50 Cent has taken his attention off of Diddy and turned it to music from his early catalog.
Backstage at his final London O2 concert for The Final Lap Tour, the rapper and mogul was interviewed by Apple Music's Rebecca Judd in celebration of his landmark 2002 debut LP, Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
According to 50, his 2003 single "Magic Stick" was originally supposed to be on the album and he had another female rapper in mind for the collaboration before it went to Lil' Kim, landing on her third album La Bella Mafia.
[“Magic Stick”] was written for ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin'. And then it didn't make it. I wrote that record intentionally to work with Trina. I sent it to Trina," 50 told Judd on the Apple Music show. "They fucked up the record, they sent it back. Fucked up. They had the lyrics and everything on it and they messed it up. Then Gee Robeson came and got it from me, heard the record and was like, 'Yo, I need this. I need this for Kim. I need it.'"
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Robeson, who was executive producer for Lil' Kim during her time on Atlantic Records, convinced 50 that the song was perfect for the Hard Core rapper. 50 even admitted that "Magic Stick" reclaimed the sexually-charged nature that Lil' Kim had on her earlier material, some of which was written by The Notorious B.I.G.
"And she had made a good record, but she made it... Didn't have the formula that Biggie created for her to have success in our culture," 50 added. "It didn't have the sexuality, it was like [sings “The Jump Off"]: "I been gone for a minute now I'm back at the jump off. Goons in the club in case somethin' jumps off." The record with her and Mr. Cheeks, but it didn't tap into what he was doing when he designed what Kim was. “Magic Stick” was spot on for her. That was the right thing."
"Magic Stick" producer Phantom of the Beat attested to 50's claims about Trina in 2020, confirming that she wasn't the right fit although an alleged snippet of her verse surfaced online in 2013.
50 and Lil' Kim's relationship has been complicated post-"Magic Stick," starting when the G-Unit founder dissed Kim in a 2003 Hot 97 freestyle. “I wrote Magic Stick, I gave Kim a hit, then I wouldn’t shoot the video, she threw a lil fit,” he rapped, adding, “Why would I care bout your emotions, you’re not my bitch.”
