50 Cent: Encyclopedia II - 50 Cent - Disputes and controversy

50 Cent - Disputes and controversy

50 Cent - The Original 50 Cent

Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson took his name from a notorious stick-up artist of the 1980s by the same name. The Original 50 Cent was named Kelvin Martin who measured 5'-3". Martin worked with the notorious Supreme Team, and he was aligned with rap artists Eric B and Rakim. Martin robbed and murdered several people, including several former friends and high ranked drug lords, and robbed the rap group Whodini. His criminal pursuit of money eventually caught up with him, resulting in his murder. The surviving family members of Kelvin Martin do not endorse Curtis Jackson.

50 Cent - Ja Rule and Murder Inc. Records

Before even signing to Eminem's and Dr. Dre's label, 50 Cent was engaged in a well-publicized dispute with rival rapper Ja Rule and his label The Inc. Records. The rappers engaged in numerous mix tape "disses," but have since ended the conflict. The conflict stemmed from Jackson's alleged robbery of Ja Rule's jewelry, which led to a confrontation and 50 Cent's stabbing.

Before the release of Get Rich Or Die Tryin, Murder, Inc alongside The Source began a smear campaign against the rapper. A restraining order document was floating around the Internet stating that 50 Cent had placed label CEO Irv Gotti and rapper Black Child in the document forging a belief that 50 Cent is a "snitch" or a police informant. Although 50 Cent dismissed the claims of a restraining order, the bad publicity continues to be a tool used by various rappers who have rivalries with G-Unit.

This was one of the most well known feuds in hip-hop history. 50 Cent accused Ja Rule of "singing" instead of rapping. Ja Rule retaliated, accusing him of insulting other rappers to gain fame. Ja Rule eventually tried to squash the beef with 50 Cent by using Louis Farrakhan in a televised interview. Ja Rule soon lost credibility when the interview was done a day before his album Blood In My Eye was released, leading 50 Cent to dismiss the interview as a blatant publicity stunt. 50 Cent had not commented much on Ja Rule's and Irv Gotti's situation. The FBI is probing Murder Inc.'s ties to drug-kingpin Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff who is possibly involved in the murder of Jam Master Jay.

According to website The Smoking Gun a 2003 search warrant affidavit for the Manhattan offices of the Murder, Inc. record label showed that McGriff, an incarcerated Drug Lord with ties to Murder Inc., was still trying to kill 50 Cent and that he "communicates with Murder, Inc. employees concerning the target." An excerpt of the affidavit reads:

50 Cent - New York rappers

50 Cent also has a rivalry with Shyne, Nas, Lil' Kim, Joe Budden, Fat Joe, Jadakiss and D-Block. He claimed that Nas had made disparaging comments about him and his G-Unit camp while performing at a New York concert. The rapper has denounced Nas as a traitor over the allying himself with Ja Rule and Irv Gotti. 50 Cent points out that Jadakiss and Fat Joe were notorious for allowing themselves to partner up with Ja Rule while filming a video in which the rapper took shots at him. He recorded the "Piggy Bank" and attacked Jadakiss and Fat Joe for their association with Ja Rule. Shyne was named as an enemy of 50 Cent. Shyne had Irv Gotti produce his album, and 50 Cent also attacked him for this association. Even though things cooled down, at 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, Fat Joe made a disparaging comment about G-Unit during a performance. 50 Cent and G-Unit retaliated on set by shouting obscenities toward Fat Joe and Terror Squad. Fat Joe, Nas, and Jadakiss among others have accused 50 Cent of singing, using "Window Shopper" as evidence. 50 Cent has replied, by mainly attacking their record sale numbers. For Nas, "Window Shopper" itself is more than a cult hit, but really a whole track and music video accusing Nas of only looking out for himself.

50 Cent has a long-standing dispute with former G-Unit artists Bang 'Em Smurf and Domination over internal conflicts. On the song "Love Me" off the 8 Mile soundtrack, 50 Cent criticized Lil' Kim for having breast implants and discusses why he refused her request to be in a video clip for her single "Magic Stick", which he refused to record with her, citing that the song was originally entitled to Miami rapper Trina.

