50 Cent and The Game say their feud is over

Wednesday, March 9th 2005, 1:03 pm

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ Perhaps selling 1.1. million copies of his latest album in less than a week has softened the heart of 50 Cent. Or maybe he has so many feuds going, he can afford to let one fall by the wayside.

In any case, 50 Cent and The Game were scheduled to publicly squash the bitter feud that erupted between the two rappers last week, when bullets flew after 50 announced he was kicking Game out of his G-Unit clique for disloyalty.

The public makeup session was to take place Wednesday at Harlem's famed Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, with the two platinum-selling rappers making donations to the Harlem Boys Choir and the Compton Unified School District Music Program.

``It is the first time we've seen 50 publicly take a step back'' from a battle, said Elliott Wilson, editor in chief of the hip-hop magazine XXL.

In a statement, 50 Cent said: ``I'm launching a new foundation, the G-Unity Foundation, Inc., to help people overcome obstacles and make a chance for the better in their lives ... to help them overcome their situations. I realized that if I'm going to be effective at that, I have to overcome some of my own. Game and I need to set an example in the community.''

50 Cent has always set an example _ usually as an unapologetic gangsta who takes pleasure in wreaking havoc on other rappers. He almost single-handedly dismantled the multi-platinum career of Ja Rule when he relentlessly targeted him in songs, magazines and his 2003 debut, the eight-million selling ``Get Rich or Die Tryin'.''

Last week 50 released his sophomore CD, ``The Massacre,'' which sold 1.1 million copies in its first four days on shelves. On it, he took aim at rappers like Fat Joe, Nas and Jadakiss for making a record with Ja Rule.

But his beef with Game was unusual because it involved a member of his own camp. As 50 was on the radio announcing the expulsion of Game from G-Unit, Game's associates rolled up to the station. Guns were fired outside the building, and a member of Game's posse was injured.

Game also is a high priority for Eminem and Dr. Dre, who signed 50 cent to a lucrative record deal and propelled him to superstardom. They're all on the same parent label, Interscope Records.

All of that probably played a hand in Wednesday's scheduled reconciliation.

``It's pressure for 50 to look at it from a business perspective and not a personal perspective,'' Elliott said. ``I think the press conference was forced by the mainstream media's reaction to the incident. They don't benefit on a business level to be associated with violence.''

``50 and I are proving that real situations and real problems can be solved with real talk,'' Game said in a statement. ``Maybe we can help save some lives ... the way rap music saved mine.''

Could the shooting have been a publicity stunt, coming just days before the release of ``The Massacre''? Elliott doesn't buy it.

``There really was a beef. I think there was a genuine conflict that 50 felt that The Game was unappreciative of all the work he did on his album ... and Game is feeling like, 'I'm my own man now.'''

But the two have apparently decided that they have more to lose going against each other.

``I think (50) will continue to beef with other artists,'' Elliott said. ``But to beef with your own artist and someone who you're in business with, it doesn't help you.''