50 Cent has undoubtedly inspired countless rappers, and Drake recently admitted he was one of them. "'21 Questions' will probably be my most inspiring example of a guy who's not supposed to be singing, singing," Drake said of 50 in his Rap Radar interview, in which he also cited Kanye West's808s & Heartbreak as an inspiration. In an interview with Variety, 50 Cent responded and said that he's flattered to learn he influenced Drizzy.
"Drake was saying recently that I had influenced him to start singing, which was the coolest shit in the world for him to say, because I can’t sing as good as he sings," Fif said. "I was always just trying to outline the melody. Because once you have a broad enough audience, you’re gonna have people who don’t speak English, so all they can follow is the melody. [...] And when you’re writing [lyrics], I mean: ‘Go shorty, it’s your birthday’—that’s not rocket science. Every day is somebody’s birthday."
Elsewhere in the interview, the outspoken rapper also addressed his feelings on the legacy of Michael Jackson in the wake of Leaving Neverland. He highlighted Oprah Winfrey's discussions with MJ's alleged victims, which he said damaged his perception of the late pop singer. "You see it and go, 'damn...' But are we supposed to still dance when the music comes on, or are we supposed to think about the little boys? There’s no answer, so there’s nothing to resolve it. There’s no one who’s gonna come help you figure out what to think about that," he said.
He also made it clear he wasn't a fan of Eddie Murphy apologizing for some of the content in his legendary comedy special Raw. "I was like, 'fuck is wrong with you?' I don't understand why you apologize for being a comedian, you're supposed to have a warped perspective," he continued. "Who is the apology for? And if we're apologizing today for [things said] in the 1980s, then shit, everybody's fucking wrong."
Asked if he has any regrets about the content of his past songs, 50 Cent said he's not interested in making any apologies. "No, because at the point [I said it], I was thinking that," he said. "I don’t ever apologize for that—everything you go through makes you who you are."
