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50 Cent knows a thing or two about massive first-week sales. 2003’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ earned 872,000 album units and he joined the seven-digit club when The Massacre earned 1.15 million album units in a shortened opening set in 2005.
The G-Unit mogul spoke to Complex on Friday (Oct. 17) about plenty of topics, including Taylor Swift’s record-breaking first-week sales, which came in at just over 4 million album-equivalent units earned for The Life of a Showgirl.
“It’s exciting to see for artists to create material that resonates that strong,” he said. “She got a big audience. How do you make the right music for an audience that large?”
50 Cent was also on the receiving end of a shout-out from T-Swift on “Ruin the Friendship,” which he ties back to Swift’s experience in the early 2000s when 50 was dominating music. “That was cool,” he said. “I think the shout-out is about that period in music. The Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is coming and you can’t miss me.”
He continued: “I’m a part of what transpired in that period for her. It’s magic, actually… People disagree on so many things, but they’ll agree to have a good time when the right music comes on.”
Midway through “Ruin the Friendship,” Swift sings: “And it was not an invitation/ But as the 50 Cеnt song played/ Should’ve kissed you anyway.”
50 reposted Swift’s album to social media along with his excited reaction. “@taylorswift s–t is popping right now. she shout me out, she don’t shout you out. LOL. THIS IS FOR BIG TIMERS ONLY,” he wrote. “I’m the only shout out on the whole album.”
Released on Oct. 3, Swift’s The Life of a Showgirl topped the Billboard 200 and ended up earning 4.002 million units in its debut week, with 3,479,500 of those coming in sales. Both figures are single-week records for an album released in the modern era (since 1991).
Watch 50 Cent’s full interview below. Talk about Taylor Swift takes place at one minute.
