50 Cent Says It’s ‘Bulls***’ That Jay-Z Has Had a Bigger Impact on Hip-Hop Than Eminem
Rapper 50 Cent has been in the music world for over two decades, and throughout that time, the Power star bore witness to the rise of many rappers, from Jay-Z and Eminem to Cardi B and Megan Thee Stallion. When 50 looks back at the legacies of Jay-Z and Eminem specifically, however, he finds that the two artists and their achievements aren’t comparable.
50 Cent has been friends with Eminem for years
Eminem emerged on the hip-hop scene at the turn of the millennium with breakout albums including The Marshall Mathers LP and The Eminem Show, the latter being the highest-selling rap album of all time. By the early 2000s, he was the hottest new rappers in the game, with a No. 1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 and an Academy Award for Best Original Song with “Lose Yourself.” In 2003, Eminem collaborated with New York rapper 50 Cent on “Patiently Waiting” from 50’s debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
In 2022, 50 marked the years of his great relationship with Eminem with a sincere Instagram post. “This friendship is never gonna change,” he captioned two photos of the rappers in 2003 and in 2022.
50 Cent says Eminem has had a bigger impact on hip-hop than Jay-Z
In January 2023, former NBA players Jamal Crawford and Shaquille O’Neal reflected on Eminem’s legacy — along with other rappers’ — on O’Neal’s The Big Podcast with Shaq. When Crawford considers his top five best rappers of all time, he said plainly that he valued “dominance” and cultural impact over record sales and No. 1 singles.
“My five, the dominance outweighs the number,” Crawford said. “Like, Jay-Z’s effect on hip-hop is bigger than any album sales that Eminem will have, you see what I’m saying? That’s just how it goes.” O’Neal disagreed, as did 50 Cent.
50 shared his thoughts on Crawford’s claim in an Instagram comment on Hip Hop Wolf‘s post detailing the interaction. “Ha bulls***,” 50 wrote with a sneezing face emoji.
Eminem and 50 Cent performed at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show
Eminem and 50 Cent took the stage at the Super Bowl LVI halftime show in 2022 alongside other hip-hop greats Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, and Kendrick Lamar. But 50 wasn’t initially planned to be a part of the show: Eminem, who was a confirmed headliner, reportedly wouldn’t perform at the show unless his friend 50 Cent came along for the ride.
In 2019, Jay-Z entered into a partnership with the NFL to helm the creation of the Super Bowl halftime show every year. That deal almost fell apart in 2022 after he faced pushback about the lineup of hip-hop performers recruited for the show.
Rapper N.O.R.E. recounted a conversation he had with Jay-Z during the planning of the show in a 2022 episode of Drink Champs. “‘Who is gonna perform at the NFL?’” he asked Jay-Z. “He said, ‘The white guy called for 50 Cent. I said, ‘Who is the white guy? Jimmy Iovine?’ And he said, ‘No, Eminem called directly for 50 and he said I can’t do it if I can’t bring 50 with me.’ That’s spiritual.”
50 Cent responded to N.O.R.E.’s claims of his conversation with Jay-Z in a since-deleted Instagram post. “Why did he say the white boy, why he didn’t say the biggest rap artist in the world?” 50 said in reference to Eminem.
