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Fuct in the Game

  • Writer: Deric Hollings
    Deric Hollings
  • Jul 6
  • 5 min read

 

I stated in a blogpost entitled We Gotta Stop Killing Each Other, “I joined the [United States] Marine Corps to escape the gang path upon which I was likely heading.” Before graduating high school in 1995, I’d befriended Bloods, Crips, and Sureños gang members for a number of years.

 

At around that time, hip hop duo Watts Gangstas (also known as Watts G’s), consisting of rappers D-Dope and Felony, released their debut album The Real (1995). It featured an explicit version of a song called “Fuct in the Game”, as the word “fuct” is slang for the word “fucked.”

 

For context, regarding the term “the game,” one source states that it’s used “to describe an underground industry that participants ‘play’ such as selling drugs, making rap music, pimping, or gang activity.” To be “fuct” or “fucked” in the game of gangbanging wasn’t desirable to me.

 

I am not now, have never been, nor do I foresee myself ever being a validated gang member, known associate, and/or direct affiliate of any criminal organization. Also, I unequivocally denounce any allegation of Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act-related activity.

 

Nevertheless, I was headed down the path of being fuct in the game. Noteworthy, the censored version of “Fuct in the Game” is titled “Stuck in the Game”. To be “stuck” is to bring to a halt: prevent the movement or action of. Thus, being “fuct” or “stuck” in the game is to be trapped.

 

Even when I was relatively young and naïve, I didn’t want that for my life. Also worth noting is that on both versions of the Watts G’s tracks were vocals by Natasha Walker, as well as a sample of The Isley Brothers’ song “Voyage to Atlantis” (1977).

 

The blend of Walkers melodic voice with The Isley Brothers’ soulful guitar rift almost made me overlook the topic about which D-Dope and Felony rapped. Allegedly validated gang members, I finally considered their closing line, “On the East, things never change, fucked in the game.”

 

All these years later, after having escaped the fuckery of gangbanging, I now draw inspiration from “Fuct in the Game”. Specifically, when personally practicing Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy (REBT), I remind myself of how I un-fucked my circumstances so many years ago.

 

If I could do it then, I can do so now. Admittedly, it hasn’t been an easy type of proverbial ride over the past three decades. Nonetheless, “easy” doesn’t even factor into my equation for success. Do I want to be fuct, fucked, or stuck in the game of hardship? No! I don’t.

 

Thus, I do the work to keep it moving. Now, I invite you to consider doing what’s healthy, helpful, or productive, even if it’s hard, rather than settling for unhealthy, unhelpful, or unproductive options which keep you fuct in the game of life. Oh, and Watts up to Watts G’s!

 

If you’re looking for a provider who tries to work to help you understand how thinking impacts physical, mental, emotional, and behavioral elements of your life, I invite you to reach out today by using the contact widget on my website.

 

As the world’s foremost hip hop-influenced REBT psychotherapist, I’m pleased to try to help people with an assortment of issues from anger (hostility, rage, and aggression) to relational issues, adjustment matters, trauma experience, justice involvement, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and depression, and other mood or personality-related matters.

 

At Hollings Therapy, LLC, serving all of Texas, I aim to treat clients with dignity and respect while offering a multi-lensed approach to the practice of psychotherapy and life coaching. My mission includes: Prioritizing the cognitive and emotive needs of clients, an overall reduction in client suffering, and supporting sustainable growth for the clients I serve. Rather than simply trying to help you to feel better, I want to try to help you get better!

 

 

Deric Hollings, LPC, LCSW


 

References:

 

APA Dictionary of Psychology. (2018, April 19). Inspiration. American Psychological Association. Retrieved from https://dictionary.apa.org/inspiration

Discogs. (n.d.). D-Dope. Retrieved from https://www.discogs.com/artist/177676-D-Dope

Discogs. (n.d.). Felony (5). Retrieved from https://www.discogs.com/artist/379418-Felony-5

Discogs. (n.d.). Natasha Walker. Retrieved from https://www.discogs.com/artist/173622-Natasha-Walker

Discogs. (n.d.). Watts Gangstas – The Real. Retrieved from https://www.discogs.com/release/2170288-Watts-Gangstas-The-Real

Duarte, W. (2017, January 3). Watts Gangstas - Fuct in the Game (1995) [Image; video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/wOIShqcSaEA?si=vcEXwnNCBh46vfb4

Hollings, D. (2025, December 8). A gangsta condition, cuh. Hollings Therapy, LLC. Retrieved from https://www.hollingstherapy.com/post/a-gangsta-condition-cuh

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Isley Brothers, The. (2021, April 2). The Isley Brothers - Voyage to Atlantis (Official audio) [Video]. YouTube. Retrieved from https://youtu.be/LJ_snOkHeVk?si=0ggfA1pcnM9xdoN9

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