Rapper/actor and music mogul , 50 Cent, is having his reality show cancelled by MTV due to the shows poor ratings. The show barely survived one month after debuting on November 6. I’m surprised it made it that long.  The Money And The Power has been sent to the graveyard. It seems that 50’s career is defnitely at the point where he may need to reinvent himself. The fascination with the Queens MC seems to be over for most. After luke warm reception to several of his latest singles, 50’s parent label — Interscope Records — decided to push back the release of his album “Before I Self Destruct”. I was a fan of 50’s first album, but I felt the creativity started to decline after his second album. Everything started sounding the same with him singing the hooks to that same boring melody. But what completely turned me against him was when he released that audio recording of Young Buck breaking down to him on the phone. I understand that Buck said some negative things about 50 but taping conversations between boys is some HO SHIT !!!! What are you  the F@#%ing police ???   It seems that his career has been on the decline since. The G-Unit album “TOS” was a miserable failure and he’s been ;losing millions from some very bad business decisions. He’s safe though, due to his take from the Vitamin Water sale.

You always know when he’s coming out with a new album because out of nowhere he begins to diss other rappers such as Kanye and Lil Wayne. Kanye never responds on record, he just let’s the sales speak for him. Wayne didn’t respond the first time when 50 suggested he was gay for kissing Baby, but recently a song leaked titled “Louisianimal” where Wayne goes at 50 hard. Wayne eventually sold 1 million copies in the first week and has sold over 3 million copies of “The Carter 3″. 50 tried to derail T.I. by claiming he was a snitch on the G-Unit song “You So Tough” but it didn’t work. T.I. went on to have 2 number one singles and has sold over 2 million albums.  After destroying JaRule’s career, 50 was seen as an MC that you don’t want to battle with but now it seems he has the magic touch. Everyone he dissed recently went on to sell millions. Maybe it’s time to change your strategy 50, cause that old shit you’ve been doing ain’t workin homey !!!!

50 Cent may have gotten some of his street cred back after he brawled with former champion boxer Floyd Mayweather, Jr.

50’s feud with Mayweather, Jr got out of control after the fighter promised 50 payment to appear at his Wrestlemania XXIV fight with WWE star the Big Show in April.

Mayweather Jr. uses 50’s I Get Money track as his official entrance song and offered him cash to watch the fight from the ringside.

50 admits that things became heated between the pair when the boxer failed to hand over the money - despite having a million dollars in cash.

50 says, “He was going to do the match in WWE at Wrestlemania and he started telling everyone that I was going to be there. So everyone got all excited and started asking me if I was going to come, and I was like, ‘If you’re really getting $20 million for this, then give me some money’.

“He was sitting there with a million dollars cash in a bag, and he kept telling me he was going to get me money for appearing, but I was like ‘No, give me some of that money right there’. He had one million dollars in the bag, it was physically right in front of me, so why should I have to wait to get paid? Just give me that money right there. He wasn’t with it, and that’s how it all started.”

Despite fighting, the star is adamant he is still pals with the boxer.

He adds, “Yeah, we got into a little scrap, a little boxing match. Well, it wasn’t really much of a boxing match because he hit me in the back of my ear. He’s so fast, he’s just so fast.

“We were mad for a second, but then everything went back to normal.”

Even the rich are feeling the strain from George Bush’s recession:

As the stock markets and real estate values take a drastic nose-dive, the average American citizen is not the only person feeling the effects of what has officially been deemed an economic recession. Rapper and Hip Hop mogul 50 Cent is also feeling the backlash of the failing economy.

“I lost a couple million dollars already,” 50 admitted to the Canadian Press. “I sit with my investors and business managers and accountants looking at the numbers and I’m like, ‘Yo, the values of stocks in different areas that I invested in are decreasing!’ So I take the loss like everybody else.”

After earning a reported $150 million last year, with the help of a lucrative deal with Vitamin Water and a five-year contract with Reebok to distribute his G-Unit sneaker line, it comes as a surprise that the rapper is experiencing a bit of financial trouble.

