Rapper 50 Cent has moved the release of The Massacre from March 8 to
March 3, in an effort to combat the spread of the album on the internet and
from bootleggers, since the album was leaked earlier this week.
Numerous websites
posted the album and the artwork for The Massacre, forcing the label to shuffle
the release date.
50’s dis track
"Piggy Bank" has finally been revealed, after months of anticipation.
The record takes swipes at Fat Joe, Nas and Kelis and Jadakiss.
Fat Joe is already
preparing a response, which will be featured on his new album, All or Nothing,
which is tentatively scheduled for release on April 26.
50 Cent’s major
label debut Get Rich or Die Trying, was also moved up ahead of its
2003 release date. The album went on to sell over 872,000 copies in the first
week.
50 himself scrapped an alternate version of The Massacre, fearing
he had not outdone his first major release.
Neilsen’s Soundscan
figures state that Get Rich or Die Trying was 2003’s bestselling album
and has moved over 6 million units.
In related 50 Cent news, actress Joy Bryant has been cast to
star opposite 50 Cent in MTV Films’ movie, tentatively titled "Locked and
Loaded."
The movie, about a drug dealer who leaves the streets for rap
music, is a semi-autobiographical account of 50 Cent’s meteoric rise in the
entertainment world.
His 1999 breakout
single "How to Rob an Industry N**ga" was a humorous description of
how he would stick-up various famous rappers of the day. Additionally, during
the time period, 50 had several violent altercations in New York and Atlanta.
50 Cent, who admits he sold drugs before entering the music
business, was later shot 9 times in Jamaica, Queens as he sat in the passenger
side of a car, by unknown assailants.
The shooting happened just as Columbia was preparing to release
his Trackmasters produced debut Power of The Dollar. Columbia shelved the album
and dropped the rapper from their roster because of the incident.
50 Cent formed his G-Unit collective and started releasing albums
independently. The sales success of his independent releases and constant mixtape
presence landed 50 a multi-million dollar deal with Eminem and Dr. Dre’s Shady/Aftermath
labels, which are distributed by Interscope, a Universal Music company.
50’s movie is being spearheaded by Interscope’s Jimmy Iovine
and Paul Rosenberg, who co-manages 50 Cent and manages Eminem.
Bryant starred in "Antwone Fisher" and will be featured
in "The Skeleton Key," which is slated to hit theaters this year.
The 50 Cent movie is being directed by Jim Sheridan, while Terence
Winter, a writer for HBO’s#### series "The Sopranos" is writing the
script.
The movie starts shooting this spring.