In hip-hop, true alliances are hard to attain and even harder to keep afloat as the years go by and the money trickles in. Hemmed in on all sides by corruptible forces, we’ve recently taken a look at how the rigours of fame, fortune and the double-edged sword of loyalty has lain waste to the all-conquering crew known as G-Unit. Once touted as an iconic group that would act as the torchbearers for blood-soaked gangsta rap for years to come, our recent breakdown charted how the group’s inner-workings and power balance eventually tipped the scales and caused in-fighting to run roughshod, leaving the group’s seemingly inseverable bonds in tatters.
While conflict has sullied nigh-on every inter-personal relationship in the group, none has been as volatile and headline-inducing than Young Bick and 50 Cent of late. Embroiled in a war of words for the better part of two months, it’s the culmination of a checkered past that has seen personal insults, money disputes and pride get in the way of a mutually beneficial relationship.
For a generation of rap devotees that grew with up with G-Units on their feet, this scenario is irreconcilable with the days when Nashville’s Buck and the de-facto leader 50 used to bring out the best in one another on wax. A chemistry that yielded no shortage of seminal tracks, the fusion of 50’s braggadocious tones and the rugged brogue of his southern counterpart seldom failed to strike gold during their heyday.
Armed with a comparative set of skills and a mutually reassured knack for quotables, paper trails and net worth would have the uninitiated believing that 50’s abilities far outshone that of the former UTP and Cash Money cohort. But in reality, on-wax encounters between the two have been a hotly contested race for supremacy ever since they first joined forces. Known to bring their a-game while the other is in their midst, we’ve taken a conscious move away from the vindictive character assassination and Instagram-fuelled disputes in order to look at a time where they had a much friendlier and more productive rivalry. Taken from across their discographies, it’s time to determine who got the edge on some of their most enduring and vital co-authored offerings.
"Blood Hound"
The album that solidified 50 Cent’s status in hip-hop’s upper echelons, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ is bustling with legacy-cementing bangers that shone a light on his capacity for brashness and honesty whenever the moment suited. On the Young Buck-assisted "Blood Hound," the scales invariably tipped in favour of the former and spawned a veritable hustling anthem with dirt beneath its fingers. With 50 in exuberant and unyielding form, it would’ve taken a concerted effort for the then-UTP Playaz member to supplant the efforts of the record’s primary artist. But in an unexpected turn of events, that’s precisely what he did. Whilst the whole record was a vehicle for 50 to stake his claim to the early 00’s gangsta rap throne, “Blood Hound” is a star-making turn for Buck that doubtlessly played into their decision to integrate him into G-Unit as its southern delegate. The flow, the venomous bars, it’s got everything you’d want from a track of this uncompromising nature.
Winner: Young Buck
Finest Bars:
Me and Chili in your city with a couple nine-milli's
You better stay in line, bro
Cause if I walk it I'll talk it, you know we'll walk up and pop it
I love the sound of gunfire, bro
Right now we smacking 'em with platinum
And they hate it cause we made it, that's what we keep that iron for
"Poppin Them Thangs"
Released little more than 9 months after Get Rich Or Die Tryin, G-Unit’s first major label project Beg For Mercy was an audacious move to capitalize on their forward momentum. But for the most part, it worked. Rather than being 50’s underlings, the album allowed both Buck and Lloyd Banks to emerge from his shadow and prove that they can stand toe-to-toe with their pre-eminent leader while acting as an avenue for them to garner their own independent fanbases due to their notable differences in style. Despite the oft-touted “Punchline King” Banks turning in a stellar verse, his contribution wilts in the glare from Buck and 50’s supercharged verses. Exuding character and icy confidence in spades, the two turn in exemplary doses of hard-edged gangland folklore that are just too close to call. On any given recording session, Buck or 50 may wield the lion’s share of the momentum but it’d be disingenuous to try and pick a winner on this occasion. A masterclass in flow and believability, half a point each.
Winner: Tie
Finest 50 Bars:
I preach a sermon 'bout the paper like I'm Creflo Dollar, I pop you punk niggas like I pop my collar. I'm confused, I like Megan, Monica and Mya, Missy's freaky and Brandy's shy, oh. Now take a look at how my lifestyle changed up I'm on now, God damnit, I done came up.
Finest Buck Bars:
I been havin' beef, I got my own bulletproof vest, Most of my enemies dead, I got about two left. Until my last breath, I'm sendin' niggas bullet holes, Innocent bystanders get hit tryin' to be heroes. You know how we roll, everywhere that we go, It's Fo-Fo's, Calicos, and Desert Eagles, yeah.
"Bonafide Hustler"
Across the length and breadth of Straight Outta Cashville, 50 Cent played a crucial anchoring role that offset the unendingly bleak worldview that Young Buck is so revered for crafting. On “Let Me In,” “I’m A Soldier” and others, the Southside, Queens MC inhabits a space that he’d grown accustomed to by providing catchy hooks that act as respite from the barrage of bars. Alongside the recently freed Tony Yayo, 50 branched out beyond this terrain on “Bonafide Hustler.” With Buck in autopilot, this is a rare instance of 50 “renegading” his friend-turned-foe with an inventive ode to selling dope, crises of faith and more.
Winner: 50 Cent
Finest Bars:
They say heaven's for churchgoers and hell's for the heathens
So I'mma just ball the fuck out while I'm breathin
Eighth after eighth, what'chu know about that fast flip?
Crack spots, smoky fiends sucking on that glass dick
"Don't Tell Em"
Flanked by Jeremih, 2014’s “Don’t Tell ‘Em” felt like an attempt to recapture those glory days of “Stunt 101” and infiltrate the Billboard charts once more. Although the magic was waning at this point, both 50 and Buck turn in engaging verses but it’s clear that the deck was stacked in one man’s favour. Positioned at not only the front of the track but directly in the middle, 50 Cent’s seduction-oriented bars and the breeziness of his flow is too much for Buck to hope to skirt round.