Fif has also found it a challenge to sell his infamous Connecticut mansion. Made up of 6 kitchens, 19 bedrooms, 37 bathrooms, stripper poles, and a 40-person hot tub, he’s been attempting to sell it for $18.5 million for the past year. After purchasing the nicknamed “East Coast Playboy Mansion” from boxer Mike Tyson in 2003 (for $4.1 million), 50 has finally decided to jump ship.

“I’m waking up in a room that was previously Mike Tyson’s bedroom, a fighter who earned over $500 million in his actual career, and when I purchased his house from him he was in bankruptcy,” said 50. “If that’s not a strong enough reminder for you, I don’t know what’s going to remind you to be aware of where you are financially and make conscious decisions.”

In addition to hardships with his stocks and real estate values, 50 Cent was also persuaded to push back the release of his upcoming album to early 2009. The album, titled Before I Self-Destruct, was supposed to hit stores in time for Christmas, but will be delayed in order to get more airplay for singles, and to develop more publicity for CD sales.

“Pushing it back was to position myself a little better. I want to make sure (buyers) hear some things before I actually get my CD physically on sale,” he said.

In an era that has seen the decline of CD sales in favor of digital ones, it’s important that artists promote their product most efficiently. 50 has even taken advantage of the shifting methods of promotion, using his new reality MTV show, “The Money and the Power” to push his single “Get Up”.

“Of course it helps to have ‘Get Up’ as theme music for my new show. When they run the commercial spots and all those different things it’s a consistent reminder (about) the song.”

Despite the way things seem to be going for the mogul rapper, Fif still feels as if he will continue to make good business decisions in the future.

“Even if I’m not as relevant as I was when I dropped ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin,’ five years from now I’ll still be creating a platform for new artists to come through.”

As stock markets and real estate values take a terrifying nose-dive, the average American citizen is not the only person feeling the effects of what many have deemed an official economic recession. Rapper and Hip Hop mogul 50 Cent

is also feeling the backlash of the failing economy.

“I lost a couple million dollars already,” 50 admitted to the Canadian Press. “I sit with my investors and business managers and accountants looking at the numbers and I’m like, ‘Yo, the values of stocks in different areas that I invested in are decreasing!’ So I take the loss like everybody else.”

After earning a reported $150 million last year, with the help of a lucrative deal with Glaceau Vitamin Water and a five-year agreement with Reebok to distribute his G-Unit sneaker line, it comes as a surprise that the rapper is experiencing a bit of financial trouble.

Fif has also found it a challenge to sell his infamous Connecticut mansion. Made up of 6 kitchens, 19 bedrooms, 37 bathrooms, stripper poles, and a 40-person hot tub, he’s been attempting to sell it for $18.5 million for the past year. After purchasing the nicknamed “East Coast Playboy Mansion” from boxer Mike Tyson in 2003 (for $4.1 million), 50 has finally decided to jump ship.

“I’m waking up in a room that was previously Mike Tyson’s bedroom, a fighter who earned over $500 million in his actual career, and when I purchased his house from him he was in bankruptcy,” said 50. “If that’s not a strong enough reminder for you, I don’t know what’s going to remind you to be aware of where you are financially and make conscious decisions.”

In addition to hardships with his stocks and real estate values, 50 Cent was also persuaded to push back the release of his upcoming album to early 2009 [click to read]. The album, titled Before I Self-Destruct, was supposed to hit stores in time for Christmas, but will be delayed in order to get more airplay for singles, and to develop more publicity for CD sales.

“Pushing it back was to position myself a little better. I want to make sure (buyers) hear some things before I actually get my CD physically on sale,” he said.

In an era that has seen the decline of CD sales in favor of digital ones, it’s important that artists promote their product most efficiently. 50 has even taken advantage of the shifting methods of promotion, using his new reality MTV show, “The Money and the Power” to push his single “Get Up” [click to listen].

“Of course it helps to have ‘Get Up’ as theme music for my new show. When they run the commercial spots and all those different things it’s a consistent reminder (about) the song.”

Despite the way things seem to be going for the mogul rapper, Fif still feels as if he will continue to make good business decisions in the future.

“Even if I’m not as relevant as I was when I dropped ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin,’[click to read] five years from now I’ll still be creating a platform for new artists to come through.”

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Things definitely have changed in the music business when 3 of the best selling rap acts in the game have their albums pushed back because their label head says he wants to make sure that they will be “the best that they can be”:

When Universal Music Group pushed highly anticipated albums from U2, Dr. Dre, Eminem and 50 Cent from the fourth quarter to 2009, it seemed like this year’s final stake in the heart of the retail music business.

But Interscope-Geffen-A&M chairman Jimmy Iovine refuses to apologize for the decision, which he says he made to ensure the projects would be the best they could be. And it’s not as if the company doesn’t have high-profile albums set for release before year’s end: All-American Rejects, Soulja Boy, Keyshia Cole and, of course, Guns N’ Roses’ “Chinese Democracy,” which arrived November 23 as a Best Buy exclusive.

Iovine spoke to Billboard about the release schedule and the state of the business.

Q: November 23 was an exciting day for a lot of Guns N’ Roses fans. What are your thoughts now that this record is a reality?

Jimmy Iovine: Axl (Rose) delivered a great Guns N’ Roses album. Period. He did. It took him a long time for whatever reasons. I am sure there were many different reasons. Bottom line is, he did it. It’s hard to say if something is worth the wait, because how the hell do any of us know? I judge it based on what it is. Does it sound better than 99 percent of the rock records out there? Yes. I’m just thrilled for him.

Q: The proliferation of retail exclusives like Guns N’ Roses with Best Buy has been one of the biggest stories of the year. What are your thoughts on how this has developed?

Iovine: With the confusion and how much media is spread out and how hard it is to market things to a mass audience right now, I think you’ll see the labels needing marketing partners to drive this music, whether it’s a song, an album or a new configuration. In this case, Best Buy gave this album a great deal of marketing that we couldn’t have gotten any other way. Now we have the press on our side as well, which is extraordinary.

Q: But what about indie retailers who throw their arms up because of deals like this? Is there a silver lining for them?

Iovine: I don’t know the answer to that. But when a guy works that hard on a record, you want to give it the best possible chance it has. We found a great partner in Best Buy, and Axl’s new management felt it was a good idea. It looks like it’s going to do really well. I mean, really, really well. Beyond anybody’s expectations.

Q: So, let’s move from a record that is coming out this year to some that aren’t, like U2 and Eminem.

Iovine: I met with the guys in U2, and they say to me, ‘You know what? This album needs two more songs, and it will be exactly what we have in mind.’ I go there and I listen, and I agreed with them. It’s a great record, but it deserves the time. Labels need to work with artists to help them achieve their best work, not to jam records out that are half-baked or three-quarters baked.

I’ll tell you about Eminem. We only tried to put him out this year to replace Dr. Dre, but we got into a quagmire. Eminem was always coming next year. But what happened was, I lost Dr. Dre to Eminem. Dre had to stop making his album to finish Eminem’s album. Eminem hit a streak, and when a guy like Eminem gets on fire, you stop everything. That’s how we lost Dre.

Q: So what’s the status of Dre’s record?

Iovine: Dre’s going back in (to record) in January. He’ll be finished with Eminem by then, and he’ll finish his album.

Q: There’s a rumor in the retail world that the Eminem album might be sold through an exclusive deal as well.

Iovine: No. There’s no truth to that.

Source

I know that Jarule is somewhere laughing his a$$ off about this:

Taco Bell is using fightin’ words in its latest beef with 50 Cent, calling him out as “a self-described former drug dealer and hustler” and otherwise faux gangsta.

In July the rapper, otherwise known as Curtis Jackson, sued the fast food chain for $4 million for trademark infringement after the company wrote an open letter asking the star to find a little loose change and make his name 79 Cent, 89 Cent or 99 Cent for one day in honor of Taco Bell’s value menu. In return, the chalupa slingers would send $10,000 to Fiddy’s favorite charity.

Now the burrito bunch is filing a federal lawsuit of their own, calling the previous suit “another of Jackson’s attempts to burnish his gangsta rapper persona by distorting beyond all recognition the bona fide, good faith offer that Taco Bell made.”

The lawyer for Taco Bell also claims the company’s letter falls under the free speech protection outlined in the First Amendment and writes, “Jackson has used his colorful past to cultivate a public image of belligerence and arrogance and has a well-publicized track record of making threats, starting feuds and filing lawsuits.”

Not surprisingly, Fiddy’s attorney is downplaying the action, wondering “why they would decide to use his name in their ad campaign if they think he’s such a bad character.”

I’m not the biggest 50 cent fan and I agree with Taco Bell about how much of an a$$hole 50 is, but as 50’s lawyer stated - if they thought that he was such a negative character then why did they want to use him to promote their products.

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50 pushed back his new album but he’s hard at work in Hollywood:

Rapper 50 Cent has signed up to play a loan shark, opposite Brenda Blethyn, in a hard-hitting new British gangster movie.

The hitmaker, real name Curtis Jackson, is currently shooting scenes in London for Dead Man Running, a film about an ex-convict, who is given 24 hours to raise £100,000 to pay off Jackson’s loan shark.

The film is being backed by soccer stars Rio Ferdinand and Ashley Cole, who are among the project’s executive producers.

The movies might be a good look because it seems that nobody besides his buddy Jim Jones is feeling his music. But then again I’ve seen his acting and all I’m going to say is “No Comment”. Well, at least he’s already rich.

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For those of you who care:

The fourth-quarter’s hip-hop big bang has gotten less fiery.

Last week Jay-Z dismissed the notion that we would get The Blueprint 3 this year, and on Friday, a rep for Interscope Records confirmed that there won’t be a new 50 Cent CD under anyone’s Christmas tree this year: Before I Self Destruct has been pushed back until 2009.

There is no concrete release date as of yet, however the record label said in a press release Friday that the delay won’t extend far into the year. “The beginning of ‘09″ is their timetable.

50 has the single and video for “Get Up” out now, and the G-Unit bad man promised more before the album drops. He told Mixtape Monday of a Dr. Dre-helmed track he “stole” from Eminem during their recording session in Detroit a few months ago. 50 did note that Slim Shady did give him his blessing to use the record.

“I said, ‘Let me see what [Dre did],’ ” 50 recalled with a smile while speaking on the video set of “Get Up.” “Last time I recorded The Massacre album, I was in Orlando [Florida]. I went in the computer there. That’s how I found ‘I’m Supposed to Die Tonight.’ It’s interesting. With ‘In Da Club,’ D12 [who the beat was intended for], had the production started my career.”

Besides Dre, Eminem appears on Before I Self Destruct as well.

“We created some music,” he said of Slim Shady. “I went to Detroit recently. One song I really liked it and he liked it and he kept it for his album. I went back and made two more songs. We got ‘Norman Bates Motel’ out of that. It’s exciting.”

“Norman Bates Motel” is slated to appear on Before I Self Destruct. In addition to the music, 50 is producing a film also called “Before I Self Destruct” (check out the trailer here) and the Jam Master Jay documentary, “Two Turntables And A Microphone: The Life And Death Of Jam Master Jay.”

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Why they gave this man a TV show, I don’t know. Now he’ll have an even larger venue to diss his rivals when he’s ready to release an album:

50 Cent has a new show on MTV, where business-savvy contestants compete for a shot at fame and a huge cash prize. But the rapper says he’s not following the path of that other famous reality show hosted by Donald Trump.

“Immediately when you say a reality show that has a business spin to it, they think ‘The Apprentice,’ and the difference is these people don’t actually want to work for me,” the 32-year-old said in a recent interview. “They have their own business ideas that they created and they’re competing for $100,000 in seed money.”

