Before he turned into a TV and social media personality, 50 Cent had quite the rap career.
His major label debut Get Rich or Die Tryin' is the tenth best-selling rap album of all-time, and is creeping its way toward the 10 million sold mark.
'Many Men' was one of the 2003 album's hit tracks. But it turns out it almost wasn't.
In an interview with Mass Appeal, Nas’ former A&R Lenny “Linen” Nicholson explained that the beat from 'Many Men' almost ended up in another legend's catalog.
“50 [Cent’s] song ‘Many Men’ was a Nas track first—he actually vocalled it,” Nicholson says of the Darrell “Digga” Branch beat that he played for Nas during the recording of God’s Son. “He was developing another artist named Nashawn… he had to massively impress Nas. If Nas started something, he would add his vocal to it and see if Nas would be impressed enough to keep it. [Nas] didn’t finish that track… that was a track that he just fell out of love with.”Nas has long been criticized for his beat selection and God's Son wasn't nearly the commercial hit Get Rich or Die Tryin' was.
Do you think things would have been any different if 'Many Men' stayed with Nas?
[Related: 50 Cent suggests Diddy is gay.]