April 23, 2008

50 Cent On Young Buck's Retort Record, 'My Interview': 'I Knew He Was Gonna Do That'

By Shaheem Reid, with reporting by Tim Kash (MTV.com)

50 Cent is no psychic. He just knows his friends - those close to him and estranged.

Last week, he told MTV News that he fully expected Young Buck to respond in song to the G-Unit General's allegations about Buck's supposed drug habits (Fif mentioned syrup and cocaine as the Tennessee MC's alleged narcotics of choice). While Buck did release a retort record called "My Interview," it wasn't filled with disses, just talk of the situation.

"I knew he was gonna do that," 50 reiterated on Sunday on the Brooklyn set of the G-Unit's videos for "I Like the Way She Do It" and "Rider Pt. 2."

"Well, Buck, he doesn't think very clear," Fif added. "He has things to help him not think clear - not using a sober mind when you're doing things. I knew he would do that first, because he felt if he mentioned the things that people said he did in a song, it would defuse [perceptions of him]. He said, 'Yeah, I sip syrup. Yeah, I did this. I did things wrong.' If you say it in the music, [the fans] can accept it, because they had stars prior to this use drugs. They don't have a problem with Amy Winehouse. There is a lot of other rock stars who use drugs and sh-- like that. I don't see how they would feel that that's unacceptable. Some of their favorite rappers are sipping syrup. Me, personally, I don't do it. I'm getting high off the situation of accomplishing my goals."

Since MTV News broke the story of 50 and the Unit's justification of Buck being dismissed from the crew, hundreds of readers have written in to MTVNews.com with their opinions. One fan named ladyrock5 said, "50 Cent is real wack right now. If your boy had a drug problem, why [are] you in the news using that against him? If he was really your man, then you would be trying to help him."

The G-Unit General answered that question on Sunday. "If you got a person - you got a grown man - that person has to hit rock bottom before he decides that he actually wants to get help in some way," 50 said. "I'm not gonna allow myself to hit rock bottom with him while he says that. The same fan just looks for a reason for something to be wrong with the decision [to remove Buck from G-Unit]. You got all these people [saying,] 'Where's Buck? Where's Buck?' Why you didn't buy his last album? You would know where he's at if you bought his last album. You would put him in a different space and situation."

50 feels he's partly to blame for the rift between himself and Buck and even Game. What is the Queens icon's biggest misstep?

"I blame myself for overextending myself," he explained. "I didn't have to treat them like they family."