“50 Cent: The Money and the Power” debuts Thursday. It features 14 contestants competing to show that they are the best entrepreneurs. 50 Cent will chop down the number of contestants until the winner is crowned.

The rapper and mogul said the show is like a visual companion to his upcoming book, “The 50th Law,” with Robert Greene, who wrote “The 48 Laws of Power.”

“Ahead of my actual music taking off, I would have wanted to be on the show,” he said. “$100,000 would have been great, and the MTV exposure.”

People will be seeing a lot of 50 Cent in the next few months. Besides the MTV project, he is releasing his latest album, “Before I Self Destruct,” on Dec. 9. The CD includes an accompanying feature-length film with the same title.

“I’m excited, it’s the first project I wrote, produced and starred in,” says 50 of the flick, which comes free with the CD.

The deluxe version of the album features yet another film - this one a documentary on former mentor, Run-DMC’s pioneering DJ, Jam Master Jay, who was slain in 2002.

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There’ll be no more kidding around for 50 Cent. At least, not in court.

The rapper and his former girlfriend, Shaniqua Tompkins, have reached a settlement in their ongoing and bitter custody dispute over 11-year-old son Marquise, announcing this morning they have managed to broker a visitation schedule outside of court, thus avoiding the burden of a high-profile trial.

“I’m happy it’s actually done with,” Fiddy told reporters outside the Suffolk Family Court of the deal, despite the fact that it grants him less visitation time with the boy than he originally sought.

During this morning’s five-minute hearing, in which both the rapper and Thompson were present, but avoided eye or any other contact, lawyers disclosed that 50 Cent will see his son one weekend per month, one month in the summer and spend half his winter and spring breaks in his father’s custody.

“I thank you guys for your cooperation,” Suffolk Family Court Judge David Freundlich told the feuding duo in court. “It makes life very, very good for your child.”

For her part, Thompson, who ignited the custody battle earlier this summer after accusing the rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, of somehow masterminding the fire that destroyed the Long Island home she and her son were occupying, said the deal was a good step for the family.

“Despite my feelings for Mr. Jackson, that’s Marquise’s dad,” she said. “I want him to have a positive relationship with his dad.”

Meanwhile, Thompson and Jackson haven’t necessarily seen the last of each other in court.

The Suffolk County Arson Squad is still investigating the destruction of the $2.4 million home. They have already questioned Fiddy, who owned the home and was attempting to evict his baby mama and son, over the blaze.

The rapper has long and adamantly maintained his innocence and in June filed a $20 million defamation suit against his ex over the public accusation.

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Mogul 50 Cent is set to share his entrepreneurial skills next month with the debut of The Money and the Power, his first MTV reality series.

The show will feature 14 aspiring moguls living together in a Brooklyn warehouse dubbed “Camp Curtis.” From there, the contestants must work together through a myriad of innovative challenges in hopes of honing their business acumen.

Each week, 50 will eliminate a contestant based on how much knowledge they retained from the previous challenge.

Viewers will also get to see the contestants interact with other music stars, as special appearances from LL Cool J, Aubry O’Day of Danity Kane, Lloyd Banks, and blogger Miss Info are highlights of the series.

50’s right hand man Tony Yayo will serve as the show’s “Underboss,” making sure the show’s contestants remain in line and focused on the tasks at hand.

Even with the television’s wide variety of reality shows, 50 is confident that his series will transcend most shows and illuminate the hard work and sacrifice required to make in it the music business.

“If it was just my image, I wouldn’t have made this much money,” 50 stated bluntly of his business acumen and taste.

The show’s winner, who according to G-Unit head must possess the best combination of “business flair, strength, ambition, and fearlessness,” will be awarded a grand prize of $100,000 and assistance from 50 to help pursue their music dreams.

The show reveals another piece of 50’s planned media blitz in preparation for his fourth studio album and DVD Before I Self-Destruct, set for release on December 9.

50 Cent’s The Money and the Power debuts November 6 at 10:00 PM.

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