50 Cent reflects on his rivalry with Jay Z with Semtex at BBC Radio. One episode in the rappers’ long-standing feud dates back to 2007 when the G-Unit boss released Curtis the same day Kanye West released Graduation. At the time, Jay Z was president at Def Jam, the label that released West’s project.
Looking back, 50 Cent says he wouldn’t have made the same decision.
“It didn’t make sense to do it at that point, but I was out there on my own,” 50 Cent says. “Kanye had the full support of Def Jam because Jay as the president at that point was feeling he was in competition with me, so they were doing everything possible to get that record positioned the right way. They outspent money on the promotions. They beat us in a lot of different ways prior to the number.”
50 continues by saying that the rivalry is at a lull because neither he nor Jay Z have any music competing against each other right now. He says many people pit the two rappers against each other for the title of King of New York. 50 Cent says that another one of his rivals, Ja Rule, is also in the mix for that title.
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“That’s always gonna be there because you realize Ja was selling more records than Jay Z,” he says. “His whole run was selling more records than Jay Z. It’s like, it shifted in perception. [Jay]’s one of the best businessmen out there ’cause he’s been able to maneuver and place himself in the public eye as someone who’s accomplished a lot more than, in perspective, they look at it like a lot more.”
50 Cent says one example of Jay Z positioning himself in a positive light to the public is his feud with Nas.
“He lost ‘Ether’ and there ain’t no L on his record,” 50 says. “Ain’t no L on his record because the things that he’d done following that cleaned it off. When I brought Mobb Deep and Ma$e and anybody over to G-Unit and he brought Nas under him to Def Jam and it was like, I think that kinda erased it. ‘Cause at that point, he was like, he signed him. He won.”
50 Cent also gives an update on his forthcoming Street King Immortal album, which originally had a 2012 release date.
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“I’m going to start putting some of the music out,” the rapper says. “I want more of it to come out so people can hear it and kinda get excited about it because I could say all kinda things and people go, ‘Ok, let us hear it. Let me feel what you’re talking about instead of just hearing it, hearing you say that.’ I think it’s great. I think the record is good. I think the people will see the vulnerability in some of the material that I’ve created and won’t even expect some of the musical choices.”
Since announcing Street King Immortal, 50 Cent has left Shady/Aftermath/Interscope and independently released Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire to Win.
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