After years of dodging an interview with him during his years of dominance as rap’s top rapper and mogul, Oprah finally sat down with 50 Cent to discuss his life story, his controversial lyrics, and his harsh criticism of her. The interview aired on “Oprah’s Next Chapter” on Sunday, June 10 at 9:00 a.m. EST on OWN as the second segment of her hourlong show where she also interviewed Paris Jackson, daughter of the late pop icon Michael Jackson.
LOVE IT: For someone who seems out of the loop on hip-hop slang, Oprah greeted 50 Cent by saying, “come give me a hug,” which takes a line from his smash single, “In Da Club.” Just as she did by going to Marcy Projects to visit Jay-Z, Oprah came to Queens to the house of 50 Cent’s grandmother. We learn that 50 often stays in a small bedroom in that house on a regular basis when he is in New York and will paint his grandmother’s toenails because of her foot ailments. Unlike most people who are so in awe when being in Oprah’s presence, 50 Cent represented his culture well by telling Oprah how he felt about her judgment of his artform.
“I would see moments where you would discuss your feelings on the culture and everything that was wrong with the culture was what was on my CD,“ said 50 Cent. I was like, ‘she don’t like me.’ If I can’t be your friend, let me at least be your enemy so I can coexist.”
50 Cent addressed how hypocritical it is to pick at his use of the “N” word among his peers when women use the word bitch as a term of endearment within their circle of friends. He also questioned why women who appeared to be offended by his music partied to it.
“Why are the women dancing?” said 50 Cent. “If the women don’t dance nobody’s happy.” Oprah was stumped and decided to move to the next topic.
The segment was candid as 50 revisited the scene where he was shot 9 times. He also became quite emotional when discussed how important his grandmother was in his upbringing.
The G-Unit leader revealed that he has another goal to meet that isn’t a platinum plaque. His partnership with the United Nations World Food program will provide food to a child for every Street King energy drink sold. Their mission is to feed 1 billion people around the world. We were given exclusive footage of 50 cent dancing with kids in Africa and pouring out food for a youngster.
HATE IT: There’s nothing to hate about a truce between Oprah and 50 Cent except that fact that it took so long. Oprah claims that the first time she heard 50’s music was during her 50th birthday celebration on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” on June 29, 2004. The fact that she waited 8 years to sit down with the mogul is truly a shame and somewhat feels like a ploy to boost ratings during a time of desperation for the OWN network and its founder.
Oprah does appear relieved at the end of the interview as if 50 Cent had a reputation of attacking hosts during interviews. The fact that he came across as intelligence and non-violent seemed strange to her.
“I’m really stunned by your whole persona,” said Oprah. “You seem like a gentle soul actually.”