50 Cent Reneges on Promise to Quit Hip-Hop if He isn't No. 1, Explains Why he Ripped a TV off the Wall

August 15, 2007

50 Cent is blaming label bosses at Interscope for his tantrum last week after the video for “Follow My Lead” featuring Robin Thicke from his hotly anticipated new album, Curtis, was leaked.

After getting calls from friends who saw the video, 50 went on a rampage, tearing a plasma TV off the wall and tossing a cellphone through a glass window in a fit of rage, according to MTV. Now, the emcee is backing down from his promise to quit releasing solo albums if his record fails to outsell Kanye West’s Graduation on Sept.11.

“Look at how you're talking to me, like Kanye West is my equal right now," 50 tells MTV, illustrating his point with a rather ridiculous comparison. "That's like me putting myself against Michael Jackson's [album-release] date and then acting like, 'Woah, it's a battle between 50 Cent and Michael Jackson!', when Thriller sold 30 million records and 50 Cent's biggest album sold 12 [million], you feel what I'm saying?

"Don't get lost in the hype," he adds. "I got the right records, so we're gonna sit here and I'll see you next time. Maybe next time they can send me off to the pastures. But right now, I'm gonna stick around and sell this record — and I will be No. 1 on Sept. 11."

“Follow My Lead” is the second song leaked off Curtis: 50 Cent’s collaboration with Justin Timberlake, “Ayo Technology,” was also leaked, but, in that case, it was only the song, not the video. And the hip-hopper is much more upset by the video leak, laying the blame square on record label executives.

"When is a video leaked?" 50 says, MTV reports. "Like, I never even heard of that before! I've heard of a song leaking out — and then you can send cease-and-desist letters to the radio stations and try to calm it down, 'cause 'Ayo Technology' leaked out. So it makes me feel like Interscope is just all over the place."

But, really, the true source of contention here is that there’s now no chance 50 Cent is going to retire on Sept. 11. Excuse us while we go smash our heads through some plasma TVs and throw our CP Style Guide out the window.