S. Samuel
G-Unit's 50 Cent has reflected back on his short-lived rap battle against Rick Ross from 2009 and how their perceived beef was nothing more than publicity for the Boss.
In 50’s eyes, Ross created a fake dispute to force a back-and-forth battle.
50 said he believes Ross started the feud to raise his own rap profile: “He says it started because I looked at him the wrong way,” Fif recalled of an incident on the red carpet for the 2009 BET Awards. “That just means he wanted to compete, he wanted to move up, he wanted to create an awareness for himself, and he did it.” While the two did trade insults, specifically on Rozay’s “Mafia Music” and Fif’s “Officer Ricky,” the G-Unit general said he didn’t take the barbs personally, and in his mind, the two had a battle — not a beef. “This is why they changed the terminology from ‘battling’ to ‘beefing.’ It was always that battling was a part of the culture; they didn’t do that until Tupac and Biggie Smalls‘ situation,” he said. “That’s when it became taboo to actually mention an artist’s name.” (MTV)
Last year, 50 said he never reached out to make a truce with Ross.
“I never had a conversation with him. My focus shifted during that record. A lot of times, earlier in my career, I was competing with artists because that was what I loved about hip-hop: The idea that battling someone was necessary to defend your spot and you had to take on all challengers — so I did that constantly. No one thinks that way now and everyone looks at me like I’m the Broad Street Bully. The younger kids coming up missed that time frame, and even the conscious rap is gone too. The stuff that Common Sense and Talib Kweli and Mos Def were rhyming about. What was socially conscious and responsible about the music has been replaced by hipster kids in skinny jeans and mohawks. Of course, that’s always been around, but it was usually confined to the Village. Artists have always had the opportunity to influence the culture, but now it’s the other way around: They’re trying to look like their audience to attract their audience. Now you can’t tell the difference between a Led Zeppelin fan and a hip-hop fan.” (Los Angeles Times)
During the publicized battle, UGK’s Bun B talked to SOHH about the seriousness behind the duo’s feud.
“This is rap. We’ve had beef in rap since the beginning of rap. There are very few of the early artists in the music industry that didn’t have some kind of an issue with another artist at some point. As long as nobody gets physically hurt, I don’t see why anybody really should have a problem with it. I think everybody will come out of it alright. 50 is going to be alright. Ross will be alright.” (SOHH)
Ross and 50’s dispute took off in January 2009.
How it started: on Saturday January 24, 2009, Rick Ross came out with “Mafia Music” taking shots at 50 Cent. 50 Cent responded with “Officer Ricky (Go Ahead Try Me)” on Thursday January 29. Rick Ross went on radio the next day (Friday January 30) and gave 50 24hrs to come up with something better. 50 Cent, before going To Venezuela, responded with “Warning Shot.” (This Is 50)
Check out 50 Cent speaking on Rick Ross below:
