HUFFINGTON
06.09.13
JOHNNY NUNEZ/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES
Exit
friendly hip-hop for a few years, the
explosion of electronic dance music
and the resurgence of street rap
from the likes of Chief Keef have
shifted pop-rap from a weed and
drink game to an MDMA one.
50 knows it. On a remix of Keef’s
“Hate Being Sober” (Keef and 50
are both signed to Interscope), 50
raps that his female companion is
“like a hot tamale when she pops
a molly” (“molly” is a common
term for MDMA). I ask him how he
strikes the balance between keeping his music fresh for new listeners without straying from his own
“pocket,” and what he would say
to those who object to his stab at
molly rap. “When you’re writing
a record, I’m writing, and the girl
that I’m with is actually popping a
molly,” he says. “And between me
and you, she was. You see what I’m
saying? It’s within the experience.”
“When I write those things,
about the lifestyle, I’m going to inject things that are around that apply to me,” he continues. “I’m not
even aware of it at the actual point,
it becomes clear to me afterwards.
And it’s a joke to me — ‘popped a
molly I’m sweating, woo!’ It was
something that you go, ‘Oh, OK.’ It
was just a good line.”
Before we hang up, I ask if there’s
a particular song on the forthcoming Street King Immortal that’s his
favorite. “I haven’t put it out yet,”
50 sighs, citing structural changes
at Interscope (“we have a new president of music and he brought over
a new president of what would be
urban, or black music”), the passing of legendary hip-hop manager
Chris Lighty and other business
woes as the reason for the many
delays of the album, which still
doesn’t have a final release date.
“I didn’t want to release my stuff
and be stuck in the middle of that
while the record was out and have
that damage my brand,” he says,
obviously frustrated. “I don’t
want to let summer pass though,
fuck! I’m ready — I just have to
get everything else ... in
the pocket.”
50 Cent
collaborated
with Chief
Keef (above)
and Wiz
Khalifa on
“Hate Being
Sober” in
2012.