S. Samuel
New York's DJ Kay Slay has stepped forward to speak out on doing the unthinkable by linking G-Unit head 50 Cent and his one-time rap rival Fat Joe together on the new "Free Again" track.
According to the “Drama King,” Joe gave him his verse shortly after returning from a four-month jail stint and permission to do anything with it.
“I feel like as far as New York hip-hop, it needed to be done. Something maybe the New York cats would respect one another. And as far as the whole culture is concerned, it needed to be done.” But Slay didn’t only do it for the culture or New York hip-hop, he also did it as token of respect to his late friend and former music exec, Chris Lighty, who once expressed wanting to see both rappers unite again. “They was a longtime friend of Chris, so me having knowledge of that, I tried my hand,” explained Slay. “I went to 50 and I said, ‘Look, 50. Joe gave me this joint. I [would] like you to get on it.'” When 50 was told Joey Crack had no reservations about what was done with the track, he hopped right on it. “I’m on that,” said 50. “Yeah, I’m on that Slay. It’s your last album right?” (XXL Mag)
Fif jumped onto his Twitter page this week to openly co-sign the unexpected song.
“heat.50 ft FAT JOE #SMSAUDIO https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aJjVySaY0Y …,” Fif tweeted January 22nd. (50 Cent’s Twitter)
The new collaboration is expected to appear on Slay’s upcoming Rhyme Or Die album.
Who would have thought we’d be getting a 50 Cent and Fat Joe collaboration 10 years ago? The two New York-born artists have linked up for ‘Free Again’, a new single off of DJ Kay Slay’s upcoming album ‘Rhyme Or Die’. Produced by StreetRunner. “It’s an anthem when I rant, f*ck you think I am, Kanye? / I had them wearing vests, now these n**gas wear dresses” raps 50 Cent on ‘Free Again’, which was premiered by Hot 97’s Funk Flex. Kay Slay brought the record to Funk Flex and went on air to talk about how the record came about: “When Joe got home, he said Slay I got a verse, I got a beat, do whatever you wanna do with it…Joe didn’t know what I had in mind, but I felt this was something that should be done.” (Direct Lyrics)
Last year, 50 admitted the Joey Crack beef went on for way too long.
“Fat Joe, that was interesting. The competitive nature of hip-hop forces us to compete,” 50 told MTV News correspondent Josh Horowitz when he walked the red carpet for the premiere of Will and Jaden Smith’s new sci-fi flick “After Earth” on Wednesday. “It was one of those things that it went on longer than it was supposed to with that one.” (MTV)
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Check out “Free Again”:
