Rapper 50 Cent made HUGE headlines yesterday after declaring for bankruptcy, and though close to no one believes he’s broke (check the comments section of the linked article), he still addressed the situation on David Jacoby and Jalen Rose’s podcast.
The Jalen & Jacoby podcast is one of the best podcasts on the Internet, with creative and insightful basketball knowledge and hip-hop references and discussions for days. It was cool to see the two get 50 Cent on the podcast, and they got him at a convenient time when 50’s name was floating around with a new movie, Southpaw, a succeeding TV show, Power, and then, of course, the bankruptcy issue that happened days after being ordered to pay $5 million to a woman for leaking her sex tape.
After discussing Southpaw and helping decide the plot of Power, 50 delved into how hip-hop culture has changed and how important branding is. “When I got into hip-hop culture, it was so important to be different,” said 50. He stressed that now, hip-hop is more relaxed and, if you don’t have a hit, you’re not poppin’. He said branding and appearance are important, saying that the “only place for cornrows is in the neighborhood.”
Continued, he called Biggie the King of New York, saying “you’re greater in your absence than you are in you presence,” mentioned Jay Z lost the battle with Nas, but people don’t really mind because of how big his fan base is.
Toward the end, 50 loosely mentioned the bankruptcy issue, mentioning that he couldn’t talk much about it because of legal issues, but that people like to spin news into negatives. He said that 90 percent of news is negative, and that outlets succeed by sprinkling in 10 percent of good news. Ultimately, Jalen Rose told 50, “I know what you’re doing. I ain’t mad at you,” and laughed. So did 50. Everyone knows what’s good, and I’m sure they talked all about it off camera.
In the middle of all the conversation, 50 dropped a small gem of advice. He said, “passion is connected to all the success we see,” and for many reading this or interested in rapping, acting, starting a business, that’s a good datum to live by.
Anyway, watch the podcast above. Have fun with it.
