This is just 50 Cent being playful and complimentary about his peers' success and marketing prowess during a lighthearted promotional tour for his new film, Street Fighter.
The internet is eating this up because 50 Cent is using his platform to subtly shade Jay-Z's 'Basquiat hair' as a marketing gimmick and throw Kanye West under the bus with a 'banned' joke, proving the rivalry is alive and well.
In an Interview magazine conversation with Andrew Schulz, 50 Cent claimed Jay-Z's Reasonable Doubt debuted at No. 23. During a Today show interview, he stated, 'Jay-Z is gonna do my wedding... Him, Kanye too... I'll have Kanye if he's not banned at the time.'
50 Cent isn't just promoting a movie; he's actively keeping the hip-hop beefs of the past alive with surgical precision. The shade is real, and the receipts are out.
Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson is on the promotional trail for his upcoming film Street Fighter, but as usual, heโs using the spotlight to take shots at his longtime rivals. Speaking to Billboard, 50 Cent revealed that during a recent conversation with his co-star Andrew Schulz for Interview magazine, he couldn't resist bringing up Jay-Z. While ostensibly discussing influence and financial stability, Jackson offered a backhanded compliment to the Brooklyn mogul.
He praised Jay-Z's ability to 'change the narrative' of his debut album, Reasonable Doubt, by leveraging relationships with touring companies. However, the praise came with a sting: Jackson pointed out that the album originally debuted at No. 23 on the charts, calling its current status a 'great marketing' feat rather than an immediate historic triumph. The shade didn't stop at chart positions.
Jackson took aim at Jay-Z's recent aesthetic choices, specifically his hair. 'We see things like the Basquiat hair,' Jackson said, suggesting the look was 'intentionally grown out for a Tiffany ad.' He advised Jay-Z to 'cut it off' and go back to his younger look, implying that the current style is a gimmick to maintain relevance. He also critiqued the optics of Jay-Z's 'Home & Home Tour' with Eminem in 2010, arguing that the pairing was designed to make Jay-Z 'appear as big as Eminem' by leveraging their hometowns, New York and Detroit, rather than reflecting equal commercial dominance at the time.
The trolling continued during an interview with the Today show, where the topic of weddings came up after Jackson mentioned performing at Indiana Pacers star Tyrese Haliburtonโs wedding. When asked who he envisioned performing at his own future nuptials, Jackson didn't miss a beat. 'Jay-Z is gonna do my wedding, heโs gonna perform,' he joked.
Then came the kicker involving Kanye West: 'Him, Kanye too... Iโll have Kanye if heโs not banned at the time. Heโll be there.' This casual dismissal of Kanyeโs current standing in the industry highlights the complex, often contentious dynamics within the hip-hop elite. Jackson further cemented his role as the narrator of hip-hop history by commenting on Sean 'Diddy' Combs watching his Netflix docuseries, Sean Combs: The Reckoning, while in prison, noting that the project was 'No. 1 in 31 countries' and calling it 'fair.'
