MTV reports:
After selling millions of records with Interscope, will 50 Cent be looking to jump ship? Anything is possible as the G-Unit head honcho prepares his fifth and final contracted album on the powerhouse label.
“I don’t know,” 50 told MTV News when asked if he would ink back with Interscope once his five-album deal was fulfilled. “It will all be clear in the negotiations following me turning this actual album in. And, of course, the performance and how they actually treat the work will determine whether you still want to stay in that position or not.”
Last week, on June 16, Fif took his label to task via Twitter when he fired off, “I’m sorry to announce I will not be releasing a new album this year if we don’t get on the same page.” Soon after, he tweeted: “My whole career iv been doing sh– and they have been playing catch up this is the last f—ing album THEY BETTER WAKE UP AND WORK.”
Feeling he could no longer wait on the label and that he had to take matters into his own hands, the rapper then went on to release his new street single “Outlaw” later that evening.
“It’s not necessarily [Dr.] Dre or [chairman] Jimmy [Iovine]; it’s more the guys that they pass the responsibilities on to,” 50 told MTV News the next day. “It takes longer for people, because they’ll be like, ‘OK, we’re gonna do this and we’re gonna do that,’ and the building will start having those conversations, but they’re not actually moving at that point.
“They’re behind it, but to get everybody moving at the same beat and moving at the same pace is the object,” he added. “That was what the goal was even writing that statement and releasing the song.”
It’s obvious that for 50, there is a lot riding on this project. He isn’t opposed to re-signing with the record company helmed by Iovine, but he also isn’t opposed to walking away and going independent either. For the Southside Jamaica, Queens, MC, the label support for his upcoming LP will determine his next move.
“It’s not like you’re gonna be able to make a project bigger than the actual project is, but if the songs are right and you have full support and you feel that support, why would you want to go anywhere else?” he said. “If not, if you don’t have that support, why would you want to sign to another system? In the financial state that I’m in, you just do it yourself.”
In 2010, 50 took his artist Lloyd Banks and signed him to EMI Records, where he structured the deal to operate much like an independent. Banks’ The Hunger for More album has already produced five singles and created a presence for the Queens rapper among his contemporaries. “You’ve seen the success of Lloyd Banks’ project with me being behind him financially,” 50 said. “You can’t tell the difference between him and other artists that are on major record companies.”
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