50 Cent – Funeral Music (Cam’ron Diss)
From the video:
The business is entertainment and what entertains the customers is the sight of blood.
The "beef" between 50 Cent and Cam’ron signals the official start of 2007: The Year of 50 Cent. Though he made a quiet appearance or two to promote his urban book line, 50 shows the flexibility necessary to capitalize on a marketable situation, even an absurd beef with Cam’ron, and take over the rap news headlines.
Julianne Shepherd at Vibe.com has a nice audio/video timeline of the "dispute". All references below can be found there unless otherwise indicated.
Key Points:
Koch needs to step up, not to beef with 50, but to improve their public image, especially since they have nothing to be ashamed of. Having Koch’s General Manager Alan Grunblatt try to talk to 50 on the radio was an embarassment and they need to address the fact that 50 Cent mentally tattooing "Koch is a graveyard" on the minds of America’s youth is VERY BAD FOR BUSINESS for both Koch and for every artist on that label.
50 Cent is extremely sharp on both tactical and strategic levels and he’s been hooked up with Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power, for a minute.
In the phone call between 50 and Cam’ron, he first offers Cam an out, though possibly an unacceptable one for someone as unstable as Cam, then he immediately divides Dipset by aligning with Jim Jones on air and in his diss video posted above. And Jim Jones went for it, at least at first, cause he likes being on top.
Jones’ characterization of the exchange between 50 and Cam as "just aggressive competition" allows him to build with 50 while blurring the fact that Jones just stabbed Cam in the back. How that works out will be interesting to watch.
So 50 Cent temporarily aligns himself with Jim Jones who’s got the hottest rap single of 2007 after a year in which both Jay-Z and Nas showed they’re solidly in the game yet couldn’t maintain a serious presence on the singles charts.
Of course, 50 Cent is faced with the question of whether or not Jay-Z and Nas are signs of the overall weakness of the rap album in a marketplace where other genres continue to produce artists who can dominate both singles and album charts for weeks. His marketing strategy means that 50′s album has to do extremely well or it will be a failure in his own terms.
Regarding 50′s reply video posted above:
It was immediately on YouTube for ready distribution;
It includes an opening promo for Young Buck’s upcoming album;
50′s crew looks a lot scarier f*cking around in the garage than absolutely anything I’ve ever seen from Dipset and I bet many teen males will agree.
In the video 50 drops a line about sending Haitians after his opponent. Hiring hitmen is a recurring theme for 50 Cent and I wonder how it plays behind the scenes.
Cam’s response to the video isn’t that strong to me but may well appeal to his fanbase. And I love the fact that they released a clean radio version and a dirty version of the Curtis (50 Cent Diss) MP3 (via Big Dev).
Cam’ron’s Curtis (50 Cent Diss) Full-length
Radio (Clean):
http://www.mediafire.com/?cjnynjmdcty
http://www.rogepost.com/n/5264097793
Dirty:
http://www.mediafire.com/?dtkygomooia
http://www.rogepost.com/n/3154880764
On a related note:
It’s always interesting to hear Cam spitting sales figures, as he did in the phone call from Koch Records (see timeline at Vibe), since he’s one of the noisiest guys comparing the $6 or $7 his company gets to the $2 a major label artist gets conveniently leaving out expenses.
Late last year 50 Cent used the opposite maneuver to diss the financial performance of Jay-Z’s Kingdom Come in an apperance on G-Unit Radio. Unfortunately I can’t find a version online now but he made the claim that Jay-Z was paying for a lot of the exposure Budweiser gave him when it’s much more likely that Jay-Z got a deal in which he received both cash and marketing support.
The difference between the two is that Cam’s claims are based on reasonably accessible figures while the details of the Jay-Z/Budweiser deal will probably never see light of day and 50′s downgrading of Jay-Z becomes another marketing message working its way through the system.
