The Game Drops Documentary III Amid Kendrick Lamar Diss Claims

The Game just released The Documentary III, his 11th solo album, and it arrived with immediate controversy. Fans flagged multiple moments on the project where the Compton rapper appears to reference Kendrick Lamar, and the fact that Drake appears on the hook of a track called "No Brakes" only added fuel to the fire. Game hit the comments on Instagram to shut it down, writing that he "ain't diss nobody on that song," but the lyrics are doing a lot of talking on their own.

This lands in a specific cultural moment. Kendrick and Drake spent much of 2024 in one of the most documented rap beefs in recent memory, with Lamar's GNX taking home the Grammy for Best Rap Album earlier this year. Any Compton rapper cosigning Drake right now was always going to get read a certain way, regardless of intent.

What Is The Game Actually Saying on Documentary III?

The lyrics in question are spread across at least four tracks. On "Geezus," Game raps about refusing to pick sides in the Kendrick and Drake situation, saying that being from the West Side means he doesn't owe anyone an allegiance. On "No Brakes" featuring Drake, he doubles down. "Me, Drake and a Draco, we the Three Amigos / N---a said pick a side, then I'm picking homicide," he raps, which reads as a pretty direct acknowledgment of the beef dynamic even if it stops short of a direct diss.

On "LA Monster," he references both the "Boogeyman" nickname associated with Lamar and the GNX title specifically, though he also raps "I ain't got no problem with the boogeyman / And he ain't got a problem with me." Then on "The Pen," he addresses the speculation head on: "They say I'm beefing with Kendrick / How the f--- do that sound?" It is a strange place to land after three other tracks that wade directly into the same territory.

Fellow West Coast rapper Stat Quo offered some backstory, pointing to a 2015 music video Game and Drake filmed together in Compton for their song "100" as the origin of any tension. Stat also noted the apparent double standard: Game never seemed to have a problem with Kendrick appearing on Power alongside 50 Cent, who has his own long history with Game himself.

Why LA Is Paying Attention to This One

An LA critic on Instagram summed up the local frustration clearly, arguing that Game should be in elder statesman mode at this stage, opening doors for younger artists rather than wading into beef territory involving the city's most decorated rapper right now. That critique landed with enough people that the post went wide and eventually pulled Game into the comments.

This is the tension at the center of the whole situation. The Game has always operated as a Compton ambassador, someone who built his entire identity around West Coast loyalty and LA unity. Featuring Drake in the middle of post-beef fallout, even on a track where he explicitly refuses to pick sides, puts him in a difficult spot with a fanbase that does not read neutrality as neutral.

For independent artists and creators watching from the outside, the Documentary III rollout is a reminder of how loaded context can override intent in 2025. Game may genuinely believe he did not diss Kendrick. But the album is out, the references are in the lyrics, and the audience is going to decide what it means regardless. In an era where every bar gets timestamped and cross-referenced, claiming neutrality while namedroping the GNX three times on the same project is a hard sell.

Stream The Documentary III and draw your own conclusions. If you want to stay up on what is moving in LA rap and culture, [check our events page](/events) for what is coming through the city or [drop your own take at Pass the Aux](/pass-the-aux).

The question now is whether Kendrick responds at all, or if the silence itself becomes the loudest answer Game gets.