50 Cent Interview – The Final Lap Tour and Get Rich or Die Tryin’

Just in time for hip-hop to turn 50 years old, 50 Cent celebrates yet another major milestone in his storied career and he’s doing it in such a way that only a figure as prominent as himself can do.

In honor of the 20th anniversary of one of the most iconic albums of all time, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 is embarking on The Final Lap Tour beginning on July 21, a massive worldwide jaunt that already has 93 stops booked with more likely on the way. In an exclusive interview with XXL, 50 Cent discusses the specifics of the tour, Get Rich or Die Tryin‘s lasting impact, his close personal relationship with Eminem and more through his ever-magnetic personality.

When asked why he chose to title his massive string of commemorative shows The Final Lap Tour, 50 Cent expounds on how at its inception, the powers that be didn’t think 50 could even run the tour due to the Covid-19 pandemic. That led to the “If I Can’t” rapper taking matters into his own hands by not only financing a bunch of concerts on his own but selling them out. That’s when the floodgates opened and the concept of The Final Lap Tour was born.

“I won’t be able to commit to a tour as long as this,” 50 Cent says in the video below while explaining the tour’s significance. “This tour’s 93 dates. It’ll be one of the biggest hip-hop tours of the year because it won’t stop. It’ll just go through next year  By the time we done, because of the groundwork that I laid touring, I literally can world tour. The other artists, when they say they going on a world tour, it means they’re going on a run, but it’s not a world tour. My music is just coming full circle now.”

As the interview continues, 50 Cent offers his opinion on the impact Eminem has had in the hip-hop space and the place he holds in rap game history. “[Eminem‘s impact on hip-hop] is unmeasurable,” 50 explains. “You can look at artists within the culture and say, ‘Well, we don’t hear his records in the nightclub.’ He didn’t make those records with intentions for you to listen to ’em there. And if that was the goal, we would make one right now that would fuck up your life.

He adds: “[Eminem] played across top 40 crossover radio and it’s a different energy. When that audience captures the art form and becomes attracted to it, they buy other people’s art from that art form. That’s where the sales is coming from. No Eminem? No Bentley, no Ferrari, no Lamborghinis.”

At one point, 50 Cent also dives into the deep regard he holds for having Eminem as a mentor and a dear friend. Curtis says that no matter what, the Music To Be Murdered By MC allows 50 to maintain a certain sense of humility in the wake of both his and Eminem‘s global success. He also explains that to this day, he still seeks Slim Shady‘s approval when it comes to creating music.

“What helped me not have a big head at any point, was I had Eminem around” Fif jokingly states. “So when I’m doing 13 million records on my first album, I have the Marshall Mathers LP to look at that’s doing 23 million records. Em, I put him next to my grandmother and I’ma tell you why. He was always a place where I could go and just talk to him, and know that he has my best interest at heart.”

50 Cent continues: “I would gather whatever I felt like was dope and then I’d come and just press play and I’d watch him. If I didn’t get no response out of him, I would really scrap the record. I wouldn’t use it if he didn’t respond to it and hear the record like it mean something, I’m like ‘Nah, I’m not suing that s**t.”

In the XXL video below, the legendary 50 Cent explains what his classic album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, means to him and offers details on his new collab with Nas on the song “Office Hours.” Other moments throughout the exclusive interview include some advice 50 had for Chief Keef at the onset of his career, hilarious jokes aimed at Busta Rhymes, who is Fif’s supporting act on The Final Lap Tour, and more.