Where the street meets the beats

May 3, 2003 12:18 PM

The Smoking Gun reveals that Murder Inc Records is owned by Kenneth McGriff, criminal extrodinaire and head of the notorious Queens crack dealing Supreme Team gang. The IRS papers claim that he was the one that engineered the shooting of rapper 50 Cent.
posted by will (17 comments total)

whooooooooooooooo cares?
posted by bureaustyle at 1:03 PM on May 3, 2003

I care, bureau. I've always wondered 'bout the names dropped in 50's Ghetto Qur'an. Well in item 11, there's a mention of "Gerald 'Prince' Miller" as the lieutenant of McGriff's drug op. And in the Ghetto Qur'an, you have this:

  Yo, when you hear talk of the southside, you hear talk of the team
  See niggas feared Prince and respected Preme
  For all you slow muthafuckas I'm a break it down iller
  See Preme was a business man and Prince was the killer
  Remember, he used to push the bulletproof BM, uh huh
  (rest of the lyrics)

btw, the brief 50 mention is initem 35.

Good post, will.
posted by hobbes at 1:13 PM on May 3, 2003

How far off is the day when the various rap labels can all come together and hammer out a peace?

How many more rappers must be shot before they realise they can really milk the melodrama once they start scripting it soap style, much like all-star wrestling?

The Real World is getting major stale...MTV obviously needs some newer "reality" programming, and I've got just the ticket!
posted by cps at 1:16 PM on May 3, 2003

Platinum, but it's probably doesn't have half as much bling, nor shootings. ;)
posted by hobbes at 1:18 PM on May 3, 2003

Here's a profile of 50 Cent from Rolling Stone.

On taking nine bullets at close range: "There's a different sound now when I talk, 'cause of the air around the tooth. Gettin' shot just totally fixed my instrument."
posted by eddydamascene at 1:20 PM on May 3, 2003

ok, i'm going to bitch a little bit in stream-of-consciousness mode... wtf is up with 50 Cent being so famous and selling SO many records? I'm an avid hip-hop and rap junkie (just as much as the next white 22 year old :D) and a lot of my friends who primarily listen to that music really think his rhymes are great. I tried listening to it. It's garbage. There are parts that are painful to listen to, it doesn't even have the production quality of a *Cash Money* album. And that's low. Not only that, but you can tell he sucks due to the fact that the beats can carry (thank the engineers and producers) and the rhymes just plain suck. unimaginative, repetitive, hell even incessant.

And that Biggy song was GREAT, but damn at this point, it's all in bad taste. He's been dead for years.

Oh, and I may enjoy recreational drug use- but I abhor people who parade around like it's some sort of status symbol. The chart topping song he had has so many references to X, and crap like that.. blah.. the reason why hip-hop and rap has such a bad image. this kind of shit right there.

So I guess my question is, why does it sell so much? Is it as sad as Pop suggests? That image > content ?

I remember when hip-hop was all about havin fun.
posted by shadow45 at 3:57 PM on May 3, 2003

On taking nine bullets at close range:

NINE BULLETS

My roommate’s gun got nine bullets in it
Nine bullets in my roommate’s gun
My roommate’s gun got nine bullets in it
Gonna find a use for every last one

One for the love who chose to betray me, a real fine love who wouldn’t be true
One for the man that she betrayed with, a nice enough fella, she’ll betray him too
A nice enough fella, she’ll betray him too

One for my boss man, riding my butt again, sorry sir, but you’d better clock out
One for the lady down at the laundrymat, who goes threw my dryer pulling one sock out
She goes threw my dryer pulling one sock out

One just to put me out of my misery
I better aim that sucker true
I’ll leave a note that says I’m sorry but I went off the deep end when I fell for you
I went off the deep end when I fell for you

One each for my immediate family, they’ll be so disappointed to see what I done
One left over, I’ll save it for my roommate
After all it’s my roommate’s gun
After all it’s my roommate’s gun

My roommate’s gun got nine bullets in it Nine bullets in my roommate’s gun
Roommate’s gun got nine bullets in it
Gonna find a use for every last one Gonna find a use for every last one
Gonna find a use for every last one

Now that's real music.
posted by nyxxxx at 4:08 PM on May 3, 2003

nyxxxx, holy shit, I'd forgotten that damn song! thanks for bringing it up.
posted by elwoodwiles at 4:25 PM on May 3, 2003

shadow, his image (former hustler, shot 9 times, etc) definitely boosted sales of Get Rich or Die Tryin', but from what I gather, he was pretty big before Eminem signed him. I listened to Power of a Dollar, and it's a solid album, if not better than Get Rich.

I'd say that 50's one of the more humourous rappers, too. I don't take rap too seriously, so I found the video for Wanksta to be funny-cute with the two kids bouncin'. And then there's that line "I love you like a fat kid love cake," which cracks me up.

It's the indie/mainstream thing again, ain't it?
posted by hobbes at 5:04 PM on May 3, 2003

I like 50 Cent. He's got a good voice, a good sense of word-rhythm and he grooves. I've been avoiding hip-hop lately, most of it's the same old or it's just plain awful (the number of hip-hop artists who have no sense of rhythm or groove is depressing), but 50 Cent is one of the few bright spots as far as I'm concerned.
posted by biscotti at 5:06 PM on May 3, 2003

The IRS papers claim that he was the one that engineered the shooting of rapper 50 Cent.

He shouldve done a better job.
posted by Satapher at 5:10 PM on May 3, 2003

I was actually shot #7. I was gonna shoot Bushwick Bill but I couldn't find his apartment so I settled on the then unknown 50 cent. BANG
posted by mcsweetie at 5:41 PM on May 3, 2003

I caught SaturdayNightLive this week (with 50 Cent). Usually my experience with SNL is hit or miss...I watch in hopes of catching a few good skits in the mix, but usually I find I'm trying to endure the bad ones--including the music, at times. This is one time I'm glad I didn't TIVO and skip through most of it. It's the first time I've heard 50 Cent (and paid attention at first only because I remember seeing the post here--thanks, will). I thought it was an amazing performance.

It's funny...the same thing happened when I stumbled onto The Roots on Chappelle's Show a few weeks back.

I've got some CDs to buy. (Hear that RIAA dicks?)
posted by troybob at 6:35 AM on May 4, 2003

I just don't get how people like it.. the hooks are repeated over and over again. so much that it makes the actual content seem faked, much like the lazy-assed method I used to have for writing college papers at the last moment. I think he's a lazy hack. I should know, we can smell our own kind.
posted by shadow45 at 11:04 AM on May 4, 2003

MetaFilter reveals that The Smoking Gun is owned by Court TV, which is half owned by Liberty Media owners of QVC and Discovery. The IRS papers claim that AOL/Time Warner own the other 50 percent.
posted by Pollomacho at 7:14 AM on May 5, 2003

I fired shot number nine
posted by jcruelty at 2:27 PM on May 5, 2003

Hey Shadow45, try listening to "Silver Screen Shower Scene", its supposed to be one of the new club songs and its awful. The same stupid lines again and again and again.

I'm a minor fan of 50 cent and more of Eminem but there's only so much angry little white guy music I can listen to. Though I must say that White America at high volume is a rousing experience.
posted by fenriq at 3:56 PM on May 5, 2003