HIP-HOP 50 Cent's beef with The Game helps sell albums

Some worry the controversy will mimic the East Coast-West Coast rivalries of the '90s.
By GLENN GAMBOA
LONG ISLAND NEWSDAY
Beef sells.
Whether it's professional wrestlers, cheating spouses on "The Jerry Springer Show" or Jon Stewart against Tucker Carlson, America loves a good smackdown -- verbal or otherwise. And no industry capitalizes on these personal conflicts more effectively than hip-hop.
Beefing is ingrained in hip-hop culture, from the rap battles to the breakdancing challenges to graffiti artists striving to outdo each other with their choice of canvas as well as their actual art. Hip-hoppers regularly use beefs to generate publicity and gain respect from their fans and peers. However, as the $10-billion hip-hop industry continues to grow in stature and in revenue, so do the stakes associated with creating a hit.
In the past few weeks, rapper 50 Cent, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, has shown he's willing to gamble again. The New York native has provoked a variety of beefs with a number of high-profile rappers in an attempt to raise his profile and generate interest in his second album "The Massacre," which hit stores last Thursday.
Inner-circle conflict
The most surprising of his battles was with a member of his own G-Unit camp, The Game, whom he dismissed last week during an interview on New York City radio station Hot 97 for being disloyal -- a move police say resulted in the shooting of a member of The Game's entourage outside the station.
"Beef has always been the engine of creativity in hip-hop, it gives it a creative thrust," said Jeff Chang, author of the recently released hip-hop history "Can't Stop, Won't Stop." "But now beef affects the competition. Beef affects business. It affects who stays employed, and there's a lot of people employed by successful rappers. That makes things completely different. There's a lot more fallout when people could lose their livelihoods. Now it's a high-stakes spectacle."
It's also seen as a dangerous one. Though 50 Cent's recent targets -- rappers Fat Joe, Jadakiss and Nas -- have said they plan to keep the beef within the boundaries of music, police have increased security around 50 Cent, and several of his personal appearances around New York this week have been canceled due to security issues.
Effect on sales
However, if there's a record company that understands how to navigate beefs, it would be Interscope Records, the parent company to the labels of Eminem and 50 Cent, who are both currently embroiled in some of hip-hop's top squabbles. An Interscope spokesman declined to comment about how artists' beefs may affect sales.
"It's a great marketing strategy for 50," said hip-hop historian and DJ Davey D. "He picks some fights, he goes for shock value and soon that's what everybody's talking about. At the end of the day, it's been a winning formula for him, but he may end up paying up a heavy price for it. I think the way he looks at it, he knows his time is up soon, so he might as well go out with a bang."
Rapper Jadakiss agreed, telling Hot 97's DJ Clue in an interview that he thought 50 started beefing with him because "The Massacre" wouldn't live up to the multi-platinum debut of "Get Rich or Die Tryin'." The new album "is garbage," Jadakiss said. "Nothing on it's as good as the first one."
Division
50 Cent's relentless attacks are dividing the hip-hop world. Some worry 50 may be launching a hip-hop war like the East Coast-West Coast beef from the late '90s that resulted in the deaths of the culture's two biggest heroes, Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace, better known as The Notorious B.I.G. Others say 50 Cent is simply carrying on the tradition of hip-hop beefs, the way nearly all rappers do at some point in their careers.
"All through hip-hop history, there have been beefs that have gotten to the crisis point," Chang said. "The difference is that now, some rappers' egos have gone wild. Money has distorted the power communities had to keep them in check."
It took the slayings of Shakur and Wallace to convince rappers who wanted to use beefs to advance their careers that they may want to consider the consequences before picking a fight.
When 50 Cent launched his debut album "Get Rich or Die Tryin"' in 2003, he generated a great deal of hype with the song "Wanksta," an attack on rapper Ja Rule, who, at the time, dominated hip-hop. Though "Wanksta" was never a hit, it gave 50 more street cred and damaged Ja Rule's reputation.
Shock factor
Davey D. said 50 Cent is playing the law of hip-hop averages. "He knows he will be very hard-pressed to come up with a hit third or fourth album," he said. "That's not because of him. It's because of the nature of hip-hop today. It's fueled by fickle fans and fickle radio outlets who can easily decide, 'Maybe we get behind somebody else this year.' It's a pattern that recurs. It happens because the artistry that comes with being around, with taking in the influences from traveling and growth as a human being, aren't necessarily appreciated. Maybe 50 could do something like Mos Def and be successful, but I don't think he's sure about it. That means he only has two other options: shock and awe."
And in order for those options to work, 50 must choose his enemies wisely, Davey D. said. He doesn't want to pick a verbal fight with a rapper who will turn it into a real-life fight or someone who has the sales, the stature and the inclination to take the hip-hop crown away from him.
"Beef isn't that urgent, it's more calculated," Davey D. said. "You have to decide if it's really worth the effort, if I'm really going to spend time and put it out on a record. It's not like a real fight. I mean, if you hit my mom, I'm not going to go home and write a song about it. We're going to settle it then and there."
Some in hip-hop say the success of 50 Cent's strategy actually will hurt the music in the long run.
"If you're a 15-year-old looking to make it in the business, the message this gives is loud and clear: Start challenging people," Davey D. said. "I think that undermines the potential of the culture, the potential of the black community. Instead of trying to do your own thing and having a community where everyone flourishes, you get locked in to trying to take somebody else down."