G-Unit
G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit and Gangsta but in the case of the clothing line Gorilla Unit, due to the United States' war with Iraq occuring at the same time as the clothing range being brought out and 50 Cent wanting his clothing to be more accessible to the public) is a rap group which consists of 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck. The group's main musical styling is based around East coast rap. The group originally had three members; Young Buck joined the group after Tony Yayo was arrested due to an outstanding warrant. Tony Yayo eventually rejoined the group after he was released from prison. A common misconception is that artists (The) Game, R & B singer Olivia (who is considered the first lady of G-Unit) and Spider Loc are members of G-Unit, when in fact they are part of the G-Unit record label.
Early in the group's existence, they released many mixtapes, and garnered a following in the underground scene. They also appeared on many other mixtapes, including those of DJ Kay Slay and DJ Clue. They now have their own DJ, DJ Whoo Kid.
In November of 2003, the group released their debut album Beg for Mercy. It has exceeded sales of over two million copies. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart. The success of this album led Reebok to release a line of G-Unit Sneakers.
50 Cent / Game Controversy
Recently, The Game was dropped from G-Unit Records by 50 Cent. Although there were a number of reasons for this, the main reason was that 50 Cent claimed that Game had not shown him enough support in his newly instigated feuds with Nas, Jadakiss/D-Block, and Fat Joe. He also claims that 50 Cent has not received the proper credit for his work on The Game's album, The Documentary. During a radio interview with Hot 97's FunkMaster Flex in New York City on March 1, 2005, 50 Cent, while discussing the growing rift between the two rappers, was rushed out of studio as The Game's posse allegedly attempted to gain entrance to the studio to confront 50 Cent. In the process, a man from Compton was shot, an associate of The Game's Black Wall Street company, reportedly by a member of 50 Cent's posse (although no arrests have been made, and a spokesperson for 50 Cent denies any involvement).
This controversy was put off by 50 Cent, The Game, and their respective companies. A formal announcement was made at a press conference on March 9, 2005.
"It's going to be a positive thing for both sides," said The Game. I think it's so much bigger being that the date is March 9 [the day Biggie Smalls was murdered]. I'm definitely going to do what I got to do...[to be] on a positive note."
Discography
Albums
- 2003 Beg For Mercy #2 US, #13 UK
Singles
From Beg For Mercy:
- 2003 "Stunt 101" #13 US; #25 UK
- 2003 "If I Can't" #76 U.S.; #10 U.K. ("If I Can't" is 50 Cent solo, "Them Thangs" with G-Unit is also included in the UK, 2004 release)
- 2004 "Wanna Get To Know You" (feat. Joe) #15 US, #27 UK
From And Then ... (by Joe):
- 2004 "Ride Wit U"/"More And More" (Joe feat. G-Unit) #56 US, #12 UK
Mixtapes
- G-Unit Series by DJ Whoo Kid
- 2002 G-Unit 1 - 50 Cent Is The Future
- 2002 G-Unit 2 - God's Plan
- 2002 G-Unit 3 - No Mercy, No Fear
- 2002 G-Unit 4 - Automatic Gunfire
- 2003 G-Unit 5 - Bulletproof
- 2003 G-Unit Radio Part I: Smoking Day 2
- 2003 G-Unit Radio Part II: International Ballers
- 2003 G-Unit Radio Part III: Takin It To The Street
- 2003 G-Unit Radio Part IV: No Peace Talks!
- 2004 G-Unit Radio Part V: All Eyez On Us
- 2004 G-Unit Radio Part VI: Motion Picture Sh!t
- 2004 G-Unit Radio Part VII: King Of New York
- 2004 G-Unit Radio Part VIII: The Fifth Element
- 2004 G-Unit Radio Part IX: G-Unit City
- 2005 G-Unit Radio Part X: Before The Massacre 2050
- 2005 G-Unit Radio Part XI: YAYO Raw & Uncut
- 2005 The Realest Killaz