50 Cent on How 'Backlash From Success' Factored Into Drake’s Beef With Kendrick Lamar

50 Cent doesn't see any of this as a "loss" for Drake, whose "consistency" he sees as a driving force behind recent developments.

August 2, 2024

50 Cent, on the left, performs in a white shirt and gold chain. Drake, on the right, takes a photo, smiling and wearing a blue and yellow jacket — Images via Getty/Andrew Chin & Getty/Carmen Mandato

50 Cent isn’t of the opinion that Drake has taken, or will take, "a loss" when it comes to his historic back-and-forth with Kendrick Lamar.

That’s the latest beef assessment from 50, who previously urged everyone to "leave this man alone" while the Kendrick feud was still active. Indeed, tucked in toward the end of his interview with Mesfin Fekadu for the Hollywood Reporter is some insight from the G-Unit Film & Television founder on the arguable inevitability of the current situation. While illustrating his point, 50 quoted a lyric from "Forever," a song released quite early into the 6 God’s trajectory.

"Look, our culture loves to see you go up because it’s confirmation that they can go up," 50, whose own feuds have been headlines fodder for years, told THR this week. "But when you stay up — ‘I want this shit forever, man’ — they go, ‘Well, goddamn. When you going to come down? If you don’t come down, I ain’t going to have my chance to go up.'"

It’s at this point in one’s career, 50 added, that "clouds" start to gather over your head, resulting in the spread of "doubt" about the quality of your work in comparison to what you did at the beginning of your career.

"They do that to you and Drake’s just experiencing what you experience as a backlash from success, from the consistency he’s delivered over and over," 50 said. "I don’t see a loss for Drake. The people who bought Drake material are going to buy Drake material when his next song comes out."

To be clear, Drake hasn't been silent in the weeks since Kendrick's "Not Like Us" became a hit with sustaining Hot 100 success. He's rolled out a number of unrelated-to-the-beef cuts, including a pair of collaborations with recent Complex cover star Camila Cabello. In fact, Complex ranked all of Drake's post-beef tracks here.

Meanwhile, "Not Like Us" is still riding high on the charts, with the latest Hot 100 update placing it at No. 3. All told, the Mustard-produced hit has spent 12 weeks on the chart, peaking in the top spot. "Like That," the Kendrick-featuring Metro Boomin and Future joint that kicked all of this into high gear, is currently at No. 19 after 18 total weeks on the same chart.