Former President Donald Trump was shot at in an apparent assassination attempt on Saturday (July 13), an incident that had 50 Cent looking back at Get Rich or Die Tryin’, the rapper’s debut album. 2003 album track “Many Men (Wish Death)” references 50 surviving someone opening fire on him; he’s previously talked about an incident in which he was shot nine times.
“Trump gets shot and now I’m trending,” 50 posted on his social media accounts Saturday night. His remark, topped off with a shrugging emoji, was the caption to a Get Rich or Die Tryin’ cover edit featuring Trump’s face on his body.
Before posting the altered album art, the rapper shared a still image of Trump from Saturday’s Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, where the Republican presidential candidate had a bloodied ear and face and his fist pumped up for the crowd. Trump was surrounded by the Secret Service, who were rushing him off the stage following gunshots.
Trump is “fine,” according to a statement from spokesman Steven Cheung obtained by The New York Times. One rally attendee and the suspected shooter were killed.
“Many men wish death upon me/ Blood in my eye, dawg, and I can’t see/ I’m tryin’ to be what I’m destined to be/ And n—– tryin’ to take my life away,” 50 Cent sings on the intro of “Many Men (Wish Death).”
His breakthrough album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ went to No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart in 2003 and was nominated for a Grammy for best rap album.
“Many Men (Wish Death)” was never serviced as an official single, though it had a life of its own that included a music video released in 2003. Interestingly, 50 revealed two decades later that “Many Men” is his least favorite from the debut set: “We was in that hard-hitting intensity, the energy on the records, and it’s the slowest song on Get Rich or Die Tryin’. And it’s now the tempo that the artists are rapping to. So the fast tempo, hard-hitting beats, that was that era, that time period.”
In a 2013 interview with Howard Stern, 50 Cent said of his shooter, “He was paid to do it … It’s my past … It’s karma.” He told Stern, “He was paid ’cause someone felt like I would potentially do something to them if they kept going in the direction that they were going in.” He said getting shot in the face was “not as painful as having to visit the dentist repeatedly for a root canal.”
“His street credit just went up a couple points,” one of 50’s followers wrote of Trump Saturday night on the rapper’s post, where many others made light of the former president being shot at, with comments like: “Get reelected or die trying,” “Fif better let Trump use ‘many men’ during his campaign” and “He walking out at his next rally to this song.”
“Blood in my ear dawg and I can’t hear, Biden tryna take my votes away,” one person quipped, while another wrote, “Bro fighting charges and got shot… put him in the booth rn.”
See 50 Cent’s posts about Trump from Saturday night below.
