The Two Hip-Hop Giants Who Almost Recorded 50 Cent’s Biggest Hits (And How 50 Got Them)

There’s no denying that “In Da Club” and “Candy Shop” are two of 50 Cent’s biggest hits. I mean, “In Da Club” is a multi-platinum-selling track with nearly two billion streams on Spotify alone. Interestingly, both tracks were almost recorded by two other giants: D12 and Fat Joe.

First, let’s talk “In Da Club”. Turns out, Eminem’s rap group D12 originally had the beat, but didn’t use it. “Not that they didn’t know what to do with it,” he told radio host Big Boy, “They didn’t write it right away.” He added, “All those records, they turned them on in front of me, and I just did them right there.”

Essentially, 50 explained that when he worked with Dr. Dre, he liked to just get songs done. He didn’t want to leave the “creative space” for fear of not accomplishing anything. So, when they played him the beat for what became “In Da Club”, he wrote his rhymes on the spot.

D12, he says, had taken the beat with them, but not actually written anything for it. The beat would go on to be the basis for 50’s debut single from his first album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’.

Fat Joe says he actually helped make the beat that became 50 Cent’s “Candy Shop”

Fat Joe has a similar story about “Candy Shop”. In a viral video interview, the rapper revealed that he originally “made that beat” with producer Scott Storch.

“He did whatever I said. I could damn near beatbox it, and he’d play it,” Joe said of his creative process with Storch. The pair had previously had a hit with Fat Joe and Terror Squad’s “Lean Back”.

“We did it,” he said, recalling making the beat. “That was right after ‘Lean Back’. It would have been a humongous hit.” However, Joe said that some people in his camp convinced him not to record the song. They argued that it sounded too much like “Lean Back”.

Storch tried to reel him back in, but was unsuccessful. “Scott called me maybe 50 times in a row,” he remembered, with the producer urging him, “‘You sure you don’t want the beat? Everybody says it’s a hit, Joe.’” The song would eventually pass on to 50, who turned it into “Candy Shop” for his sophomore album, The Massacre.

We just might get to hear 50 Cent perform one or both songs on NYE

Fast forward a couple of decades, and 50 Cent will be performing on ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve. We can obviously only speculate, but he may perform at least one of these songs.

Fans can tune in on Dec. 31, beginning at 8 pm ET. The special will also be live-streamed on Hulu+ Live TV, YouTube TV, and other services.

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