Jay-Z Warned Rappers In His Camp About 50 Cent Back In The Day

Jay-Z and 50 Cent are two of the biggest names in hip-hop in the last few decades. Their music was a gateway for a lot of young people to discover the genre for the first time. Now we find out how Jay warned his label mates to be wary of Fif back in the day.

In an appearance on Math Hoffa’s podcast, My Expert Opinion, Jay-Z described how he cautioned the rappers he was working with at the time about 50 Cent before the release of “In Da Club.” 50 Cent was all in a rage due to the explosive start he made to his career. Jay-Z made his feature film acting debut in the movie State Property, and shortly after its release, Hov stopped by Guru’s studio to warn him.

Jay walked into the studio and said it before but I’m telling you how impactful it was. Guru mentioned that Jay walked in the studio and he was like, ‘Yo, this dude 50, y’all gonna have to deal with him in the next couple months.” He said to the whole crew, “You have to deal with him.” The concerns over Fif’s imminent prominence in the music industry bothered Jay to convey such a message.

A “warning” that “another power is approaching” was how Jay described the situation. Guru continued by praising 50 Cent’s music from that era and highlighting the fact that Jay had anticipated Fif’s meteoric rise to fame from an early stage. Such premonition can only be made by greats of Jay’s stature.

As Guru noted, during a 2013 interview with The Breakfast Club, Jay-Z discussed his caution prior to the entrance of 50 Cent. 50 Cent was arriving on the scene, so he wanted to overwhelm the space with his music. When ‘In Da Club’ debuted on the music scene four months later, every rapper’s music was cut short.

The sheer amount of respect and acknowledgment between peer artists is on display here. They both indirectly made each other better in fear of the other taking the crown away for best music. We don’t see such dynamics in artists anymore that Fif and Jay put out in the world.

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