Image by Getty Images via DaylifeEXCLUSIVE / RARE / OFFICIAL remix for 50 Cent’s smash single, “I Get Money.” Starring 50 Cent aka Curtis Jackson, P. Diddy aka Sean Combs aka Sean John, Jay-Z aka Sean Carter, and Kayne West aka Mr. Graduate.
Rapper Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson tips his G-Unit-branded hat to Forbes on the remix of his latest single, “I Get Money.” Dubbed the “Forbes 1, 2, 3 Remix” and the “Billion Dollar Remix,” the song, which features cameos by fellow hip-hop kingpins Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs, is a boast over the trio’s top billing on Forbes’ recent list of the top earners in rap music.
“A lot of money on this record!” 50 Cent crows on the track, released Monday evening, which is based on the third single from his latest studio album, Curtis. It is the first collaboration among the three rap moguls, who each kick off their stanzas by gloating, “I run New York!”
Jay-Z holds the top spot on Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash Kings list with 2006 earnings of $34 million, trailed by “Fiddy” (as 50 Cent is known to fans) with $32 million. Diddy nabbed the No. 3 spot with total earnings of $28 million. (See: ” Hip-Hop Cash Kings”)
True enough to the “Billion Dollar Remix” title, the trio—all native New Yorkers—boast sprawling Manhattan-based media empires with more than $1 billion in total gross sales of related merchandise.
Shawn “Jay-Z” Carter is the chief executive of Def Jam Recordings, a unit of Universal Music. He also owns the 40/40 clubhouse franchise, as well as a small stake in the New Jersey Nets. (Need we mention Beyonce?)
In addition to topping Forbes’ Hip-Hop Cash Kings list, Jay-Z also debuted at No. 9 this year on Forbes’ Celebrity 100 list of the most powerful entertainers, edging out industry heavyweights like Steve Spielberg and David Letterman.
Combs lords over Bad Boy Worldwide Entertainment, whose business interests include the Warner-backed Bad Boy Records, Sean John clothing label, a best-selling men’s cologne and a string of programs for MTV.
In an e-mail to Forbes about the single, Diddy wrote, “We appreciate the opportunity to trail blaze at Forbes.com, proving we’re not only the TOP earning entertainers but the TOP entertainment thinkers to come up with something as innovative as this.”
Since the release of his 2003 debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 Cent has amassed a sizable fortune through his G-Unit entertainment portfolio, which includes a record label, clothing line, Reebok sneaker line, ring tones, video games and even a recent line of “urban fiction” published by a division of Time Warner (nyse: TWX - news - people ). (He spent his first royalty check buying copyrights to the G-Unit moniker.) In 2006, 50 Cent appeared on the cover of Forbes Magazine’s Celebrity 100 issue.
“This remix is more than a song, it’s a celebration and collaboration of hip-hop’s elite,” 50 Cent said.
This summer, rumors in the blogosphere suggested 50 Cent rival Kanye West might appear in the remix. Not so. 50 Cent has been embroiled in a well-publicized sales scuffle with Kanye West, whose latest album Graduation dropped on Sept. 11, the same day as Curtis. 50 Cent famously told reporters that if West outsold him, he’d retire from his solo rap career. (He later qualified the statement by betting West would suffer a massive drop off after first-week sales.)
Though an official tally won’t be available before Wednesday, early reports have West besting 50 Cent by at least 100,000 copies. But in the duel over who makes more money, 50 handily trumps West, who pocketed an estimated $17 million last year, roughly half of 50’s income.
West will have to sell millions of copies of his latest album, plus embark on a mega-successful worldwide stadium tour a la the Rolling Stones, to match 50’s estimated earnings by year’s end, even discounting his recent album. In May, Coca Cola (nyse: KO - news - people ) announced it would pay $4.1 billion to buy Vitamin Water, the bottled water company in which 50 Cent owns a stake. Fiddy’s estimated take from that sale, after taxes: $100 million.
Copyright to G-Unit Records / Interscope / 50 Cent / Forbes and respective owners of art / text / music.
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