The Game felt some type of way after he was excluded from the Super Bowl halftime show in his city ... the L.A. rapper saying he was "hurt" Dr. Dre didn't hit him up to perform.
Super Bowl LVI was basically L.A.-themed -- going down at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, CA -- with the Rams repping the NFC. Most Los Angeles of all, the halftime performers ... including L.A. rappers Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Kendrick Lamar.
But, The Game -- an L.A. native who always reps for the city -- was not included in the lineup ... something the 46-year-old rapper said wasn't right while appearing on the "I Am Athlete" podcast.
"The f****** Rams was in the Super Bowl, bro!" The Game said, "L.A., L.A., L.A. all around the Super Bowl and I don't get the call. I was hurt by that.”
"Dre should've called and said why. I would've understand that 'cause I talk to Dre. I talk to Dre often and I just know if I was Dre and he was Game, then he woulda been up there. That's just it. It's L.A. and I am L.A. I'm in the streets."
What made Game even more upset was the fact that Eminem and 50 Cent got to perform ... when they're not even born and raised L.A. rappers.
"Snoop is icon. Dre is icon. Em is an icon, but Em is not from L.A. 50 is not from L.A," Game said.
"I’m not taking away from the fact that they were on the Super Bowl, but L.A. n***** wouldn’t have been in the Detroit Super Bowl or New York Super Bowl. It just wouldn’t have happened."
Even though Game's feelings were hurt, he gets why he didn't get the call -- he's "not a safe artist."
"You don't know what Game gon' do when he get up there," Game said, "They went with the safe artists."
But, Game is letting bygones be bygones -- saying at the end of the day, it was a win for L.A. and a win for the culture.