When he entered the game, 50 Cent was the hottest mixtape rapper out. He would be discovered by Eminem, who was the hottest mainstream rapper out. Em was always safe because he had Dr. Dre in his corner. No longer was Dre hot, he was a legend. Both Em and Dre were impressed with 50 Cent and they signed an awkward deal that placed him on both of their labels and Interscope.
It did not take long for 50 Cent to learn the ropes and create his own label. Right after the release of Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 Cent created G-Unit Records. Still, he remained very close to Eminem and Dr. Dre. While he was close to Dre, his loyalty was with Eminem and is still with Eminem. When he was advised to begin working with Game, an Aftermath artist, it was because of Dr. Dre. Because 50 Cent rose so quick, Game was pushed to the backburner.
Animosity between Game and 50 Cent was there from the beginning because Game had been on Aftermath longer than 50 Cent. But, 50 Cent had already released two albums prior to signing with the label and he was marketable. When Dr. Dre gave Game to 50 Cent, Game was willing to forgive 50. The result of their brief friendship was two top ten hits and a multi-platinum album. But, after the release of the album, their private feud became very public.
50 Cent used his popularity and marketability to remove Game from all of the labels, including Interscope Records. But, Game still managed success as an artist in his own right. His two albums released off of Aftermath still were platinum successes. While Game had established himself as a star, 50 Cent and his G-Unit empire was crumbling. First, Lloyd Banks’ album flopped, then the same thing happened with Young Buck, so there was no momentum leading up to the 50 Cent album. It managed to go platinum, but 50 was averaging 5.5 million copies per album.
When 50 Cent’s popularity declined, so did support from Dr. Dre. Because of this, 50 Cent began sending light disses to Dre. He had sent a warning diss to his mentor in 2005 to force him to stay away from Game. 50 Cent is big on loyalty, he does not want any of his crew members working with the enemy. His feud with Young Buck was started because Buck befriended Game and hung out with Jadakiss.
During the summer of 2007, 50 Cent began dissing Lil Wayne and he only let up two or three times. He created a feud with Kanye West to sell albums, but it soon became personal. 50 Cent revealed in 2009 that he does not like either Lil Wayne, Jay-Z, or Kanye West. But, Eminem ended up working with all three of those artists. Even when 50 Cent began dissing Jay-Z, Dr. Dre invited him to record for Detox. This would not have happened in 2005 because 50 Cent sold records in 2005.
But, by 2009, 50 Cent was no exception, the poor economy and a change in taste left him out in the cold. Things became so bad for 50 that Dr. Dre even brought Game back to his Aftermath home. On top of that, Dre has worked with Ashanti, and even Murder Inc. artists, Crooked I and he has plans of working with Ja Rule. All of the other rivals may not mean much, but 50’s feud with Ja Rule is very personal.
With all of the name-droppings of Dr. Dre, 50 Cent revealed that he would never directly diss Dr. Dre because of Eminem. He acknowledged that they were the ones that took a chance on him when no one else would. As ruthless as 50 Cent can be, he said that he would never diss Eminem or Dr. Dre because of what they have done for him. But, that does not mean that he will not be upset with them. Even without Eminem and Dr. Dre, 50 Cent will be marketable and he has already left Shady and Interscope.
With everything going on and Dr. Dre welcoming in Game, Ashanti, and Ja Rule, 50 Cent has decided to leave Aftermath Entertainment.
