Pot Of Gold

Album: The R.E.D. Album (2011)
Charted: 58
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • The second official single from West Coast rapper The Game's fourth studio album The R.E.D. Album features vocals from R&B singer Chris Brown.
  • Game and Chris Brown penned the song with Sam Hook, who is a songwriter signed to Ne-Yo's Compound Entertainment record label. It was produced by Los Angeles-based production/writing duo The Futuristic (Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Wiz Kalifa, Akon).
  • The song finds Game contemplating his material possessions in the face of the world's problems, whilst Brown sings about how he misses the days "when life was simple." "You never grasp a hold of every coin in the pot, so you gotta take as much as you can," the Compton, California, rapper told MTV News of the lyrical content. "To me, those coins are my family, my girl, my friends — nothing materialistic."
  • The song's Bryan Barber directed video was shot on June 28, 2011 at an abandoned East Los Angeles residence. Game's lyrics shaped the video's direction. "He wanted to do a concept that was kind of a tribute to everything that has influenced him over the years and got him to the place that he's at now," Barber told MTV News.

    The clip acts as a retrospective of Game's own life growing up in Compton. It begins with him rapping in an attic reminiscing on simpler days. It gave the rapper a chance to look back on his childhood and to connect with his own son by showing him where daddy grew up. "First scene is I'm up in this attic with all these Tupac posters and Snoop Dogg and just basketballs. It's sorta real reminiscent of my room growing up in my house," said Game. "I got my son in there. So it's like me bringing my son back to where I grew up because he doesn't know anything about that. He's spoiled, he lives far out, he goes to private school. So just showing him the things that existed and the daily routine when I was a kid."
  • Game told the story of the song in an interview with Artist Direct: "It's nothing but a positive song. I think after 'Red Nation' getting banned it was pretty much perfect for what I was trying to do. We wanted to paint a picture that everything doesn't have to be so negative. That's why I got Chris Brown on the song because he's been faced with as much criticism and controversy as I have over the last few years. He came back and rose to the top. I wanted to tell the story and uplift people like I usually do. It's more of an international appealing song too."

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Melanie

MelanieSongwriter Interviews

The singer-songwriter Melanie talks about her spiritual awakening at Woodstock, "Brand New Key," and why songwriting is an art, not a craft.

John Lee Hooker

John Lee HookerSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for Bruce Pollock's 1984 conversation with the esteemed bluesman. Hooker talks about transforming a Tony Bennett classic and why you don't have to be sad and lonely to write the blues.

Janis Ian

Janis IanSongwriter Interviews

One of the first successful female singer-songwriters, Janis had her first hit in 1967 at age 15.

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"

Narada Michael Walden - "Freeway of Love"They're Playing My Song

As a songwriter and producer, Narada had hits with Aretha Franklin, Whitney Houston, Mariah Carey and Starship. But what song does he feel had the greatest impact on his career?

Michael Bolton

Michael BoltonSongwriter Interviews

Into the vaults for this talk with Bolton from the '80s when he was a focused on writing songs for other artists.

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80s

Wang Chung Pick The Top Songs Of The '80sSongwriter Interviews

'80s music ambassadors Wang Chung pick their top tracks of the decade, explaining what makes each one so special.