The Game’s Mexican Brother Survived Prison & Being Shot 2x To Die Before 40:The Story Of Spanky

Added: 2026-05-18

[00:00:00]Welcome back to another episode of Warren Cali.

[00:00:05]Calvin Hastings was born in 1979.

[00:00:09]He grew up in Los Angeles, California.

[00:00:11]Growing up, he had a rough upbringing growing up in LA. His early years in the 1980s was spent in various parts of Los Angeles.

[00:00:19]For kids growing up in neighborhoods across Los Angeles, life wasn't built around childhood the way it should have been. It was built around survival.

[00:00:27]The streets weren't just outside their homes. They were a part of their upbringing, shaping how they thought, moved, and saw the world from a very young age. Before crack cocaine took over, many of the communities were already struggling with poverty, underfunded schools, and limited opportunities. But when crack hit the streets, everything changed almost overnight. It spread fast, cheap to make, and easy to sell, turning neighborhoods into open-air markets.

[00:00:54]The psychological impact ran deep.

[00:00:56]Living in constant tension changed how kids processed emotions. Fear, anger, and loss became familiar. Many lost friends or family members at a young age. Over time, some learned to shut down emotionally. Not because they didn't feel, but because feeling too much could break you. At home, things weren't always stable, either. While many kids in the world had aspirations of being athletes, doctors, lawyers, a lot of kids in the hood had dreams of being the next [ __ ] Blood, and Southsider.

[00:01:23]For many kids, joining wasn't about violence. It was about belonging. It offered potential in neighborhoods when danger was constant and gave them identity in a world that often ignored them.

[00:01:33]Kids were introduced to this life early, and so was Calvin. His childhood, he experienced a lot of hardships, which landed him in foster care as a kid.

[00:01:42]That's where he would meet Jayceon Taylor, also known as the rapper The Game.

[00:01:46]The Game was put into foster care when he was around 8 years old due to a lot of trauma and crazy situations inside his home. This led to him and several of his siblings being taken away from his parents.

[00:01:57]>> corner, you know?

[00:01:58]Now, you went up in foster care at one point?

[00:02:01]Yeah, I ended up in foster care because, you know, my parents got into, you know, a few different, you know, domestic, you know, domestic things, and the uh social workers came in and, you know, deemed it, you know, not, uh you know, a healthy environment for children, so they took us out um when I was in the third or fourth grade, and then I didn't come back. I didn't get released to my mom's um till I was probably in like first year high school, something like that.

[00:02:27]Wow. Okay. So, you get taken out of your home. Yeah. And was your other siblings also get Everybody. Everybody got put in foster care.

[00:02:34]>> Everybody got removed, yeah. The biggest thing about being in a foster home was having uh multi um ethnic uh brothers, right? Foster brothers. Cuz I go to school, and it would be like Paul and Nathan, they were white kids. And then I would have uh Chris and um I would have Chris and um Calvin, which were, you know, two uh Spanish kids, two Mexicans. So, at home, they was my brothers, so when we went to school and somebody said, "Aha, you know, you got a Mexican brother. Aha, you got a white brother." We had to we had to square up, and we had to go to toes cuz, you know, I loved them like they was my brothers, and that and that's the type of camaraderie and the brother we brotherhood we had in the foster home. We fought like brothers on the inside, but then on the outside, we had to um we had to like, you know, stand up and hold each other down.

[00:03:20]Um only I think only two of uh the six of us are alive at this point um because, you know, once we got you know, once we got into our teenage years, everybody veered off and joined gangs, and you know what I'm saying? So. Calvin and The Game developed a close relationship being foster brothers. They developed a deep bond. The Game even stated for years that him and Calvin fought side by side every time kids at school joked about him having a Mexican brother or Calvin having a black brother.

[00:03:50]They were different races, but had the same struggle, going back and forth to children's court every other month in hopes judges would send them back to their mothers. They would always come back home disappointed every time.

[00:04:01]That gave them more of a sibling bond than the average kid.

[00:04:04]The Game would eventually land back in his mother's care by the time he was a teenager, and he went on to become a gang member, repping Cedar Block Piru.

[00:04:12]But his story just wasn't another kid who chose the streets and ruined his life. He later found his gift, which was rap, and he embarked on a legendary career, becoming one of the most recognizable rappers in the last 20 years. And whether you like him or not, a West Coast legend in the music industry.

