The Spin Interview: 50 Cent (Bigger, Longer, and Uncut)

"He didn't even write that album, man," says Yayo, his eyes narrowing.

What?

Yayo: "He didn't write it. That kid from Far Rockaway -- Superb -- he wrote that record. You know Superb from Far Rock?"

No, and that's a pretty serious charge.
[50 quickly jumps back in] I don't know nothing about any of that. He's the writer. I'm not gonna say he ain't write it. But it still didn't work! I mean, when I make music, I make it with the intention that the world's gonna enjoy it. I have music that I feel like is really good music, but I haven't released it. There's things playing at my house right now that's never gonna be played on the radio. And that music isn't out there, because I didn't feel like enough people would actually respond to it. Like, if I said, "Hey, this album is for me, that's why I named it Curtis, and if they don't pick it up, hey, they don't pick it up. This is just something I wanted for myself from an artistic standpoint." If I took that position, it's a cop-out. You make music with the intention for the masses to enjoy it. If not, then you should take your CD and play it only in your Walkman. It's crazy to think that you're going to make a record and put it out commercially for the world to listen to and then say you made it for yourself. And I've heard it countless amounts of times from artists in different periods. They're like, "I don't really care about the sales, this is about the art form."

Peanut gallery: "That's bullshit, man." [Laughs] "That's bullshit. That's what you say when you know nobody gives shit about you."

That's an artist who's so artistic he should just have a smock and be painting pictures for himself instead of trying to sell people music. We're in the music business. When they forget that last half, that's where it gets messed up. In the music business, you do what makes sense for music and business. So if the artist makes a record they know ain't gonna sell, then why do they allow the company to spend money marketing it? They're just making the wrong music at that point -- creatively. Sometimes, they just get out into a different space where they don't know what to write. I've been around rappers, what was the freestyle guy, Supernatural? He was incredible, he could rap about anything, about Mars and cars, whatever, and Craig G was like that. But they didn't have a specific thing that they were basing their music on that people could embrace. My music is based on my actual life. You might be a rapper that could beat me at something, but you can't beat me at being me, and this is what the world's embraced at this point.

Peanut gallery: "That's right. Uh-huh."

You got people who are inspired by the music. They see it and they see where it comes from. You see this [holds up a platinum, bling-encrusted cross]? I don't wear this all the time. But when I go out in the street, I put it on. You know why? Because these kids, I'll blow their high if they see me without it. And they sure don't wanna fuckin' be you if you don't have the stuff that excited them about you in the first place.

So should kids look up to you?
If they're inspired by me. People who come from where I come from, I give them hope. I make them believe that what they want to achieve is actually possible. If they see me going from a space where I didn't have anything to a space where I have everything, they're inspired. But you can't tell people they should do what you've done, because everybody's made big mistakes. It's like, publicly, all the things I say are good, if you watch what I do. What I say on record is entertainment; but what I'm actually doing with my life and the things I've had the opportunity to do is what makes me inspiring.

Would you ever make a record just for yourself, and put it up for free online, just as an artistic statement.
Any artist who tells you they made the record for themselves is just saying that ahead of time because they're afraid nobody's going to embrace it. They say, "I'm just doing this for me, this is real hip-hop right here." Come on, man, nobody cares about that shit, they want good music. If it ain't hot, it ain't hot.

So it's not helping the art form if it's not "hot."
You're actually hurting the art form, if your music isn't urgent enough to drive people to buy it, you're hurting the art form. You're just another shitty release on the schedule.

You responded to Oprah's criticism of hip-hop by saying that she was black on the outside but white on the inside.
Oprah is a good businessperson, right, considering that she's a billionaire? And her job is to go out and cater to as many middle-aged white people as possible.

You definitely think that's her goal?
She doesn't ever say anything that anybody from the ghetto is gonna ID with. Take a poll. Find me some young black women who ID with Oprah.

I'm sure I could find a lot.
I'm sure you can't. I guarantee you will find a way bigger demographic of middle-aged white women than young black women. Her issues are aimed at them. She can escape the fact that she's black because she's a billionaire, and the white women think, "Hey, me and Oprah, we think the same thing," so they tune in and enjoy it and watch the show.

But isn't the majority of your audience white kids? Aren't you thinking about them when you're making a record?
No, what I'm doing is writing music from my perspective on my experience and the harsh realities, and other people relate to it. And how would I do that anyway? Where's the research that would tell me what to say? Give me that, make me feel like I'm a genius; that I sat there and said, "This is what the young white men and women of America are really going to enjoy," and then I went and made Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

Are you worried about the state of the music industry and that hip-hop record sales are down 30 percent from the time of your last record?
You know what's interesting to me? If we're selling 30 percent less records, then really, what's the problem that people have with us? Why isn't the violence down? If we're that fuckin' influential, you know what I'm sayin'?

Violence should be down 30 percent?
Yeah, why isn't the violence down 30 percent? Ask that question in your article. I'd like to know the answer to that!