Related Coverage:
50 Cent and the Violence of Money
Cam ate 50 man. Cam rep Harlem hard and he be in Harlem. 50 scream out Southside and dont even be in the hood.
Peace
Jimmy made a few dollars beefing with 50…Cam obviously thought that it was a good idea.
Did Jimmy stay in the top ten longer than Jay?
I don’t really like dipset’s music that much…I respect the heck out of their grind though. I use them and a few other groups (Wu-Tang, Cash Money) who know how to define, distinguish and push their brand as examples for new artists trying to earn public attention and loyalty.
Jay, I hear what you’re saying. The question is, does anyone outside of the NY area give a damn where these guys really live?
Steel Free, those Dipset boys are all about beef marketing. I’m actually not a fan either but they are relentless!
Jay-Z’s Show Me What You Got spent one week in the top 10 at no. 8 and only one week. He got no. 8 cause they held back the digital downloads until that week:
http://www.prohiphop.com/2006/11/jayzs_show_me_w.html
I don’t think Nas got a top 10 single.
Of course, their albums did much better than Jim Jones’ but his did make the top 10 albums one week and I’m sure his marketing budget was quite a bit smaller than that of Jay-Z or Nas.
Excellent analysis of the beef/sales ratio. Love him or hate him, 50 does have a good sense of how to capitalize off of his schtick.
Yo, iunt even like 50 like that, but I do gotta say he got Cam’Ron on dis shit. ppl talkin 50 aint hard, shit plz.
When will they all realize that all this gangsta shit is nothing but bullshit and start making it about putting out good music again…NWA started this, maybe Dre should end it some way…
yo 50 cent will kill camron in this beef look at there videos camrons is cheap like a home video 50s is choreographed more creative it’s a platinum rapper verses a flop artist you gotta be kidden me cam don’t stand a chance
ayo cam killed 50. 50 platinum cuz all the white ppl in iowa coppin his shit buh that dont make him nice or nttn. he a fuckin pop artist. yea he makin money buh that make him nicer than cam. on the reals 50 nice talkin shit buhnot spittin so it aint no competition b. 1
This shit is weak/wack. 50 suck’s, this nigga is not street for real. none of this bs would acceptable in Chicago. He’ wack (50 cent) everyone who’s rolling with him are bitches for real.
Yayo callin out names, lil wayne, baby, jimmy, cam, game, joe. He needs to shut the f up. His album sucked. I threw that shit out. Any of these dudes he named will body g unit. True story.
IN A REAL FIGHT ITS PRETTY OBVIOUS 50 CENT WOULD WIN, he was an jr olympic boxer when he was young.ANYWAYZ I DONT KARE WHERE U FROM, IF YOU SPORT PINK OR PURPLE THEN UR NOT EVEN COME CLOSE TO BEING A GANGSTER. REAL GS. DONT WHERE THOSE COLORS, CAM AINT NOTHING BUT A PRETTY BOY 50 destroyed murda inc, now its over with dipset and thier retarted lyrics
yow! yow! people listen up..cut d fukery talk…if camron no what good for him he better stay away from fifty bec he dont wana end up sellin cds on the street lik murder inc..jim jones & juel santana is cool but camron flow too weak for fifty..check funeral music video..way d fuck do camron..anyw while dem talkin fifty depositin..dis dude smart & plzs tell camron pink is for gurls…
1st of all…50 cent would muder cam n his “i get the soapy soapy for the doafy doafy” he b jus sayin shit that rhymes n it dont make since….this dud where’s pink…c’mon mi lil sis likes pink…..50 sells billions….while they still in thousands….juelz n jim n 40 n jr n rell go hard….why they fuckin wit dis dude…c’mon now…he dnt even b makin since…cam dnt go hard…50 wud kill that nigga….50 dont b in the hood cuz…he got shit to do…..cam anit doin shit…why u think he there…be smart
This has certainly been a fascinating dialogue but since some of you seem to have missed your nappy naps I’m going to shut down comments.
Have a nice day!