The Game and 50 Cent's much publicized beef — which they later squashed in 2016 — was almost once nipped in the bud by Michael Jackson.
During a conversation with Shannon Sharpe, Game revisited the King of Pop attempting to broker the peace at the height of the feud.
"It don't even sound like it's true, man," the Compton rapper told Sharpe, while he described receiving a call from Jackson’s management in 2005, following the release of his debut album, The Documentary.
Game went on to explain that, after waiting on the phone for nearly 30 minutes, Michael got on the line and had apparently eschewed his regularly high-sounding voice.
"He sounded like a regular dude," Game said, before sharing that Jackson praised him and Fif for The Documentary album cut, "How We Do," calling it "magical."
"He probably said it was magical about 30 times," Game joked, sharing that Jackson was surprised the pair were at odds.
Jackson then allegedly told Game: "I got an idea. We should fix the beef on my album." Game admitted to Sharpe that that’s when Jackson "lost" him and he hung up the phone. Game told the same story to HipHopDX in 2019.
In 2003, the feud between 50 and Game escalated after the latter signed to Dr. Dre’s Aftermath imprint, back when 50 was the label’s biggest star. At the time, the Queens rapper was celebrating the success of his No. 1 debut, 2003's Get Rich or Die Tryin', which would later become the best-selling album of the year.
Quickly after signing Game, Aftermath began working on his debut, tapping 50 to help. That was just the beginning of their beef.
By late 2004, hype surrounding The Documentary was at an all-time high, particularly because the first two singles, "Westside Story" and "How We Do," featured 50. The latter would go on to peak at No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
All the buzz around Game made 50 feel neglected, and his sophomore album, The Massacre, was pushed back from a February to a March 2005 release to accommodate Game’s major label debut. The Documentary arrived in January 2005, later opening at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart and featuring 50 Cent on a total of three songs, including the LP’s third single, "Hate It or Love It."
In August 2016, the pair seemed to end their beef at a Los Angeles strip club.
"I fuck with 50," Game said in a clip. "What happened that shit was 12 years ago. N****s ain’t on that shit…It’s 2016. Ain’t nobody on that old shit." While the two publicly called a “truce” in March 2005, this reconciliation seemed authentic.
It's unclear where the two rappers stand now, though. In January, Fif mocked Game after he was seemingly snubbed by Jimmy Iovine at a Los Angeles Lakers game. A clip showed the Interscope co-founder walking past Game without acknowledging him.
"LOL! The Man didn’t even look at him," Fif wrote on Instagram. "Get this guy out of here, 50 wrote the records. LMFAO."