50 Cent and The Game’s Beef Results in Shooting -Today in Hip-Hop

XXL celebrates 50 years of hip-hop with this moment:

Feb. 28, 2005: On this day in 2005, a beef between two former allies turned violent in front of an iconic hip-hop radio station in New York City.

50 Cent was going strong at the time as a solo artist as well as leading his G-Unit roster of artists. He came into the game with his motley crew of spitters, and added a new member, up-and-coming Compton, Calif. rapper The Game, as the West Coast rhymer found success. While the two collaborated on the hit singles “Hate It or Love It” and “How We Do,” on The Game’s 2005 debut album, The Documentary, they still had issues.

All of this came to a head when Fif appeared on Hot 97 radio personality Funkmaster Flex‘s show. That’s when things spun out of control with a showdown between Game and 50’s respective entourages that ended in a shootout, leaving one person injured.

A few days earlier, The Game was a guest on Flex’s radio program and shared that he wouldn’t get mixed up in any of G-Unit head honcho 50 Cent’s beefs. Considering Fif was always known for his many enemies within rap, the G-Unit leader felt that this was a sign of disloyalty. 50 took his issue with him to Flex’s show on Feb. 28, 2005, originally aiming to promote his upcoming album, The Massacre, which was days away from release.

During the convo, Fif kicked The Game out of G-Unit live on air. Then 50 made claims that he helped the ousted rapper write more songs on The Documentary and that his involvement with Game’s project saved Game from being dropped from Interscope Records altogether.

As 50 Cent continued the accusations, trouble was brewing outside of Hot 97’s lobby. Associates of The Game came to the radio station seeking retaliation for Fif’s comments. This led to a clash with G-Unit associates and shots were fired, leaving one man, Kevin Reed of Compton, Calif., injured. Reed was believed to be a member of Game’s entourage, even though he originally tried to tell police otherwise. During the incident, 50’s interview at the radio station was interrupted by his crew, who quickly got him out of the station to safety.

The run-in set off a long stretch of bad blood between 50 Cent and The Game. Initially, the two rappers called a truce in Harlem on March 9, 2005, but their beef didn’t get officially squashed until 2016.

Watch BEEF Episode: 50 Cent Vs. The Game Below

The Game Talks About 50 Cent Beef, Their New York Shootout and More on People’s Party