S. Samuel
Memphis rap veteran Yo Gotti recently shared his thoughts on G-Unit head 50 Cent and explained why people should think twice before doubting the platinum-selling entrepreneur.
Gotti credited late manager Chris Lighty for connecting him with Fif and helping build their relationship.
“I studied him. Business-wise, I think he’s one of the smartest business people in the rap game, as far as an artist. I [talked to him] on the phone two or three times, and he would just give me game about the game in general,” Gotti said in an interview. “To me, that was big. If I had never done nothing with him, just the fact that he reached out to me and was giving me game because he [saw] what I was doing.” (MTV)
Last year, Atlanta rap star 2 Chainz dished out how much respect he had for the G-Unit boss.
“He’s the smartest n*gga I ever met in my life, but he’s crazy,” Chainz said in an interview. “He need to put me on something. I told him he need to put me on something. I told him, ‘Let’s do something.’ … 50’s always been dope to me and he had a real story and that’s why people I think bought into it and followed it. That’s what it’s about. I learned from a lot of stuff getting to this point and 50 had a dope blueprint to look at, too.” (“The Whoolywood Shuffle”)
Recently, music producer Rico Love spoke out on 50’s mogul status.
“I just a record with 50,” Rico revealed in an interview. “He sent me a record to do a hook for and I did it recently but we never went into the studio together to work and obviously I called [Fat] Joe and got his blessing. Joe is my friend. Joe is my real friend, my brother, my family, so before I did anything I called him and I think even 50 would respect that. I called him and he was like, ‘Nah, it’s love. It ain’t no problem with Fif. Do your thing.’ … It’s a party record. … 50’s one of those guys you can’t discredit. You can’t count him out. He’s done so much to affect pop culture in a way that you can’t deny. To discredit that in any way, you’re doing yourself a disservice and disrespecting the business you’re in.” (“Mikey T The Movie Star”)
Music executive Steve Stoute shared some dicey words on 50 Cent’s career a few weeks ago.
“Are you going to have 50 Cent up here soon? You got to. He got out of his record deal,” Stoute added. “He’s not [in my top five influential rapper list]. He hasn’t had a hit in a really long time. He has not made anything musically that’s changed anything in a very long time. I feel like he’s always gearing up for something that never happens. Hopefully, now that he’s independent, and there’s no record company to blame, his aggressive content, [laughs], can get onto the air. I don’t know. I think he’s trying to get back.” (“The Angie Martinez Show”)
