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as a shadow U.S. senator ...

cause it ain't about race, now''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:My Life (The Game Song) 2008 singles The Game (rapper) songs Lil Wayne songs Songs written by Lil Wayne Music videos directed by Bryan Barber Song recordings produced by Cool & Dre Songs written by The Game (rapper) 2008 songs Geffen Records singles