50 Cent Ain’t Worth a Nickel
As we all know, 50 Cent and his protege/boyfriend The Game got into a lover’s quarral that resulted in a shooting at New York City’s most unlistenable hip hop music stations Hot 97. I happened to scanning the channels and heard the whiny voice of Funkmaster Flex introducing 50 and G-Unit for their nauseating freestyle. I really want those 5 minutes of my life back. Anyway, my girl came in to report that there was a shooting at the radio station and I half wondered if Tupac was still alive and someone came to finish the job.
Well, as we all know, The Game squeezed off a few rounds from his pea shooter and scurried away. Cut to a few days later–The Game was "outted" as the shooter and the couple rushed to Harlem to hold a press conference that culminated in a beautiful photo in the NY Post of 50 giving The Game a big kiss on the cheek. It’s funny, The Game actually had a coy smile on his face and seemed happy to be back in 50’s arms.
The reasoning for the shooting is unclear at this point. Many news sources report that The Game was angry that 50 broke up with The Game. However, other sources ran stories speculating that this was a publicity stunt to sell records. Elliott Wilson, editor in chief of XXL, which we all know means about as much as a homeless man sleeping on the F train, told The Associated Press: "It helps him obviously in terms of exposure. You can’t ask for better promotion. Now he’s literally making history by beefing with his own artist," Wilson said. "This is more the boss of the clique dismissing his own artist." Maybe Brad Pitt should start showing up to The View or The Tonight Show and pop off a few rounds to promote his next big flick.
Anyway, the duo made amends by donating $253, 000 to the Harlem Boys Choir. In all seriousness, is this what the hip hop industry has come to? These successful and wealthy artists should care enough about their own community to donate the money to underprivileged children out of the kindness of their heart and the desire to give the black community hope. But, this is par for the course. The only way these stars will part with a dollar is if they can get a nice tax write off or they are buying a nice diamond necklace or ring to compliment their pretty outfit. I’m sure the accounting firm of Stein & Baum were behind the curtains of the press conference preparing all the appropriate papers.
So, three cheers for 50 and The Game. I feel like I can sleep better at night knowing that they rekindled the flame that once brought them together.
