Jesus Piece
by Game

Album: Jesus Piece (2012)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This is the title track of Compton, California rapper, Game's fifth album. The song features Common and Kanye West and was also produced by the latter.
  • A spiritual awakening Game experienced after reading the Bible and attending church was the inspiration for the album. The rapper publicly declared that he was baptized at Bishop Noel Jones' City of Refuge Church in Gardena, California in 2011 but has struggled to completely let go of his former lifestyle. "The album is called Jesus Piece, and it's basically about wanting to be a Christian, right?" he explained to Sister 2 Sister magazine. "But not wanting to change all the things that I love doing. Like, you know, I've been baptized. I go to church. I love God ... but at the same time, I love going to strip clubs. Sometimes I smoke marijuana. And I still love drinking alcohol and chilling. I don't want to be judged for that ... so that's what the album is about."
  • The controversial artwork for the album was first circulated in the social media in October 2012. It portrays an African-American Jesus in a stained glass window with a teardrop tattoo, red bandanna around his mouth, and marijuana leaves. The cover was shifted to the deluxe edition, and replaced on the standard edition by a photo of Game's older brother, Jevon Danell Taylor, who was shot and killed at the age of 21. The rapper explained his reasoning for the deluxe artwork to MTV News: "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'," he said.
  • Game decided to scrap his fifth studio album then titled, "F.I.V.E.," and start again, two months before his deadline to complete it. "Trey Songz came out with his album, called Chapter V, and I feel like he was stealing from me cause everybody knew my album was 'F.I.V.E.,'" the Compton rapper explained to Billboard magazine. "I changed the name to Jesus Piece because one song that I had on F.I.V.E.' was called 'Jesus Piece,' and that was the only song I needed if I was going to change the album to Jesus Piece. That was the perfect song."
    "After that I only had two months to finish the album because I had already been working on 'F.I.V.E.' for almost a year," he continued. "I had deadlines to meet but I wanted to scrap the old album and start fresh. So in 60 days I had to really create what is now, Jesus Piece. People - Rick Ross and [Lil] Wayne - that were on songs on the old album had to re-do verses to fit the concepts. But everybody got with it."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Daryl Hall

Daryl HallSongwriter Interviews

Daryl Hall's TV show is a hit, and he's been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame - only one of these developments excites him.

Rickie Lee Jones

Rickie Lee JonesSongwriter Interviews

Rickie Lee Jones on songwriting, social media, and how she's handling Trump.

Cheerleaders In Music Videos

Cheerleaders In Music VideosSong Writing

It started with a bouncy MTV classic. Nirvana and MCR made them scary, then Gwen, Avril and Madonna put on the pom poms.

Carl Sturken

Carl SturkenSongwriter Interviews

Hitmaker Carl Sturken on writing and producing for Rihanna, 'N Sync, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Donny Osmond, Shakira and Karyn White.

Kim Thayil of Soundgarden

Kim Thayil of SoundgardenSongwriter Interviews

Their frontman (Chris Cornell) started out as their drummer, so Soundgarden takes a linear approach when it comes to songwriting. Kim explains how they do it.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.