The Game: My L.A.
Houston’s Restaurant10250 Santa Monica Boulevard, Century City
“Roscoe’s has great breakfasts, but if you really want my type of dinner you’ve got to go to Houston’s on Santa Monica — they got the best spinach dip in town; that’s what they are famous for. But you really got to ask for the Shirley Temple. Tell them Game sent you and you might get an extra cherry.”
Ed Hardy Vintage Tattoo Wear
7817 Melrose Avenue, Los Angeles
“Ed Hardy was a tattoo guy, and this place is like tattoo clothing — for some reason the shit’s just blowing out of control. They hired Christian Audigier, the designer from Von Dutch. Everybody from Angelina Jolie to me are going there. But you’ve got to have a big wallet, cause the T-shirts can be, like, $80 or so.”
Car Wash
Corner of Melrose and Spaulding, Los Angeles
“Best place to get your car washed in town. Seven dollars and 99 cents for a deluxe car wash, and they clean it up good and fast. But here’s the key — you don’t ever want them to wash it that fast because you’re on Melrose, there’s palm trees and all the pretty girls are going by. You gotta make them take their time.”
Santa Monica College
1900 Pico Boulevard, Santa Monica
“This is my secret workout spot. They have a basketball court that opens up at eight on Sunday mornings, and they have the Santa Monica stairs there; I run up the football stadium stairs — and you got to be like Rocky if you are gonna make it up.”
Men’s Land
104 Fox Hills Mall, Culver City
“If you’re looking for exclusive Jordan Air Force Ones, Nikes, the best in Sean John, all the hottest new fashions, you gotta go to Men’s Land. Ask for Nate. Nate is the guy who dresses better than Kanye. He’s from Motown — Motown Nate — and he’s gonna get you whatever you need. Even if it’s not in the store, he’ll have it for you tomorrow.”
Slauson Indoor Swap Meet
1600 W. Slauson Avenue, Los Angeles
“If you want to get the classic Dickies suits, the classic khaki that N.W.A had, you got to hit the Slauson Swap Meet. The price is right, but one thing you gotta watch out for is it’s a heavily Crip-infested neighborhood, so you can’t have no red on. I can’t go over there too much. The Compton Swap Meet on Long Beach Boulevard is much safer for me personally.”
Nickerson Gardens
Watts
“When the sun goes down and I gotta unwind with the homies I go over to Nickerson Projects at Central and Imperial Highway. I go there at night because it’s a little more calm and collected. But beware of the Bounty Hunter Bloods if you’re not affiliated with them like I am. They called that place the ‘City of God’ long before the movie.”
Cedar Block Piru
Cedar Street and Wilmington Avenue, Compton
“After your tattoo, you can come by my hood at Cedar and Wilmington — that’s where I come from. We’re a small hood, but we had the shit locked up for most of the ’80s and ’90s. We still have a lot of power on the west side of the city. If you’re ever in that hood, mention Dibo, Whiteboy, King Frogg Dogg or Big Dan. Those are my big homies. I’m a little homey by comparison. They can get you where I can’t go. But like I say, you better be affiliated.”
Compton Courthouse
200 West Compton Boulevard, Compton
“This was the place where I first heard N.W.A. A relative was getting out of jail when I was younger. Me and my mom was getting out of the car and this other car pulled up, an ’87 Cutlass Supreme, blue with gold trim and whitewall Pirelli tires, and it was booming. I had never heard no shit like that in my life! ‘Straight out of Compton, motherfucker!’ I never heard nobody cussing like that on a record — all I’d heard was ‘Self Destruction,’ things like that.”
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