50 Cent recently admitted that Jay-Z has outperformed him as a businessman, pointing to what he sees as major differences in how they manage and support new artists.
In an unreleased clip from his interview with Brian J. Roberts, 50 said the Roc Nation boss typically won’t collaborate with one of his own artists until they’re already “doing well enough to not need him” on a record. By contrast, the G-Unit founder explained that he goes out of his way to push his artists forward, sometimes to the point where he’s “beat myself up looking out for them.”
The TV and entertainment mogul suggested that Jay-Z approaches artist development strictly from a business angle, while he handles it on a more personal level, describing his artists as “my people.”
“He’s positioning it as business, and working with you when it’s good for business,” 50 said. “I’m positioning it as they’re my people. I have to get them into the right space, so I work them into a good space regardless.”
50 Cent also reflected on conversations with artists who felt shortchanged, believing others received more star-making support than they did. Still, he acknowledged that elements like timing can heavily influence how a career plays out.
“I’ve had guys be angry with me because it felt like you made them a star, you didn’t make me a star,” he said. “And I’m like, ‘What?’ I’m like, ‘They had talent, and it was the timing of it, made it happen like that.’”
