50 Cent was so impressed with Eminem’s verse on Nas’ recent single ‘EMPD2’ that it has inspired him to start writing again. This recent revelation comes after a long period away from the mic.
Last month, Nas released his 13th album, King’s Disease II to critical acclaim. It featured the first collaboration between the iconic New York rapper and Eminem. EMPD, the hip hop duo who give the track its name also unsurprisingly feature on the track.
During his solitary verse, Eminem pays tributes to some of rap’s icons and pays homage to some of the rapper’s we’ve lost along the way. The track also contains an indication that Eminem is reaching a more mature stage in his career as he accepts his mortality: “I hit 50 via text/ Told him that I love him ’cause I don’t even know when I’m a see him next/ Tomorrow could be a death.”
50 Cent revealed that the verse struck a real chord with him. “When Em does something that stands out to me, it’s special,” he explained in People. “He just had a performance on Nas’ album, and it made me want to record again because of my connection to it. He sounded so good that I was like, ‘I gotta write something’“.
50 Cent hasn’t released an album since 2014’s largely forgotten Animal Ambition. In the interview, he explained the effect that his friend’s verse has had in inspiring him “I feel like I’m still in it. Even if I don’t share it with the general public, it forced me back into writing, going to the studio and recording something.”
Concurrently, Eminem is set to portray notorious FBI informant Richard Wershe Jr., ‘White Boy Rick’, in 50 Cent’s upcoming drama BMF (Black Mafia Family).
In the mid-’80s, Wershe was a teenage informant for the FBI that infiltrated a Detroit gang. In 1987 he was dropped by his handlers, and aged just 17 he was arrested for cocaine possession and sentenced to life in prison. He made headlines last year when he was released aged 50.
Listen to ‘EMPD2’, below.
