50 Cent can’t contain his excitement about being involved in Expend4bles, but while he’s always looking forward, he’s also reflecting on the 20th anniversary of his ground-breaking debut album, Get Rich Or Die Tryin’.
In early May, 50 announced his global The Final Lap Tour to commemorate the milestone. The massive trek is scheduled to begin on July 21 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Over the weekend, Diverse Mentality gave fans something to chew on in the meantime by releasing a two-hour documentary about Get Rich Or Die Tryin’.
The 1:08:00-mark dives into the track “Back Down (Ja Rule Diss)” with on-camera insights from Sha Money XL, who is credited as the recording engineer (as noted by Genius.)
“This one was fresh — fresh! We went to my crib, cut that sh*t. Fif had no filter,” Sha Money says. “Got to LA and played it, [Dr.] Dre put the filter on him, like, ‘Hold up, bro. Hold up, bro. Nah, bro. You goin’ too far, man. So, we had to re-record that sh*t.”
The doc’s narrator, Quake, adds:
“The original version of ‘Back Down’ that was recorded in Sha Money’s basement was a lot more aggressive. Not only did 50 Cent go at Ja Rule and Murder Inc. as a whole, but he took aim at Supreme, Jay-Z, R. Kelly, Nas, Cam’ron, and more. 50 Cent even invites Dr. Dre, toward the end of the track, to jump in and say ‘f*ck you’ to the competition. However, Dre did not do that and decided to have 50 Cent re-record the song with a more filtered version only going at Ja Rule and Murder Inc.
I’ve heard this original version only two times, so I don’t remember too many bars from the original. But he does take aim at Cam’ron by dissing his pink clothes and says, ‘You’re acting all gangsta and tough / You must’ve forgot when the director yelled cut,’ which was referring to Cam’ron’s acting days on Paid In Full.”
Watch the documentary below.