Winner: 50 Cent
Finest Bars:
I could smoke to the rhythm, see I'm really not a dancer
G-Unit plus Jeremih equal summertime anthem
It’s hot now, time to put the top down
I’m here, girl, I’m coming around your block now
"My Buddy"
Of all the Scarface-indebted tracks in the hip-hop canon, few pay homage Tony Montana’s penchant for heavy artillery quite like "My Buddy". An ode to a faithful but deadly companion, this salute to the shooter was an exercise in personification and coaxed stellar verses out of Banks, Buck and 50. But as far as taking its lyrical theme and running with it, no-one could outmatch the sheer zeal with which 50 flows and delivers his crime-fuelled narrative.
Winner: 50 Cent
Finest Bars:
My buddy got a temper, he dying to pop off
Last time he did the cops had the block all locked off
Take him with me to hustle, stashed him in a trashcan
My fingertips soft, for 4 hours I bag grams
You meet him, your destination's hell or heaven
'Cause I only bring him out for that 187
"Stunt 101"
Given their militaristic approach to posse cuts, G-Unit would’ve been forgiven for omitting a radio-friendly crossover hit from Beg For Mercy. Never one to aim lower than chart domination, they opted to turn one in anyway and the end-result was the phenomenal “Stunt 101.” A lyrical seminar on the art of flossing, the name-drops and exorbitant displays of wealth come from all angles but Young Buck’s nonchalant delivery and up-front approach allows him to just edge this one and no more.
Winner: Young Buck
Finest Bars:
Come on now, we all know gold is getting old
The ice in my teeth keep the Cristal cold
G-Unit homie, acting like y'all don't know
Look, I can't even walk through the mall no more
I just pull up, get out, and get all the hoes
They never seen doors lift up on a car before
"G'd Up"
Helmed by Scott Storch and Dr. Dre, “G’d Up” is among the undisputed highlights of G-Unit’s golden years. An unrepentant ode to the lawless side of life, each MC regales the listener with their own unique spin on a world of perpetual danger and shaky morality. Emphatic as 50’s verse and his tales of “Paper chase, different name, same face” may be, it’s no embellishment or overstep to say that "G’d Up" is the site of one of Buck’s finest verses of all time. Teeming with combustible emotion, sincerity and hints of remorse, it’s the Nashville MC at his most impactful.
Winner: Young Buck
Finest Bars:
My papa never bothered to show me what it was to be a man
He'd just pop another bottle and smoke up a half a gram
I would hop in my Impala and ride all through the night
They gave my homeboy life so when you do it, do it right
My fingernails still filled with cocaine residue
I still got the heart to go and bust me a head or two
"Hate It Or Love It"
Although The Game’s position in G-Unit was always precarious, the “Hate It Or Love It (G-Unit Remix)" remains a time capsule back to the halcyon days where they had the hip-hop world clutched in the palm of their hands. Stowed away at the end of 50’s sophomore album The Massacre, this victory lap contains a verse from each and every member but no one can pip 50 to the post here. An iconic verse that stands the test of time, even Buck’s claims of being a "seven figure n***a who ain't seen a royalty check" can’t detract from Curtis Jackson’s confessional trip down a traumatic memory lane.
Winner: 50 Cent
Finest Bars:
Comin up I was confused, my mommy kissin a girl
Confusion occurs comin up in the cold world
Daddy ain't around, probably out commitin felonies
My favorite rapper used to sing, "Check check out My Melody"
I wanna live good, so shit I sell dope
For a four-finger ring, one of them gold ropes
"I Like The Way She Do It"
By the time that 2008’s T.O.S (Terminate On Sight was released, Young Buck’s acrimonious fall-out with G-Unit meant that he was listed as a featured artist as opposed to a bona-fide member of the group. Whilst 50 was content to busy himself with the hooks on most tracks that featured Buck, they both turned up in scandalous form on the red-blooded “I Like The Way She Do It.” Complete with all the subtlety of a smutty teen comedy, Buck’s claims that “I might eat out tonight, depending on how I feel” may be clever but 50 embraces that “Ayo Technology” level of lustfulness to nip the top position.
Winner: 50 Cent
Finest Bars:
I f**k when I want, I do what I like
She wants the same chick I want, the bitch is a dyke
She a super freak, the freak of the week
I give her something to suck, she give her something to eat
"Real Quick"
Buoyed by the presence of Drake, this latter-day G-Unit offering marked one of the final hook-ups between Buck and 50. A track on which both artists keep things scant on the metaphors and opt for directness over a more coy approach, there’s nothing to really separate them-- and 50’s additional room for manoeuvre isn’t enough to garner the advantage over his rival. A testament to their chemistry and interchangeable abilities, it’s another tie on this occasion.
Winner: Tie
Finest 50 Bars:
Got me f***d up if you thinking it's different now a nigga rich, Before I get to cutting , know you niggas better cut the shit, Boy, you gon have ya head popped, pull a trigger for me And my little niggas trigger op like it's legal, homie.
Finest Buck Bars:
I know I'm different from what you usually been dealing with, Don't need a mic, give me some white to make a million with, Single burrough, 6 shots on the Brooklyn Bridge, I let the nigga Drake tell you what I just did.
The Winner
According to our calculations, Young Buck receives the short end of the stick, with 50 Cent coming out on top.
50 Cent: 5/10
Young Buck: 3/10
Tie: 2/10
Who’s your favorite MC between the two? Debate in the comments below and cast your vote.