50 Cent talks about how racial nuances affected Eminem and 2Pac’s song writing

In a recent interview with journalist Brian J. Roberts, 50 cited ‘Pac and Em as perfect examples of how race influences one’s perspective, even when they are talking about the same subject.

Then, 50 Cent went on comparing the rappers’ respective odes to their mothers, Dear Mama and Cleanin’ Out My Closet, to prove his point.

“I’ll pick two Hip Hop artists that have been profound and really prolific artists within our culture that were very similar but tapped into different responses,” he said. “So, Eminem’s mom, the drug usage was part of it and he would do: ‘Sorry, momma / I never meant to hurt you / I never meant to make you cry / But tonight, I’m cleaning out my closet.’

“And then 2Pac’s mom also has some drug usage involved in her experience, and he said: ‘Even though you was a crack fiend, momma / You always was a Black Queen, mama.’

“I think the tones of anger and the difference in the two of them are that Em’s anger is coming from things were ‘supposed to be right’, and 2Pac’s statement almost has terms of ‘endearment’ in there because he’s like, ‘Well, we still all had.’

“The expectations of things going right from a white American perspective versus accepting the idea of things not going right from an African-American perspective are what make the difference in the tones of those records,” continued 50.

“It’s both the same scenario but different ways of expressing experience because of the difference between the two artists.”

The Candy Shop hitmaker went on to praise Eminem who got 50 Cent signed by Dr. Dre and helped him in his career. He also added that the Not Afraid rapper has influenced culture whether people admit it or not.

“I love Em. I don’t think people credit him for everything. I think the growth of our culture should be also a trophy for them,” he said. “He had those Vanilla Ice situations, those guys that came were not respected and accepted and they were big f—ing artists. Me personally, my career is a fair reflection of my association to Em. Prior to my record coming out, the most solo black male artist sales was five million copies on Tupac’s All Eyez On Me, double CD. It was first time I seen something go diamond.”

He credited his long-time friend and his association since his first album sold “23 million records on The Marshall Mathers LP.”

Despite 50 Cent’s belief about their different outlooks, Eminem has frequently cited 2Pac as a major influence on his career. In 2020, he crowned the late rap legend the “greatest songwriter of all time” during his three-hour Shade45 radio show special Music To Be Quarantined By.