50 Cent was covered in Vibe Magazine's spotlight series 'Next' in October of 1999. 'How To Rob' had hit the streets 2 months prior, and 50 was all the buzz. The article discusses how Mariah Carey took offense to one of the lines in the song ... I guess at that point it hadn't been removed but it was indeed replaced on the version that blew up on radio. In May of 2000, 50 Cent was shot 9 times and despite all the marketing and promotion, the shooting and controversial records led to 50's debut 'Power Of The Dollar' being shelved and then heavily bootlegged. I still own one of the original promo cassettes that were sent out with album snippets mixed with Hot 97 interviews. I also have the original white label 12" back when the song was called 'Schemes Of Robbing An Industry N!gga.' I copped it at Rock & Soul (sorry Fat Beats) in the summer of '99. CD sales will never return to the way they were when 50 dropped 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' and 'The Massacre,' but his other successful business ventures more than compensate. As a fellow Queens native, I'd also like to remind artists not to poke the bear in the zoo, 50 will forever remain an artist you do not want to play with, lol. If you're interested, Next features with Jay-Z and Capone-N-Noreaga.
