S. Samuel
G-Unit's 50 Cent recently reflected on his extensive beef with one-time rap foe Fat Joe and admitted their issues could have been handled a lot sooner.
While Fif initially said competing with Joey Crack fueled the feud, he did confess to engaging in the rap dispute 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)
Back in December, Fif said his late pal and business partner Chris Lighty could not stand seeing both rappers go at each other’s necks.
“Chris [Lighty] wanted that [beef] to go away for a long time because he had a relationship with Joe,” says 50, who Lighty managed until his death. “Joe never did anything to me. I never actually physically did anything to Joe. It’s really hip-hop — this music and people being competitive — and over time, you forget what the actual source of the situation is.” (Billboard)
A month prior, 50 credited Joe’s loyalty to their late friend for helping end the dispute.
“Chris would always talk to me like, ‘Why don’t y’all sit down or try to let that go?’ … I’d tell him, ‘Get outta here,’ all the time. When he passed, Joe showed him a lot of respect. He ain’t have to. I worked the closest with him, it changed my perspective on it. And then you gotta look back at what exactly’s the reason, what caused it. He’s got a lot more pride than most hip-hop artists. It was just the way he was raised. He was being loyal because someone had did something for him, being loyal to that, that’s what created that energy [between us coming together].” (Boos-A-P)
In October, the Terror Squad head honcho talked about fulfilling Chris’ dream by coming to terms with Fif.
“He always wanted me and 50 Cent to make peace forever but we were just being stubborn and ignoring him,” Fat Joe revealed in an interview referring to the late Chris Lighty. “I came to do the tribute, I knew 50 Cent would be there but I came there like, ‘We’re going to do this for Chris.’ And while we were there, 50 whispered some things in my ear that was like gentleman-like, you know what I’m saying? I’m a gentleman. I don’t dislike people. I’m one of the most loveable dudes in hip-hop, believe it or not. But you know, he just said the right things, a handshake was involved and that was that. It was two grown men to say ‘Yo, this is Chris Lighty, this is for hip-hop, let’s move on with our lives.’ This is Israel-Palestine. I don’t want to talk crazy but this was going to go bad no matter what. … Unfortunately, it took somebody I love very much and [50] love so much, somebody who tried effortlessy to squash the beef for years.” (Hot 107.9)
