When Fif Looks You in the Eye

AHH’s YouTube courtesy of video editor: Josh Wingate and videographer: Slim

Below find excerpts from AHH’s: Streets is Watching: 50 Cent Part Two, published Wednesday, June 27, 2007 12:01 PM and written by Martin A. Berrios.

With a memory that catches tiny details, there seems to be no area one can't go with 50 Cent. Arguably the King of Rap for the last several years goes as far as to request a writer to ask whatever questions were screened by labels and management. In an age of political-correctedness, 50 presents himself in living color, speaking so freely. The man behind the scenes can be humble at times, but he appears unflinchingly honest. As the other two icons of rap frequently don sunglasses when questioned, Fif looks you in the eye, and gives you his humanity.

AHH: Anything else you want to touch on that we didn’t touch that’s current? Any new business dealings, updates, signings, acquisitions?

50: I think we pretty much got it. What kind of questions you wanted to ask me that they asked you not to ask?

AHH: Censorship, and your opinion on the ongoing debates...

50: You know what I think? Those people are what they can deliver. Anybody who is actually willing to be something different based on a few people saying, "Oh, that’s not right, this is the way I was raised." I’m giving you something from my heart or making the music that’s actually capturing a feeling, then why would I change it? Like it doesn’t make sense to me, I can’t understand that to save my life. Why would you ban words in music that you are willing to ban in television that you are not willing to ban on cable television? If you are going to provide a platform, [allow] Sirius and XM Radio those platforms to exist where’s that acceptable, then why would you say it’s not okay to say it when the CD clearly has a big ass advisory sticker on it? And Walmart only sells the clean version of the record, so it’s optional for you to buy that content or not. You know what it is? All this s**t is underlying racial s**t.

That Don Imus s**t, first of all, his apology was accepted by the young ladies, because the young ladies don’t see themselves as "nappy headed hoes." So you make your references to "b***h, hoe, slut," or whatever you want to say on the record. Have you heard these things on a record before, have women around you been appalled to hearing that because they heard that playing? They don’t usually find disrespect in that, you know why? Because they don’t usually direct it to themselves; you just hear it. It’s just something that’s just going on. In one ear, out the other, you feel that I’m saying?

What it is when Don Imus is gone off his show, we angry at White folks, then they go, "It’s not okay for Don Imus to say it, but it's okay for the rappers to say it?" And then the people we consider Black leaders, go after Hip-Hop also to make themselves not appear biased, man. But at the same time, I think they're escaping the fact [that] Hip-Hop has made more Black millionaires than any other art form than you can point to; to point to it as you want to destroy it or whatever level, it’s beyond me.

AHH: Do you think those quote unquote Black leaders have ulterior motives when it comes to situations like that?

50: You know what? To be honest with you, I think some people consider them Black leaders. They may have ulterior motives. I don’t know what to think of the situation. But I will say that they’re ambulance chasers. I will say that I think they have personal injury attorneys that don’t give them kickbacks. And I will say that they will cause enough fuss until you come cut the check, and that’s just that.