West Coast rapper Game may have felt the wrath of angry fans over his controversial Jesus Piece deluxe cover as he has replaced the image with his late older brother for the LP’s standard edition.
On the standard cover, a black-and-white photo of the rapper’s late brother serves as the artwork.
Game ignited a firestorm of controversy with the deluxe cover for Jesus Piece, which featured a portrait of a tatted Jesus wearing a bandana and Jesus piece chain. But the Compton rapper takes a different approach with the standard cover, paying tribute to his late brother. The black-and-white artwork features a picture of Jevon Danell Taylor with the words “In Loving Memory Of…” above it. Jevon was only 21 when he was shot at a gas station over a fight about a girl. (Rap-Up)
Back in 2005, Game reflected on losing his older brother from a fatal shooting.
Game’s older brother Javon, while involved in gangs as well, got himself a record deal when he was 17. Game, who was 13, looked up to his brother and was shattered when Javon was shot at a gas station. He got into a dispute with a man over a girl. “I remember going to the hospital, Martin Luther King right here in Compton,” Game recalls, now sitting on the porch of the house he owns. “We went to the hospital to see my brother and I was crying. I was 13 years old, frightened, thought I was going to lose my brother. He was just so alive and so strong and he was like, ‘Yeah, when I get out of here we gonna spend so much time together and it’s gonna be me and you and Fase. We gonna do it right like real brothers supposed to do.'” (MTV)
Last month, the rapper stood behind his controversial Jesus Piece artwork.
In Game’s reasoning for his album cover, he explains, “I did the album cover the way I wanted to. It embodies part of my career, my life; it’s all in that cover. And, you know, I love God, Jesus Christ is my savior and I’m still out here thuggin’.” Despite his newfound religion, he has resumed his usual hobbies of smoking weed — because “this is California” and he hasn’t read anywhere in the Bible that he can’t — and going to strip clubs because “that’s what I do.” (MTV)
Back in 2008, Game found himself fighting with a relative at one of his late cousin’s funerals.
“Two days prior to this funeral, my cousin Kirky, he’s already got his Crip homies at the funeral,” Game said in an interview. “He called my brother Fase and asked him would he jump in if him and his homies jumped me at the funeral…He’s already plotting on me. When I get there, I’m thinking the funeral and the death of his sister would calm all that. When I see him, I shake his hand, I go sit down and tell him I love him…Mo money, mo problems. Now, my family is my worst enemy. I hate them more than I hate 50 Cent man.” (98.3 Jams)
