Three-time WWE World Champion Cody Rhodes has strong opinions about the Billboard Top Hottest Rappers list. With a respectful caveat that this isn’t his area of expertise, he still cannot believe the list that ignores 50 Cent and underestimates Eminem is valid.
Last week, Cody appeared on the Double Coverage podcast where he showed class in commenting on a wide range of cultural events. Recently, Cody estepped beyond the wrestling ring to play Guile in the Street Fighter movie adaptation alongside 50 Cent. Apparently, he was impressed by Fifty after seeing him in the “In Da Club” video.
However, the conversation turned to rap only when host Zach Hirsch defended his favourite Eminem album, Relapse.
Zach Hirsch: I love Relapse by Eminem, but people say it’s his worst album. They do. People will say that, but I listen to it all the time.
Cody Rhodes: I have no business saying this thing what I’m about to say. I saw Billboard’s 15 hottest hip hop artists, and it wasn’t financial. It was an opinion, and he was number four, and then Fifty wasn’t on there. I don’t know. I have no right. The number one was really, you know… I think Tupac was at three, and I thought that seemed right. But I found it very odd that the M man wasn’t two or one. And Fifty not being on there… Fifty was in this movie, by the way. Full-blown Balrog. He really did it. Oh my gosh, he’s so good, and he sneaks a song in there as well. Again, I don’t know anything about that world, but I thought the list was a little off.
Zach Hirsch: Well, Fifty sold a million the first week. He had the world like in a chokehold.
Cody Rhodes: What was crazy about Fifty is that he was so jacked in that period of time where I remember watching as a kid like, what is this? This guy was doing sit-ups upside down. Like, what is this? He got more jacked for Street Fighter. I don’t know how old 50 Cent is right now, but he got more jacked. That guy is about clanging and banging and lifting and stuff. He’s made for action movies. I don’t know if you saw the movie, but he does an amazing job.
Cody Rhodes says he’s never worked out with Fif. Still, he learned a valuable lesson in generosity, presence, and competitive spirit.
Cody Rhodes: I had a moment where Fifty showed me that elder statesman. Like, “I’m Fifty. This is my movie”.
On the Street Fighter set, there was this fun community going on. In a sense of “We’re gonna come on the weekends. We’re going to be there on days we’re not filming. We’re going to do rehearsals. We’re in together, this crew”. But also, there were these activities. Hey, Noah Centineo invites you to dinner. We all go to dinner, and there was a driver for you. Activities like that were sprinkled throughout. Somebody got a food truck and brought it to set. I thought I was going to go real big. I’m WWE Champion, you know, like I flared up a bit. I’m going to get this yacht. I’m going to get speciality cocktails on the yacht. I think one of them was called the Sonic Boom. I’m going to invite as many people from cast and production as I can. There’ll be cigars. This just be this time. And I
did that, and Fifty came, and we all took this great picture. And apparently he took it as a challenge. And the following weekend, he put an end to it with renting out an entire theme park, which is Luna Park in Australia. An entire theme park for all of the production and all of the cast and their families. So, there was no more gift-giving after he put his flag in the sand. Apparently, 50 Cent’s going to do what he wants to do, but he did that, and it was marvellous. Nobody needed to do dinner or anything after that. He made it very clear that 50 Cent is 50 Cent and he’s awesome in the movie, too.
Zach Hirsch: And that’s exactly why he deserves a spot in the top 15.
Cody Rhodes: Yeah. I don’t know why I brought this up, but if you see this Billboard top 15, for me it seems odd, you know? My sister is a massive hip hop, rap, R&B, and Atlanta girl. That’s her world. It’s not my world. So, I only know what she taught me. I’m getting far too opinionated on this. I’m shutting it down. I don’t love this list, though. Fifty should be on this list.
What a trajectory for Cody Rhodes. From being impressed by Fifty’s muscles 23 years ago to discovering first-hand that his personality is even bigger still. So for Cody, seeing 50 Cent ranked No. 17 on the Billboard 50 Greatest Rappers of All Time list is still baffling, even though the list was published more than 3 years ago.