Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
50 Cent and JAY-Z’s long-running rivalry is explored in the latest episode of HipHopDX’s “Deep Dive” series — watch it below.
The 21-minute video delves into the tension that has simmered between the two rap icons for over 20 years, from jostling for Hip Hop supremacy in the early 2000s to their competitive nature in the world of business.
As highlighted in the episode, 50 and Hov’s relationship got off to a rocky start. On his provocative 1999 song “How to Rob,” a then up-and-coming Fif famously rapped about sticking up his rap peers — including JAY-Z.
“What, Jigga just sold, like four milli? He got something to live for/ Don’t want a n-gga putting four through that Bentley Coupe door,” he spit.
The Roc-A-Fella co-founder fired back during his performance at Hot 97’s Summer Jam that year by debuting “It’s Hot (Some Like It Hot),” on which he rapped: “Go against Jigga yo ass is dense/ I’m about a dollar — what the fuck is 50 cents?”
Years later, JAY-Z revealed in an interview with Angie Martinez that he had spoken to 50 backstage at the festival and it was all love. 50 even credited Hov’s rebuttal with elevating his burgeoning career.
“When he responded, I was complimented,” he told Rolling Stone in 2003. “He wouldn’t say nothing back to somebody he didn’t think was hot. I never went to radio until after he said that about me. I don’t know if my career would be where it’s at if he didn’t respond.”
By ’03, 50 Cent and JAY-Z’s rivalry had morphed from undisputed champion versus up-and-coming challenger to what felt more like two equals after the Queens, New York native dropped his smash hit “In Da Club” and blockbuster debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin,’ catapulting him to global stardom.
The Dr. Dre-produced anthem, which topped the Billboard 200 and has since been certified 9x platinum, was enough to make Jigga put his entire Roc-A-Fella roster on notice.
“Bleek, Beans, everybody was in [the studio] and I was like, ‘I’m telling you, man, y’all got a chance right now, just flood it, put out a lot of music. Because 50 Cent is coming,'” Jay recalled in a 2013 interview with The Breakfast Club. “Four months later, ‘In Da Club’ hit and it was over. It was like, okay, now everybody gotta sit on the sidelines and wait this tidal wave out.”
Ever the strategist, JAY-Z seemingly decided to keep his enemies closer by hitting the road with 50 Cent on the Rock The Mic Tour in 2003. The pair even freestyled together in a Reebok commercial to promote their respective sneaker collaborations with the sports giant.
Yet repping the same brand didn’t appear to snuff out the competitive fire as 50 later bragged about his G-Unit Reebok shoes outselling Jay’s S. Carter kicks “six to one.” Hov also dropped out of the extended run of their joint tour, which coincided with his retirement plans at the time.
The pair’s only other musical collaboration came four years later when JAY-Z jumped on the remix of 50 Cent’s 2007 hit “I Get Money” alongside Diddy, but once again, the shots continued to ring out as Hov reminded 50 that the Big Apple still belongs to him.
Although both men have stepped back from music over the years — 50 reinventing himself as a TV mogul and Jay becoming a multi-billionaire who occasionally still blesses the mic — jabs have continued to be exchanged between the New York giants.
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Cordae has revealed one of the biggest inspirations for his new album The Crossroads: wise words from Lil Wayne.
In a post to Instagram on Thursday (November 14), just in advance of the release of the project, Cordae spoke about the making of the record, and revealed Weezy’s special role.
“The Crossroads is finally out tonight,” he wrote. “My whole mantra while making this body of work has been push that pen, push that pen.
“The GOAT, Wayne, gave me great advice that I put on a whiteboard, ‘Treat every song like it’s people’s first time hearing you.’ And that was the standard we followed while making this jaint.”
Cordae went on to ask fans to “listen to it from top to bottom in its order.”
“[B]ut honestly a lot of you n-ggas don’t follow instructions anyway,” he joked, “so please just enjoy and pay attention.”
Check the message in its entirety below.
Cordae, as the above message reveals, is proud of The Crossroads — proud enough that he does not care about first week sales.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Tuesday (November 12), the rapper seemed nonplussed about how his forthcoming album would land commercially.
He said: “Want to say this now I don’t give 1 fuck about a first week sale. It’s a very inaccurate way to calculate impact, especially with the current streaming metrics. I seen somebody do 11K first week and then do a ARENA TOUR off the same album. That’s the end of my Ted talk *2nd one.”
Cordae added: “N-ggas said my last project first week numbers wasn’t good and I ended up doing a sold out headline world tour….”
He continued his point: “In the 90/2000s music was consumed by people actually going to the stores and buying albums. When you did 100K first week that meant 100 thousand people went and bought the cd. Now you can have 300,000 people Listening to your album on streaming, and the units Equivalent is 200.”
Cordae concluded by saying: “Whole point is let’s stop making music about numbers and money, it’s killing something that’s so pure.”
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