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For as long as I can remember, 50 Cent, Mr. G-Unit, Mr. Vitamin Water, Mr. "F**k The Entire Industry, Well Except For Me" has either been hated and despised by many, or loved and worshiped like he was the holy savior of hiphop.  Throughout the internet forums to the basic street level conversations, you can hear the debates on whether or not 50 is really deserving of all of the love he garners from his fans, or whether or not he is actually any good for hiphop, to what the NY hiphop scene would look and sound like without 50 bullying and dividing fans amongst their favorite MC's.  These conversations never seem to end, but what is clearly visible and certain from watching 50 the last few weeks, and after watching 50's antics at the 2007 Screamfest Tour, is that no matter what happens on September 11, 2007 between himself and Kanye West, 50 Cent has already lost.

When 50 broke onto the scene in the late 90's with the hit single "How To Rob," the MC took aim at every major figure in hiphop at the time, and was able to get a small fan-base mainly due to his abrasiveness towards the industry's hottest stars.  That abrasiveness has carried 50 Cent right to the top, and for a short time the phrase "G-G-G-G-Unit" could be heard from the mouth's of not only America's youth, but from the entire world.  But these days the phrase hardly holds any of the weight from previous years, and what once seemed to be the hottest dynasty to run hiphop, 50 Cent single-handedly ran his own family into the ground, and now stands alone at the top, seemingly without any real industry friends.  Does 50 care?  I don't think so.

During his beef with G-Unit and shortly after being kicked out of the group, The Game made an interesting comment during a street DVD interview regarding the structure of G-Unit, and claimed that you couldn't have 2 bosses in the same camp, that it would never work.  In a way 50 Cent has used the same mentality, except in a grander scale.  50 deems it necessary for every interview, every show, every public instance and chance to "showboat" and remind fans and the general public that he runs NY, but it's hard to forget about the other 2 individuals who could easily claim NY's King of King's spot, Jay-Z and Diddy.  Most of us already know what Jay and Diddy have done for hiphop throughout the years, and when the two of them are seen together at an event or concert, and are photographed together, you can tell there is a genuine respect/friendship between the two that goes beyond the music.  When was the last time 50 was photographed with anyone (LL Cool J doesn't count as dude is looking for the quickest way back into the mainstream) and it looked genuine?  Outside of his earliest days after GRODT, never I can guarantee you has 50 ever genuinely put his hand out to make friends in the industry.

This past weekend at the Screamfest 2007 Tour, and at a time when 50 could have really helped NY by joining Jay-Z and Kanye West in a "genuine" manner to show the world he wasn't as bad as we thought, the always theatrical 50 nailed his own coffin shut with his antics.  While the majority of websites and blogs are praising 50 for coming on stage to support Kanye West, anyone who watched the video closely knows that 50 was by no means supporting Kanye.  Yes, by the time the crowd became hype to "Can't Tell Me Nothing," 50 had no choice but to throw his hands in the air and pretend like he was feeling the music, but in actuality it was nothing more than a stunt by 50 to check Kanye on stage to see what was good, whether or not he could "shake" Kanye on stage, whether or not he could get Kanye to overly react to his presence on stage.

And what about Jay's body language while 50 was running around the stage like a complete idiot?  While Jay originally grabbed 50's arm and said something inaudible to us as only viewers of the video, Jay paid absolutely no attention to 50 while he was on stage.  While Jay was walking across the stage with T.I., or hyping the crowd with Kanye and Diddy, there was 50, holding a stack of money in his hands, looking completely out of place.  I don't blame Jay, 50 running on the stage right before Kanye was to come out was done out of total disrespect for Kanye and Jay-Z, and I'm glad Jay gave 50 the cold shoulder on stage, but in typical 50 fashion, and after everyone outside of 50 had finished performing and hyping the crowd to "Can't Tell Me Nothing," 50 grabs the mic just to remind you one more time "I Run NY." 

The problem with 50 Cent is that he has no clue how to be anything other than who he's been after being gunned down and nearly murdered outside of his grandmother's home.  A complete knucklehead who has the amazing ability to write some of the hottest songs in hiphop, but has no basic level of understanding of how to act or compose himself in the company of other industry superstars who have the same musical ability as him.  He's alienated his entire G-Unit family and ultimately ruined they're careers unless they exit the G-Unit imprint immediately, and has in the process lost fan support over his countless industry issues with other rappers, which in fact is the sole reason for the NY hiphop scene being as lame as it is. 

Remember in the late 90's and early years of this decade when we had Rocafella, Ruff Ryders, Murder INC, Terror Squad, The Lox, etc?  Every artist from Jay-Z to DMX to Ja Rule to Jadakiss were regular featured guests on each other's albums and tracks, and that is what kept the NY hiphop scene so hot and relevant.  By 50 Cent dividing the fans and industry stars by maintaining problems and issues with such artists as Fat Joe, Nas, Jadakiss, and now Kanye West, there is no unity in NY, and that lack of unity has ultimately destroyed the NY scene.  After the September 11, 2007 showdown between Kanye West and 50 Cent, let's hope that Kanye West comes out victorious in album sales just so 50 can eat his own words and lay back from the industry for a while.  "Go, Go, Go, Go, Go Kanye!!"