Juvenile looks back on a pivotal moment in hip hop history, saying he helped 50 Cent connect with Eminem and land his Shady Records deal.
How the Deal Came Together
Juvenile just revealed an unexpected chapter of hip hop history. During an interview with Nyla Symone, the New Orleans legend claimed he played a key role in helping 50 Cent secure his record deal with Eminem and Shady Records.
“I got 50 Cent his record deal with Eminem”, Juvenile said. “Ask Fifty, he’ll tell you, yeah, Juve was the one”.
At the time, Fifty could not easily access a studio. Juvenile, who was one of the first rappers to own a mobile recording bus, offered him a place to work. “He couldn’t really go to the studio, so I let him record on my bus – him, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks”, he explained.
Bringing G-Unit to Shady Records
Then, Juvenile took things a step further. He introduced Sha Money XL, 50 Cent’s manager at the time, to Eminem while visiting the D12 set. “My first thing was telling him about the type of music Em was doing and the type of music Fifty was doing with the diss thing”, he recalled. “That’s going to work if he goes with him. And it worked”.
Moreover, Juvenile said 50 Cent publicly acknowledged his contribution. “In his book, he gives me my credit”, he shared. “I always tell people, ask Fifty”.
The connection between 50 Cent and Eminem went on to reshape early 2000s hip hop, leading to the release of “Get Rich or Die Tryin’”, one of rap’s most influential albums with over 5 billion Spotify streams under its belt. And now, Juvenile reminds fans that he played a small but vital role in making that history happen.
