Hip Hop Vibe Staff Writer
Three years ago, 50 Cent pushed his Curtis album up to a release date of September 11. Meanwhile, Kanye West had to push his Graduation album back to September 11, while the album cover was being done. Throughout the summer, 50 Cent said Kanye West should not release his album close to his.
Once it was confirmed that both rappers would be dropping albums on the same day, 50 Cent started a commercial beef with Kanye. While 50 taunted West each day until the album was release, Kanye laughed it off. He said he did not have to talk because he knew he was going to win the battle.
BET's "106 & Park" got in on the action when they decided to have both rappers attend the show on the date. Even during the show, 50 Cent continued to taunt Kanye West. While they pretended to get along for the camera's sake, the tension was very thick. In an effort to win the New York crowd over, Kanye West had Jay-Z come out.
As the results came closer, 50 Cent boasted that he would retire from rap if Kanye West outsold him. But, he backtracked when he was badly outsold in the United States by Kanye. Internationally, however, 50 Cent edged Kanye out and he was not shy about letting his critics know this. In the time since their face-off, 50 has suffered from his career being on a steady decline. Meanwhile, Kanye West has been on the fast track outside of the Taylor Swift incident.
Recently, Lloyd Banks has been the peacemaker for G-Unit. He said that he could forgive all of the former members of G-Unit, but he could never work with them again. Banks even reached out to Nas and convinced him to record for the album. Even though Nas has been feuding with 50 Cent, he has never called out Lloyd Banks and Banks never mentinoed Nas out of respect. Now, Banks hopes to act as a mediator to end the longstanding feud between the Queens rappers.
Lloyd Banks received a major shoutout from Kanye West and he rewarded him by inviting him to perform on his The Hunger for More 2. Due to the new relationship he has with Kanye West, Lloyd Banks wants to repair the broken relationship between West and 50 Cent. With both rappers working together on his album, the ultimate goal for Lloyd Banks is to have the two rappers appear on the same track together. With the size of those egos, this feat is easier said than done.