50 Cent also had a little known feud with Jay-Z in 1999. Jay-Z did not take too kindly to 50 Cent's mention of him on "How to Rob" and responded with a line in his song "It's Hot". 50 Cent responded with "Be a Gentleman," though the track was never heard by many due to 50 Cent getting dropped from Columbia Records after his shooting. 50 Cent and Jay-Z eventually squashed their beef, and they toured together in 2003. Jay-Z and 50 Cent even appeared in a Reebok commercial together promoting their sneaker lines, called S. Carter and the G-Unit, respectively.

50 Cent - The Game

50 Cent currently has an escalating feud with labelmate The Game. The Game, who was previously co-signed to G-Unit, was booted by 50 Cent. Fans mostly believed that 50 Cent and The Game were bonding at the time of The Documentary's release. The Game's major debut album was surrounded by controversy. Right after its release, 50 Cent felt that the rapper was disloyal for saying he wanted to work with artists G-Unit were feuding with and he formally dismissed the rapper.

50 Cent also claimed that he was not getting proper credit for the debut of the album. During that dispute, a member of The Game's entourage was shot and wounded after confrontation at Hot 97. After the situation between them escalated, 50 Cent and The Game decided to hold a press conference to announce their reconciliation. Many fans felt that the supposed feud, and particularly the incident at the radio station was a publicity stunt designed to boost the sales of the two albums the pair had just released. Nevertheless, even after the situation had apparently deflated, 50 Cent and G-Unit continued to feud with The Game, denouncing his street credibility in the media and claiming that without their support, he will not score a hit from his second album. 50 Cent also sued The Game's manager Jimmy Henchmen over unauthorized filming for a documentary about Kelvin Martin. The Game during a performance at the Summer Jam launched "G-Unot".

After the performance at Summer Jam, The Game responded with a hard hitting diss titled "300 Bars And Runnin'", which directly addresses 50 Cent and G-Unit. 50 Cent has mixed feelings towards the diss, but nevertheless responded through his "Piggybank" video, which features The Game dressed as a Mr. Potato Head and parodies many other nemeses. This was the first of many feuds where two rappers from the same label were involved against each other.

50 Cent - Other controversies

While appearing at the Summer Jam XI concert in New York, 50 Cent and members of G-Unit were criticized for speaking out against other notable artists including R&B singer R. Kelly. Before going onstage, 50 Cent mentioned R. Kelly's pending child pornography trial. He and his crew received mixed reactions from the crowd and chairs were thrown onstage, forcing 50 Cent and his G-Unit crew to leave the stage for safety reasons.

The rapper also had a falling out with Eminem's former deejay Green Lantern. The deejay has been labeled a "snitch" and "traitor" for his apparent phone conversation with rival Jadakiss. The rapper had a phone interview with DJ Green Lantern over his the feud with 50 Cent. The DJ was apparently encouraging Jadakiss to "deliver a major blow" to 50 Cent. The rapper never confronted the deejay about the situation, but it did affect the relationship within the Shady Records. The situation forced Green Lantern to leave Shady Records and other ventures associated with Eminem.

On a taping of The O'Reilly Factor, conservative commentator Bill O'Reilly has urged boycotts against rap music. O'Reilly named 50 Cent as a target of his crusade to prevent rappers who promote bad behavior from endorsing mainstream merchandise. He criticized shoe maker Reebok for partnering up with 50 Cent to endorse his G-Unit Sneakers. O'Reilly has rallied a boycott against the shoe maker. Despite the boycott, sales remain excellent, and Reebok still continues to endorse 50 Cent's products. However, a television advertisement for Reebok which featured 50 Cent was recently taken off air in the United Kingdom. The advertisement contained lyrics from one of 50's tracks, which resulted in complaints against their violent imagery of life.

Before the release of the movie Get Rich or Die Tryin', controversy erupted over billboard advertisements placed near schools that feature an image of Fifty holding a gun in one hand and a microphone in the other. Protesters targeted Paramount Pictures in Los Angeles and Clear Channel in Philadelphia. Some billboards were removed. On the film's opening night, Shelton Flowers, 30, was fatally shot to death after an argument with another man near the concession stand inside a Loews multiplex in Homestead, Pennsylvania (near Pittsburgh), after a showing of the movie. In response, National Amusements theater chain ended after-midnight showings of the film, fearing unrest. [1]

Dan McTeague, a member of Canadian Parliament suggested that the government ban 50 Cent from entering the country. McTeague said the rapper's message was inappropriate at a time when its largest city Toronto was experiencing a huge increase in gun violence. [2] 50 Cent's Canadian tour did go on as planned [3].

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Disputes and controversy", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki