50 Cent has responded to Young Guru‘s recent comments about the time JAY-Z warned the rest of Roc-A-Fella roster about the G-Unit rapper’s arrival on the scene.
In an interview with Math Hoffa’s My Expert Opinion podcast, Jigga‘s longtime engineer reflected back to the time he was crafting The Blueprint 2 and claimed JAY entered the studio and told everybody 50 was going to be the next rap superstar.
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“Jay walked in the studio, he said it before, but I’m telling you how impactful it was,” Guru said. “He walked in the studio, and he was like, ‘Yo, this dude 50, y’all going to have to deal with him in the next couple of months.’ He said it to the whole crew, ‘You going to have to deal with him.’”
Young Guru also talked about 50 Cent being “one of the most incredible hook writers,” reflecting back to the first time he heard his hook on Tony Yayo‘s 2005 track “I Know You Don’t Love Me,” which appeared on Yayo’s debut album Thoughts Of A Predicate Felon.
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He added: “This dude said, ‘I know you don’t love me ’cause you ain’t the same when JAY-Z’s around,’ I said, ‘Bleek! That’s our hook! How did we not say that?’ That is a Bleek hook. How did we not say that? I’m looking like, ‘Yo, this dude is too good. I love Fif, but Jay acknowledged it earlier, he was like, ‘Y’all gonna have to deal with this dude. He’s coming.'”
The G-Unit leader caught wind of Guru’s comments and took to Instagram to salute Jay and the iconic engineer for the praise. “I love you n-ggas too,” Fif wrote. “I just need somebody to compete with. It makes me find a way, Jay know I will always find a way.”
JAY-Z was right on the money when it came to predicting 50 Cent’s rise. The Queens-bred rapper burst out the gates with Get Rich or Die Tryin’, his 16-track debut album that broke in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, selling over 872,000 copies in its first week.
Several singles off the album found worldwide success, such as “In Da Club” and “21 Questions” both going No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The project was also the best-selling album in the country in 2003 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2004 Grammy Awards. In 2020, the album was certified nine-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).
50 Cent recently celebrated another milestone on Tuesday (September 13), when it was revealed his 2009 single “Crack a Bottle” with Dr. Dre and Eminem surpassed 200 million streams on Spotify.
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“Not Bad for a kid from South Side I’m gonna make sure i do that song on my next run. @bransoncognac @lecheminduroi,” 50 wrote on Instagram.
