50 Cent
Curtis James Jackson III,
better known as 50 Cent, is certainly no stranger to controversy. In gangster
rap, feuds between artists are quite common, and 50 Cent has courted more than
most. Since being taught how to write music and structure lyrics by Run-DMC
legend Jam Master Jay in 1996, the rapper has engaged in wars of words with Fat
Joe, Jadakiss, Cam’ron, Rick Ross, The Game, Young Buck, Wyclef Jean, Jay-Z,
the Wu-Tang Clan and most notably Murder Inc. rapper Ja Rule. In fact, 50
Cent’s long-running feud with the latter artist went further than mere words,
coming to a head in 2000, a year in which Jackson
nearly lost his life.
The conflict began tamely enough, although both rappers have a different story of exactly what kicked it off. Jackson claims that Ja Rule was robbed by a friend of his, and when the latter saw Jackson with the alleged thief at a club one night, he assumed that Jackson was involved in setting it up. Rule, however, tells a different tale, claiming that Jackson was merely jealous of seeing him “getting so much love” during a video shoot in the district of Queens, New York. However, what seemed like petty backchat turned bloody in March 2000. At New York studio The Hit Factory, Jackson and some associates of Murder Inc. got involved in a fight which resulted in Jackson being stabbed three times, apparently by rapper Black Child. A mere month later, while visiting his grandmother, Jackson became the victim of a drive-by shooting, allegedly perpetrated by Darryl ‘Hommo’ Baum, a friend and bodyguard to Mike Tyson. Shot nine times, Jackson was hit in the right hand, arm, hip, chest, left cheek and both legs, yet remarkably recovered with no severe and lasting damage.
Although a direct connection between the shooting and Murder Inc. was never proven, a subsequent investigation by the IRS suggested that Ja Rule and his entourage had connections to a New York drug lord, Kenneth ‘Supreme’ McGriff, who was suspected of involvement in both the shooting of Jackson and the murder of his mentor, Jam Master Jay. As well as his feud with Murder Inc., Jackson had also come to the attention of the drug lord due to lyrics in some of his tracks that detailed McGriff’s criminal behaviour. This resulted in a lot of connected individuals wanting 50 Cent out of the picture, and they very nearly got their wish. Since then, Jackson has engaged in conflicts with a number of other rappers, many of which have been mutually ended. However, despite the intervention of Eminem in late 2004, the feud with Ja Rule and Murder Inc. may have died down, but is not entirely dead. If all concerned keep quiet, maybe it will stay that way: only time will tell.
