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G-Unit is an American hip hop group originating from New York City. G-Unit emerged on the New York scene by independently releasing several mix tapes. The name of the group is short for Guerilla Unit.[2]
Early days
The group's founding members, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo all grew up on the same block rapping together.[3] When 50 Cent was spotted and signed to a label, both Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo worked hard on mixtapes in order to gain attention as artists themselves. 50 Cent was later dropped from his label after being shot 9 times with a glock pistol in front of his grandmother's house.[4][5]
[edit]Rise to fame
After being shot, 50 Cent signed to Interscope Records. Due to the success of his commercial debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', he was granted his own record label. This was when G-Unit Records was created.[6]
The group continued to work hard and released several mixtape series which earned them a lot of attention in the rap industry.[6] The most prominent of these being 50 Cent Is the Future, God's Plan, No Mercy, No Fear and Automatic Gunfire. G-Unit has also started a mixtape series with their DJ, DJ Whoo Kid, called G-Unit Radio.
Before the group had a chance to record its debut album, Tony Yayo was sentenced to prison for a gun-possession charge as well as bail-jumping.[7]During Tony Yayo's prison sentence, the group signed Nashville rapper, Young Buck. They continued their activity, working on yet more mixtape recordings. In particular, their 'G-Unit Remix' to 50 Cent's "P.I.M.P." was successful.[6]
During Tony Yayo's prison sentence, G-Unit recorded their debut album, Beg for Mercy. The album was quickly released on November 14, 2003 to combat bootlegging and had significant commercial success.[8] Tony Yayo made only two appearances on the album, both on songs that were recorded before his arrest.
[edit]Former Affiliates
Several artists have left or been removed from the group for various reasons. Bang Em Smurf was very closely affiliated with them before they signed to Interscope Records.[9] He claimed that before 50 Cent saw mainstream success, the two recorded a mixtape from which they would earn $5 each, they sold 400,000 copies. 50 Cent allegedly never gave Bang Em' Smurf his share.[9] In addition to this Bang Em' Smurf claimed that 50 Cent did not contact or bail him out while he was in jail. This led to him and his close friend, Domination, no longer wanting to be affiliated with the group. Domination was never an official member of G-Unit but was a close friend of Bang 'Em Smurf during his G-Unit days. After the two had a brief feud with 50 Cent and G-Unit in 2003, Domination and Bang 'Em Smurf were no longer associated with G-Unit.[9]
[edit]Former Members
The Game was originally placed into G-Unit by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine. However after a while, tensions began to rise between G-Unit and the rapper. 50 Cent claimed that The Game was being disloyal to the group because he did not want to get involved with the feuds with Fat Joe, Ja Rule, Lil Wayne, Benzino,Connor Eames Jadakiss and Nas, even going as far as to say that he wished to work with them. 50 Cent also felt that he did not receive enough recognition for the writing of tracks on The Game’s debut album.[10] This resulted in what is arguably the biggest feud in recent years. For more information see G-Unit vs. The Game feud.
On April 7, 2008, in an interview with Shanna Leviste on New York's Hot 97, 50 Cent stated that Young Buck was no longer a member of G-Unit but he is still signed to G-Unit Records.[11] 50 Cent cited problems involving excessive spending and Young Buck's public claim to not being paid royalty checks.[12][13]
[edit]Albums
In 2003, the group's debut album, Beg for Mercy, was released. However, whilst the album was being recorded, Tony Yayo was sentenced to jail on charges of gun possession. Therefore, he only makes two appearances both on pre-recorded tracks. His face is seen on the brick wall of the album cover because he could not be photographed on account of his jail sentence. Beg for Mercy sold 2.3 million copies in the U.S. and 4 million copies worldwide.[8] The only featured guests on the album were R&B singers, Joe & Butch Cassidy. Production came from Hi-Tek, Dr. Dre, Scott Storch as well as others.
Their second album, T.O.S: Terminate on Sight, was released on July 1, 2008.[14][15] While the album was being recorded, internal conflicts arose between Young Buck and 50 Cent, which resulted in Young Buck being kicked out of the group, but still signed to G-Unit Records.[11] Young Buck still appeared on songs previously recorded with the group, but was credited as a featured artist. As of August 8, 2008, the album has sold 185,000 copies in the United States.[16][17] Along with Young Buck, Mavado guests on the album, while production came from Swizz Beatz, Tha Bizness, Rick Rock, Polow da Don and others.