50 Cent always has a comeback. After his “In Da Club” Las Vegas Residency got panned by a travel blogger, the 49-year-old rapper opted to invoke Usher and Chris Brown’s live performances to defend himself.
The G-Unit leader performed his final show at PH Live and addressed the critiques that came his way. “They said the audio was bad,” Fif said with a sly smile. “I said, ‘Bi**h, you was supposed to say some sh*t like, ’50 be doing this sh*t,”” he said while waving his hands in the air repeatedly. “That’s what I’ma do! Don’t say the music was bad. F**k all that, man.”
He then compared himself to the Atlanta legend and Chris Breezy, and some notable elements of their live shows. “What you thought, I was gonna be out here rollerblading like Usher?” he asked the crowd. “I seen some sh*t, Chris Brown was flying in Africa. I don’t have records that require me to fly in Africa.” After his humorous defenses, he got back to the show: “If y’all not tired, let me see y’all put your hands up one for me.”
The origin of 50 Cent’s show critiques was a review by travel blogger Vegas Star Fish. “The sound was balanced poorly making it impossible to hear the performance,” she wrote on Instagram. “His hypemen were unrelenting and overbearing making it difficult to hear anything but their echoes. The stage design and graphics felt like they were organized 15 minutes before the show with a Chat GPT prompt for ’90’s hip hop images.”
She continued, citing how the way the show was promoted differed from how it actually played out. “During the build up to this show, 50’s publicists suggested this would be an unforgettable night full of surprises and energy,” she added. “The only surprise was the lack of energy. There was almost no crowd engagement, the calls for an ‘encore’ began 63 minutes into the performance and he returned to do another 15 minutes before unceremoniously leaving the stage without so much as a Thank You.”
Vegas Star Fish concluded by calling it “the worst live performance” she had ever attended from any artist along with the “worst show that’s ever come to Vegas.” Despite the critique, Fif earned a reported $15 million for the residency, according to TMZ. Not a bad dollar amount to wipe away any tears that he likely will not shed.
