Earlier this year, 50 Cent announced that he had officially taken G-Unit Records off of Interscope Records. Back in 2002, he had signed a four-album deal with the label. Last fall, 50 released his fourth album with Interscope, Before I Self Destruct. Because the album was hardly promoted, it hardly sold. 50 Cent, already upset with the label, had allowed Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks to leave Interscope. Once he released the album, he left too.
Recently, there have been rumors of 50 Cent possibly moving over to Def Jam. The label has been struggling as all of their marquee artists have one foot out of the door. Last year, during the height of his feud with Rick Ross, 50 Cent joked about signing with them. Rick Ross recently responded to Lloyd Banks speaking about G-Unit possibly moving over to Def Jam. Ross laughed and said that would probably never happen.
In response, Lloyd Banks laid out the facts of the matter. Even though Rick Ross has chart-topping singles, he does not sell records. Meanwhile, Banks’ singles are hardly ever hits, but he still sells records. He said that those facts, alone, would make Def Jam want to sign a deal for the entire G-Unit label. Because of the friction, Banks said that Rick Ross would be forced to relocate back to Miami.
Now, the old president of G-Unit, Sha Money XL, has landed an executive role with Def Jam and the news comes as a bit of a surprise. This comes as a surprise because of the things that have been said about Def Jam by 50 Cent and the fact that Rick Ross is there. It is said that the primary mission of Sha Money XL is to land G-Unit on Def Jam.