[00:04:30]But for Calvin, his life wouldn't go the glamorous route. He also joined the gang in his teenage years, but he chose a notorious SA set called the Playboys, which he became an active member and gained the name Spanky.

[00:04:43]Calvin's teenage years, he dealt with him bouncing around and also doing a lot of juvenile and camp bids, and eventually the streets took over Calvin's whole life. He dropped out of school and committed full-time to his gang.

[00:05:00]Yeah, they call me Spanky. I'm from Southside Playboys, South Gate area, you know what I mean? Putting it down real quick. I've been doing this, you know what I mean, for a quick minute, you know? Ran into Capone, the homie. Ran into his homie, you know what I mean, doing our little thing and [ __ ] you know what I'm saying? What's up, goofy?

[00:05:13]Well, we out here doing this high power style, you know what I'm saying? So, all you fake ass [ __ ] they call me Spanky. I'm from Playboys, South Gate area, like I said. I'm living the real [ __ ] gangster life, you know what I'm saying? So, all you [ __ ] fake ass [ __ ] studio gangsters, watch your back, homie.

[00:05:28]So, all I got to say, homie, Spanky from Playboys or Southside, that's cracking off, you know what I'm saying? Rapping gang up on mines, Playboys gang, fool.

[00:05:35]Calvin would face a lot of adversity, from losing friends to jail and death, along with various family members like his mom. But to add insult to injury, he was shot multiple times, leading to him being temporarily paralyzed and being in the hospital for 8 months with a lot of surgeries he had to endure, which he had to relearn how to walk.

[00:05:55]After several more bids in jail, he wanted to fly straight. He started a family, having multiple kids, and he even started working several jobs to support himself and his family.

[00:06:04]He learned how to do tattoos in prison, and that was something he continued to do on the streets, along with focusing on his family and trying to be a better him to show his kids a better life.

[00:06:14]He would later appear in a video on the Skin Deep Project platform, detailing certain things in his life, as well as the background of his tattoos, which the channel focused on with their guests.

[00:06:24]You know, uh Los Angeles.

[00:06:29]Do I say name gang?

[00:06:32]Uh I'm from Playboys, from the Southside, but you know, there's three different sides, so.

[00:06:46]It's a nice picture.

[00:06:48]I wish I was a little skinnier, but, you know what I mean?

[00:06:57]Oh, I uh That's crazy.

[00:07:05]I just want to know how you did that.

[00:07:09]I haven't seen myself like that in a long time, like since I was younger, like my first tattoo was really when I was like 12 years old, which was the one behind my head. Like even with me, like like um people will see me, and they would like, "Damn, he's mean." But if you really get to know me, I I could be the nicest person you ever met, you know what I mean? Like but I just I I I mean, stereotyping is always going to be there.

[00:07:39]Like I said, with the tattoos, it's different now. Everybody has them, so, you know what I mean? Now, before, nobody had them like that a lot, and everybody looked at you like, "Whoa."

[00:07:48]But now, everybody has them. The average person has them, you know what I'm saying? Uh uh uh uh famous people have them now, and I mean, it it it's it's it's a good thing, you know what I'm saying? But stereotypes is always going to be there, and But with all the good intentions and changes he tried to make in his life, he would face a tragic demise. Calvin would be in South Central on Father's Day, on June 19th, 2016, where he would be shot to death, leaving behind a wife and multiple kids.

[00:08:18]After his passing, The Game would make a statement stating, "We both turned our lives around the best way we knew how, and having children and starting families." He continued by saying, "Only for one of us to still end up dead way before our time. The system failed you, Calvin, and for that, I'm sorry, friend.

[00:08:36]I love you, and I send Took me days to think of how to say these things. I'm saying because all I could do was replay childhood memories over and over again. The system failed you, Calvin, and for that, I'm sorry, friend. I love you, and I send my deepest condolences to your wife and baby girl, as well, as well as your brother and your immediate family."

[00:08:58]Calvin was only 36 years old when he died, leaving the earth almost 10 years ago. RIP to him.

[00:09:06]This will conclude this episode. If you haven't already, check out my previous episodes. Don't forget to like, hype, comment, and subscribe.