50 Cent’s sophomore album, The Massacre, celebrates its 15th anniversary on March 3. But according to producer Scott Storch, the instrumental for the album’s biggest single almost went to one of 50’s biggest rivals.
In a 2010 interview with SKEE TV, Storch explained that he initially made the beat for “Candy Shop” in the studio with Fat Joe, and offered him the track first.
“There was a beat that I did with Fat Joe,” said Storch. “I made [it] in front of him and I was telling him, ‘This is a hit record.’ Even his wife, Lorena, she was there in the studio saying, ‘Joey, this is kind of a hot record.’ But he said, ‘No, this doesn’t sound like a hit.’ Maybe eight months later, I remember him and his wife again sitting in my studio and she was like, ‘I told you! I told you it was a hit.’”
Though the critical reaction was lukewarm, “Candy Shop” proved to be a colossal hit for 50 and featured singer Olivia, topping the Bilboard Hot 100 and Hot Rap Songs charts. It was later certified Platinum.
50 and Joe had bad blood throughout the 2000s because Joe worked with Ja Rule on the song, “New York.”
On the Massacre track, “Piggy Bank,” 50 taunts Joe, Ja, and Jadakiss amongst others. He chides Joe, noting his smash hit, “Lean Back,” didn’t translate to major album sales:
That fat n*gga thought ‘Lean Back’ was ‘In da Club’
My sh*t sold eleven mill’, his sh*t was a dud
Fat Joe would respond with records like “My Fofo,” where he questioned 50’s street credibility and responded to “Piggy Bank” while rapping:
You dissed ‘Lean Back,’ said my sh*t was a dud
Now tell me have you ever seen ‘em up in the club?
The relationship between 50 and Joe has improved in recent years. In a moment of self-awareness during a 2013 MTV News interview, 50 said he didn’t think the feud would last as long as it did.
“Fat Joe, that was interesting,” said 50. “The competitive nature of hip-hop forces us to compete. It was one of those things that it went on longer than it was supposed to with that one.”
A major catalyst for their detente was the death of music executive Chris Lighty in 2012. Lighty was a close friend of both artists. In 2014, 50 and Joe appeared together on “Free Again,” off DJ Kay Slay’s The Rise of a City.
Read the full lyrics to “Candy Shop” and the rest of 50 Cent’s discography on Genius now.
