50 Cent may no longer be hip-hop’s go-to supervillain, but he certainly was throughout the ’00s. Through a slew of gritty diss tracks, he amassed a portfolio of enemies in his home territory of New York. Nas, Kanye West, Diddy, and even Oprah were speaking out against his antics. In fact, that polarizing personality would go as far as beefing with former crew members of G-Unit. With 50 Cent being G-Unit’s general, The Game, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck have all made statements against him at one point or another over the past few decades.
While fans have been hoping for a reconciliation and a newfound project, 50 Cent has consistently squashed these rumors. While speaking to The Breakfast Club in August 2022, he stated, “I probably won’t do a project with them. I’m done with carrying them around. My back hurt.” The relationship between G-Unit’s members has deteriorated since the ’00s between many of its respective members. However, 50 remains close with Yayo, who he cites as the more mature member of the quintet.
50 Cent & The Game’s Beef Turned Violent
G-Unit’s downfall began all the way back in 2004. 50 Cent and The Game had each reached stardom as solo acts, morphing their young personalities into ones that were ego-driven. The Game signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records in 2003, where 50 Cent was the label’s biggest star. Later that year, G-Unit was working on the eventual multi-Platinum album Beg For Mercy. At the time, The Game wasn’t a part of G-Unit. However, Dr. Dre decided that having him join the chart-topping hip-hop act would be a genius marketing move. In addition, 50 Cent began working with The Game on his debut album, The Documentary.
While Dr. Dre’s business moves looked good from a marketing perspective, 50 Cent and The Game had friction that would eventually scale into a full-fledged beef. The Game’s The Documentary was reaching a significant level of hype behind lead singles “Westside Story,” “Hate It or Love It,” and “How We Do.” Aftermath Records was certainly happy, but 50 Cent wasn’t. Having played a significant role in the success of the songs, he began to feel as if he was being controlled. Having to scrap and claw his way from the streets of Harlem to stardom, 50 Cent was overworking for others’ profits. 50 Cent’s album The Massacre was pushed back a month to accommodate for The Game.
The Group’s Members Lost Motivation
The burgeoning tension rose to the surface on February 28, 2005. While 50 Cent was on Hot 97 with the G-Unit crew, he venomously claimed that The Game hadn’t been loyal to the group. Recently, The Game had expressed a desire to work with the likes of Nas, Jadakiss, and Fat Joe, who were all well-known rivals of G-Unit. Considering this a direct betrayal, 50 kicked him out of the group live on air. While still on the air, The Game showed up with his crew to confront the G-Unit’s leader. After the squad wasn’t let in, The Game’s associates got into a shootout outside Funkmaster Flex’s building. The situation catapulted a slew of disses from The Game, including mixtapes Ghost Unit and Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin.
However, The Game was only the first member to be dropped from G-Unit live on air. In 2008, 50 Cent would also drop Young Buck on Hot 97 after Buck exposed the group’s inner workings. In addition, Young Buck’s role had been diminishing over the past few projects. Moving into the 2010s, 50 Cent would begin beefing with remaining members Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. By this point, 50’s career had vastly taken off beyond the constructs of hip-hop. He was acting in blockbuster films and creating a variety of businesses. In an interview with XXL, he stated, “They [Banks and Yayo] just sit there and wait. When someone works for you, you have the habit of dealing with things by not dealing with them. You may get in the regimen of coming over and doing it for them.”
50 Cent’s Solo Career Was Popping Off
Of course, another primary reason for G-Unit’s demise was the iconic success of 50 Cent’s solo career. His studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, was far more successful than any of the G-Unit projects. In fact, 50 Cent was leaving money on the table by working with the group for as long as he did. G-Unit’s slow-burning fallout occurred for a wide variety of reasons. 50 Cent felt as if he was carrying the quartet on his shoulders. With his solo career growing daily, working with G-Unit made less and less sense. In addition, Yayo and Banks struggled to reinvigorate their notoriety as MCs over time. While the fallout wasn’t pretty, G-Unit introduced an iconic bling era of hip-hop.
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