G-Unit boss 50 Cent recalls putting on a bulletproof vest during his first meeting with Eminem in Los Angeles in 2000.
In an interview with Million Dollaz Worth of Game, 50 Cent revealed the details of his nervous anticipation for meeting Marshall Mathers, known to the world as Eminem.
50 Cent was so concerned that he wore protective gear at the airport.
“This is crazy,” 50 Cent said. “Remember that show they played on MTV called Punk’d? I thought they had cameras and they were going to come out and say, ‘You’ve been punked.’ I was in California. He flew me to L.A. and I came out , I was so disturbed by the experience that I walked through the airport wearing a (bulletproof) vest and just put it on. I was lucky that I took the shock plate off the front of the joint because when I walked through it. (No explosion).
The momentous meeting comes amid the success of Eminem’s The Marshall Mathers LP, which surprised 50 Cent by remaining grounded despite selling 1.7 million records in its first week.
The rapper expressed his enthusiasm for the up-and-coming artist.
“I got there and he was like, ‘Yo!’ hugging me, feeling the tank top and the s###, like (shocked),” 50 Cent continued. “(I said), ‘Yo, this is going to be the biggest s### ever, right?’ He said, ‘Yo, so excited. ” It made me question if what was happening was right. It felt too good to be right. I was like, “Yo, no. “When I left that meeting, I didn’t want him to feel like he bought a problem, so I wasn’t going to say anything about Ja Rule and them.
In 2002, 50 Cent signed deals with Eminem’s record label, Shady Records, and Dr. Dre’s production company, Aftermath Entertainment.
The collaboration spawned many collaborative tracks, including the 2006 hits “You Don’t Know” and 2012’s “My Life.”
50 Cent still reflects on that pivotal meeting with Eminem.
“The first night I met him, he had an event. The Marshall Mathers LP had just come out,” he said. “He sold 1.7 million records in the first week. He was so excited about me and I was like, ‘Are you serious?
