Hip-Hop Producer Irv Gotti and Rapper 50 Cent Had Beef That Lasted Decades

Following the news of his death at the age of 54, many are looking back at the life and legacy of legendary hip-hop producer Irv Gotti. Irv's exact cause of death has not yet been confirmed, but the Murder, Inc. founder was a legend in the world of rap and also made a few enemies.

Among those enemies was 50 Cent, who had a feud with Irv that lasted more than 20 years, and involved plenty of diss tracks, physical altercations, and online attacks. Here's what we know about their beef and how it started.

According to XXL Mag, the feud between them started back in 1999 when a close associate of 50 Cent's reportedly robbed Ja Rule's home in Southside Jamaica, Queens. Ja Rule was Murder, Inc.'s best-selling artist at the time, and 50 Cent was still just an emerging voice in the world of rap.

After word of the robbery got out, 50 Cent released "Your Life's on the Line," a song explicitly about both Ja Rule and Murder, Inc.

Things escalated further in 2000 when Ja Rule and 50 Cent got into a fight at an Atlanta nightclub, and then later that same year when members of Murder Inc. and 50 Cent's production company G-Unit fought at the Hit Factory studio in New York City. 50 Cent was stabbed during that fight, with Murder Inc. rapper Black Child later admitting that he was the one responsible.

The heart of the beef came in May of 2000 when 50 Cent was shot nine times outside of his grandmother's home in Queens, per an interview with Irv on Vlad TV. After a federal investigation, it was suggested that drug lord Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff had orchestrated the hit on 50 Cent, and many noted that he had close ties with Irv Gotti and Murder, Inc. In spite of those connections, though, Gotti was never charged with the attempted murder.

McGriff was eventually sentenced for murder conspiracy and drug trafficking in 2007 in a separate case, and Gotti was indicted in 2003 for laundering money on his behalf, although he was eventually acquitted.

Although things are no longer violent between the two, tension has remained in their recent online interactions, including a number of jabs at Gotti in more recent years.

Even following Gotti's death, 50 Cent took one last opportunity to poke him, posting a picture of himself next to a plastic tombstone.

"I'm smoking on dat Gotti pack," the rapper wrote on Instagram. "Nah God bless him 🕊️LOL."

While some called 50 Cent out for being immature in light of the post, others were unsurprised given the level of ire the two have always had for one another.

That hatred was rooted in a real escalation of tensions between the two camps, one that cooled off as the two men got older and 50 Cent got more successful. Even so, rappers rarely let these kinds of beefs go easily, especially one that was rooted in so much violence in the past.