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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

50 Cent waits to make big bucks

50 Cent (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Mesfin Fekadu Associated Press

50 Cent is taking a back seat to Eminem.

The rapper says he won’t release his “Before I Self Destruct” CD until Eminem’s album – tentatively titled “Relapse” – sees the light of day.

“Right now I’m on a train, and the Em-choo-choo-car goes first. I think people forgot that I’m actually Eminem’s artist because I’ve had so much success on my own and moved away from it,” the 32-year-old multiplatinum rapper said in a recent interview.

“Because (Dr.) Dre is mixing Em’s album, Em will be completed entirely before we get a chance to finish up the pieces that me and Dre did together (for my album),” he added.

50 may have a long wait. While Eminem’s CD is expected this year, no release date has been set.

But it’s not the first time 50 Cent has pushed back his album. The CD was expected to come out last December but was delayed. Back then, he said because elements of it weren’t complete, so he set a March release date.

Right now, Eminem’s got the most buzz musically. His first single, “Crack a Bottle,” which features 50 Cent and Dr. Dre, hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Hot 100 singles chart earlier this month.

The trio recorded the song in Eminem’s hometown, Detroit, and 50 Cent said the collaboration between the rappers is a reflection of their camaraderie, plus Dr. Dre’s musical magic.

“(That’s) what happens when I actually work with Dr. Dre,” he said. “I make great music away from him, but organically something happens when we’re in the same room, and it’s like his influence in different ways and we just make hit music together. ‘In Da Club,’ my biggest record to date, was me and Dre. We have a great relationship, so there’s no reason for us to not go back in and make more.”

50 Cent fans can still hear new music from the entertainer. His new video game, “50 Cent: Blood On the Sand,” released last week, features 18 exclusive tracks, including one with Swizz Beatz, who composed the score.

“It was an opportunity for me to get to the material that I missed because on every album I overwrite (the songs) on the album, and then (there’s) the song you wished you could have put on but you didn’t,” he said. “I had an opportunity to put like five or six of those songs on there and then create the rest of the material for the actual video game.”

“Blood on the Sand” follows 50 and G-Unit as they hunt down a crime gang that’s stolen their diamond encrusted skull in a war-torn country. The rapper said a visit to Iraq influenced some of the game’s features.

“After performing for the soldiers, you look at the people there and you use your imagination to say, ‘What are they actually feeling? What are they going through?’ ” he said. “It was an experience. But the game itself, I brought some of those experiences I had in to it and that’s why it looks the way it looks.”

The birthday bunch

Bluegrass musician Doc Watson is 86. Actor John Cullum is 79. Author Tom Wolfe is 79. Actor Jon Finch is 68. Author John Irving is 67. Singer Lou Reed is 67. Actress-comic Laraine Newman is 57. Singer Jay Osmond of The Osmonds is 54. Singer Jon Bon Jovi is 47. Actor Daniel Craig is 41. Singer Chris Martin of Coldplay is 32. Actor Robert Iler is 24.