The rumours are over. After weeks of back and forth talk, I was announced today via Twitter (seriously, if I doesn’t happen over social media, it’s not legit) that West Coast rapper The Game has partnered with Birdman and his label, Cash Money Records. Now free from his contract with Interscope Records, Game, who’s 2012 project Jesus Piece resulted in an overall mediocre response from fans, aims to establish himself as a prominent figure within the association of the new label. But is this the best move for the rapper?

Let’s remember that The Game was pretty much set circa 2005; having established a relationship with Dr. Dre and releasing two solid albums around that time certainly didn’t hurt his status. But in 2013, he’s become a ghost of his former self, releasing projects that don’t hold up with his previous work. Can Cash Money help him reclaim the throne, or should he take a page from Nipsey Hustle and do some creative hustling? Game’s already prevalent, albeit fading, status can still be used to leverage his opportunity to stardom on the independent circuit, giving him full creative control with his projects. But I guess we’ll find out the outcome of the deal in the months to come.

Busy week? Here’s 5 tracks you might have missed during your countless endeavours:

1) Snow Tha Product (feat. CyHi the Prynce) – “Hold You Down”

2) Danny Brown (feat. Scrufizzer) – “Dubstep”

3) Tech N9ne – “Hiccup”

4) E-40 (feat. Chris Brown & T.I.) – “Episode”

5) Xzibit & B-Real – “Legends Never Die”