The one Fat Joe song 50 Cent envies despite their beef
50 Cent and Fat Joe were involved in a bitter feud for years, and it got nasty at times. But, even so, 50 could still admit that he admired some of Joe’s music.
50, who is no stranger to the odd beef here and there, gave an interview to XXL in 2011, when the subject of Fat Joe came up in an indirect way. 50 had been asked about the state of hip-hop in the early 2010s, with the rapper admitting that things weren’t as good as they had been when he was a bit younger.
In that spirit, he started listing off some songs from the late ’90s and early 2000s that he admired and wished had been his own. He brought up ‘Whoa!’ by Black Rob and ‘Put Ya Hands Where My Eyes Could See,’ by Busta Rhymes, which is fair enough. But the shock was when he complimented his nemesis Joe. “Fuckin’ ‘Lean Back,’” 50 said. “I wish that was mine.”
‘Lean Back’ had been a big hit for Joe’s Terror Squad group.The second single from their second album, True Story, ‘Lean Back’ was released during the summer of 2004 and spent three weeks at the top of the American pop charts. It was a big hit outside of the US, too.
Even though he was still firmly engaged in his feud with Joe in 2011, when this interview took place, 50 could still admit that ‘Lean Back’ was a good song, while clarifying that he and Joe “don’t get along.”
50 also made sure to get in a little bragging for himself, of course. He claimed, perhaps accurately, that those artists he’d highlighted, including Fat Joe, likely would have coveted 50’s own success with tracks like ‘In Da Club’ and ‘PIMP.’ It was part of the competitive nature of the culture.
50 Cent did seem to take a cool, level-headed view on the achievements of his enemy. It didn’t seem like he was offering an olive branch by complimenting Joe, but, rather, it was just about respecting the form of a competitor playing the game well.
50 and Joe would eventually bury the hatchet, after many years of going at each other’s throats. For Joe, who is much more positive about 50 nowadays, it was an important step to squash their beef for the sake of proving to younger generations that conflict-resolution is possible.
As he put it to Sherri Shepherd during an appearance on her chat show, “We gotta show the youth that you can come together — that was a nasty beef — but you can come together afterwards and actually be grown men and show each other love. I got love for 50.”