J. Cole has gone out of his way to credit 50 Cent for having âthe best album of all timeâ â ahead of Michael Jackson.
50 performed at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Thursday (August 9) for the first of two shows at the arena on his Final Lap Tour.
AD LOADING...
During his set, the G-Unit rapper brought out J. Cole to perform âNo Role Modelz.â Before exiting the stage, Cole took a moment to crown Get Rich or Die Tryinâ the greatest album of all time, while putting Michael Jacksonâs best-selling Thriller just behind.
âCan I say this before I move off stage?â he began. âIf yâall donât make some noise for one of the greatest n-ggas to ever do this shit. 50 muthafuckinâ Cent, Curtis Jackson. Get Rich or Die Tryinâ the best album of all time. I donât give a fuck what you talking about, n-gga!
AD LOADING...
âItâs Get Rich or Die Tryinâ at No. 1 and itâs Thriller at No. 2, and I love Michael Jackson. But I promise yâall that, Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent, we love you my n-gga, for real.â
In addition to J. Cole, 50 also brought out Jadakiss, DaBaby, Moneybagg Yo, A Boogie Wit Da Hoodie, Yung Bleu, Flo Rida, Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda during the show.
â . (@stillsmallz3) August 10, 2023
50 Cent actually had the chance to sign J. Cole before his big breakthrough after the Dreamville rapper visited his house and played him his music.
âThat was so early, bro,â 50 said on The Breakfast Club in August 2022. âTo me, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar⊠these artists existed early on when I fell in love with Hip Hop, but it was Talib Kweli, it was Mos Def, it was A Tribe Called Quest, it was Common Sense.
AD LOADING...
âAs dope as they are, itâs smarter rap, smarter music. The logic is: âSit down, be humble.â We supposed to already know to sit down and be humble. But when they put that there, itâs almost the conscious side of it.â
He added: âIâm like, âYo, it was cool.â But I didnât really know if everybody was ready for it because of how strong they were embracing what we were doing.â
Despite being passed over for a record deal, J. Cole later collaborated with 50 Cent on âNew York Times,â which appeared on his 2013 album Born Sinner.
âThat was incredible. The features on this album⊠a lot of them I was blessed [with],â Cole told MTV News at the time. âWeâre in the day and age where you just send it away and it comes back but I actually recorded with TLC and [50 Cent].
AD LOADING...
âHe just happened to be in L.A. and I had that song. Iâd stolen 50 Cent melodies and was humming it on the hook like, âMan, if 50 do this hook, itâll be so amazing.â And he came through the studio in L.A., so it was crazy.â