— by Shaheem Reid, interview by Sway Calloway
The following is an excerpt from MTVNews.com's upcoming feature on 50 Cent, publishing Sunday night ...
In 1985, Sparks steak house graced the covers of tabloids everywhere after New York mob boss Paul Castellano was whacked right in front of the place on his way to dinner. Police alleged that John Gotti masterminded the murder so that he could take control of the Gambino crime family. Fittingly, 50 Cent, now undoubtedly a boss in his own right, sits in the Rose room at Sparks talking about his strategy for war, just as Gotti and his capo Sammy "The Bull" Gravano did back in the day.
"I can tell when [lyrics] are indirectly [addressed] to me," 50 divulges. "I listen. I listen to the mixtape circuit like I don't have a record deal. So I hear everything, every little thing. Things that they probably think didn't count because it didn't do anything for their career. I still heard what you said. Indirectly, they say things all the time. So I watch those artists, and then I wait until they're at a point in their career that they can't take a beating, and I hit them when it counts the most."
"All Eyes On 50 Cent: The Sequel"
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50 names Joe Budden and Styles P. from the LOX as two detractors who've attacked him both subliminally and blatantly on mixtape tracks, and notes that Nas dissed him outright onstage last summer at a free concert in New York's Central Park. Nas said, "I wanna thank every one of y'all for coming out and representing that real street New York sh--," while on the mic. "Not that fake sh--, not that 50 Cent."
"I understand that Nas ... has watched his window of opportunity open and close in front of him and now he's a little bitter," 50 says of the man who took him on tour when he was just an upstart newly signed to Columbia Records. "If Nas wasn't so focused on himself, when he had that opportunity he could have made [his crew] the Bravehearts hot. Because he sat back and focused on himself, they ain't hot. They ain't selling no records, so it's all about him. And as he begins to slow down as an artist, everything is gonna begin to slow down in his environment."
50 doesn't get at God's Son, but he does mention Nas' wife, Kelis, as well as a slew of other so-called naysayers — Fat Joe, Jadakiss and Ja Rule, among them — on a track called "Piggy Bank" on his March 8 LP, The Massacre. Hardly anyone has heard the song, but word of mouth on the record has the whole industry buzzing.
"I think they've mistaken me," 50 snorts. "Their actions come from the interaction with the guy in this spot before me, Jay-Z. I think Jay-Z, he doesn't mind them saying things and doing what they doing 'cause he's looking at them like 'bum-ass n---as.' So he don't say nothing to them because he feels they're beneath him. But I got the time and energy to ruin what is left of their careers." ...
This is just the beginning. For the rest of the saga, watch the premiere of "All Eyes on 50 Cent: The Sequel" Sunday, February 27 at 10 p.m. ET on MTV, and come back to MTVNews.com to read our full feature on 50 that same night.
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