In a recent interview with SPIN Magazine, 50 Cent and his sidekick Tony Yayo managed to diss a few more people. Here's the rundown:
SPIN: What about the MCs -- Chamillionaire, Ghostface Killah, Master P -- who have said that they're not going to curse in their music anymore, in response to the post-Imus outcry?
50 Cent: None of those people sell records.
SPIN: Chamillionaire sold more than a million records.
50 Cent: Let him go sell gospel records, if he's so fuckin' righteous...This is adult entertainment.
SPIN: Yeah, it's hard to imagine Ghostface is going to stop cursing, especially considering his last couple of records.
Tony Yayo: "Nobody even cares what he does." "Who's listening to him, anyway?" "That was the '90s, B. Kids don't even know Ghostface anymore." "The streets are different now," says Yayo. "Guys like Ghostface don't matter. They don't. They had a run, but it's over."
SPIN: But can't he just make a great record, even if it doesn't sell, and we can appreciate it as listeners, as hip-hop fans?
50 Cent: No, because a great record is embraced and enjoyed by the public. And it's played in cars and clubs.
SPIN: What if it sells a couple hundred thousand copies, isn't that valid? Or does it have to sell millions for you to take it seriously?
50 Cent: In my camp, a couple hundred thousand records is a failure. From my perspective, if I sell 200,000 copies, after selling 12 million records, it's considered terrible.
SPIN: But maybe he's trying to make a different kind of record?
50 Cent: What, the kind people don't buy?
SPIN: No, one with incredible, detailed storytelling that's moving and powerful, and isn't dependent on some obvious hook.
50 Cent: Look, I understand all that. But if you're on a major record label, and he [Ghostface] is, and you sell a couple hundred thousand records, that was a failure. Your fuckin' photos and videos aren't recouped with 200,000 copies sold.
SPIN: OK, but can you at least acknowledge that a commercial flop, like, say, [Ghostface's] Supreme Clientele, can still be an artistic achievement?
Yayo: "He didn't even write that album, man," says Yayo, his eyes narrowing.
SPIN: What?
Yayo: "He didn't write it. That kid from Far Rockaway -- Superb -- he wrote that record. You know Superb from Far Rock?"
