During a radio interview over the weekend promoting his forthcoming fourth major label release, Before I Self Destruct, 50 Cent weighed in on the brewing feud between Jay-Z and one-time protégé Beanie Sigel.
On Saturday (October 31), 50 called into the Gomez Bros. show, one of the segments of “G-Unit Saturdays” on Sirius XM Radio’s Shade 45.
While the conversation centered mostly around his new album, co-host Nelson Gomez asked 50 to offer his opinion on what remains a hot topic within the Hip-Hop community.
“That whole s**t is a mess,” said the Shady/Aftermath rapper. “With Beans, I understand where his frustration comes from because there was a point where he woulda had a serious check.”
He went on to reveal that he was a frequent visitor at the Federal Correctional Institution in Fairton, New Jersey, as Beanie Sigel served a year at the medium security facility, after pleading guilty to federal gun charges in April 2004.
“While he was away, he was actually in the same penitentiary with my uncle who’s been down for 16 year,” 50 shared. “This is in the middle of Get Rich or Die Tryin. So I’d be on tour somewhere else and I’d fly back to make my visit that once month because I know I get [my uncle] outta the jail. When I’m talking to him and I’m sitting across from him, he’s not thinking about the jail. He’s free during that time period. So I would consistently double back. At that point, I was shaking the jail. Even the C.O.’s where excited. So, Beans had to feel that from the inside and be like, ‘Aaw man! And that n***a not coming to see me at all?’”
The Queens rapper was also asked to share his thoughts on Jay-Z’s response to Beanie during a press conference last week, during which the Roc Nation boss discussed having given his Philly protégé several business opportunities, including a clothing line and record label.
50 offered his speculation that Beanie’s close bond with Roc-a-Fella co-founder Dame Dash was based much more on business than fans may have thought.
“When you start feeling Jay and Dame are parting,” he explained, “the next best thing on Roc-a-Fella was Beanie Sigel. So Dame would move towards Beanie to build his business with Beanie Sigel because him and Jay’s relationship is f**ked up at the time. So when all those things start to happen, it’s because he’s the best option at that point.
“A lot of times when I say Jay’s a cool punk, don’t get it f**ked up: he’s a smart guy,” 50 continued. “And you can’t take away from what he’s done in the actual business and in the game. But since he lost to Nas, he hasn’t competed. Beans went out in the front with Jadakiss. And when he had the issues with Cam’ again, the Tru Life deal was signed. That’s what stopped the Cam beef stopped. What Jay’s doing is traditional business. My business model comes from off of the curve, so Imma take care of my n***as a little different ‘cause they’re my people.”
During the interview, 50 also announced a new release date for Before I Self-Destruct.
The album will now hit stores on November 16, a full week earlier than the last announced release date of November 23.
Despite falling victim to online leaks, 50 believes the album will do well because of the responses he has seen from fans.
He also stated that the leaks didn’t bother him much, because they still present Before I Self-Destruct the way he had intended it.
“I felt good because it was leaked in it’s entirety,” he told the Gomez Bros. audience. “It was leaked in sequence so people could hear what my vision was. Instead of in pieces, it woulda been like ‘Damn, I spent all my time sequencing this record so you could feel the way I want you to feel.’ The tough part is they gonna put me up against this one when it’s time to make the next one.”
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