"I was so bugged out from the experience" - 50 Cent recalls meeting Eminem for the first time

Curtis James Jackson III, a.k.a. 50 Cent, recently recalled meeting his longtime friend and collaborator Eminem for the first time. During his sitdown with hosts King Gillie and Wallo for the Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast on Sunday, September 1, 2024, he revealed:

"It was wild, it felt like. Remember that show they had? Punk'd on MTV? I thought they had cameras and they was going to come out and say 'You've been punked.'"

Fif elaborated on this meeting, stating the latter's excitement made him feel skeptical. He continued:

"He flew me to LA. I was so bugged out from the experience that I had my (bulletproof) vest on. The lawyer that I had with me took me to him, and I get there, and he’s like, 'Let me hug you. Yo, this is going to be the biggest sh*t.' He’s so excited that it made me question whether what was happening was right ’cause it felt so good that it couldn’t be right."

For the unversed, 50 Cent is referring to the time Eminem flew him to LA after listening to his mixtape Guess Who's Back? (in 2002). Em would introduce Fif to Dr. Dre and later sign him to Shady Records and help release his debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin', which pushed the rapper into the limelight.

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"He was so excited about me"- 50 Cent about Eminem and his life-changing deal with Shady Records

Talking to King Gillie and Wallo about signing with Shady Records, he explained he was in disbelief, stating:

"When I met (Eminem), the first night I met him, it was, he had an event, and it was 'The Marshall Mathers LP'ujust came out, and first week he sold 1.7 million records, and he was so excited about me. I’m looking like, 'You serious?!'"

A couple of years before meeting the Tobey hitmaker, 50 Cent was attacked by a gunman and shot nine times. He spent 13 days in the hospital and had to use a walker for six weeks. It took him nearly five months to fully recover.

In an interview with Rolling Stone in 2003, 50 Cent explained that, at the time, he wasn't sure the music industry would ever embrace him again. He explained that he moved to Canada and spent every day recording songs at Sha Money XL's studio. Fif managed to release "five albums of material within months, flooding the market."

The material included his mixtape, Guess Who's Back?. Em's manager Paul Rosenberg, who was working with 50 Cent's attorney, shared the mixtape with the Detroit rapper. Em told the publication:

"This dude got shot, got back up and is still poppin’ sh*t? He came back stronger than ever. That made me stop."

50 Cent signed a $1 million deal with Shady Records. Talking about signing the In Da Club hitmaker, the rapper explained:

"One of the things that excited me about Tupac was even if he was rhymin’ the simplest words in the world, you felt like he meant it and it came from his heart. That’s the thing with 50. That same aura. That’s been missing since we lost Pac and Biggie. The authenticity, the realness behind it."

For 50 Cent, getting a million dollars in cash was a big deal. The Queen rapper told King Gillie and Wallo that when Dame Dash pointed out that it was "nothing," he told Dash:

"I’m from 134th Street; a million dollars is a lot of money. I think I hit the lottery."

50 released his album Get Rich or Die Tryin' through Shady Records in 2003. It debuted atop the Billboard 200 and was met with critical acclaim. It won several awards and was ranked No. 1 on the Billboard Year-End 2003 list.

The album spawned the Billboard Hot 100-number one singles In Da Club and 21 Questions. The album is currently certified 9x platinum by the RIAA.

Both rappers have since maintained a strong bond. They have collaborated on hit songs like You Don't Know, My Life, Encore, and Crack a Bottle.

50 Cent's Million Dollaz Worth of Game episode is available to stream on YouTube.