A Timeline of T.I. & 50 Cent’s Relationship

With T.I. coming off his chart-topping King album in 2006 and being the self-proclaimed King of the South, Angie Martinez asked 50 who he believed was running hip-hop during an interview at Hot 97. 50 didn’t believe any singular rapper was sitting atop the throne, especially when it’s a title contrived by the artist. “How you gonna be the king? Who decides that? The fans decide that — you can’t just call yourself the king,” he replied. At the time, many saw this as a subtle jab at Tip.

T.I. was pinched on federal gun charges in late 2007 and hit with a one-year sentence, and 50 Cent wondered out loud how Tip received such a lenient sentence. Many tied 50’s jab to accusing T.I. of cooperating with authorities.

“What’s today’s mathematics/ S—t ain’t adding up/ Get knocked with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months/ Ooh weee, don’t talk to me,” 50 raps on G-Unit cut “You So Tough.”

Not long after his release, T.I. and his wife, Tiny, were arrested on drug possession charges during a traffic stop in September 2010, which resulted in Tip going back to prison for another 11 months. 50 questioned why Tiny didn’t take the fall, and the trap pioneer addressed 50’s comments in a VIBE cover story in late 2011.

“I’ma tell you, 50 Cent and anybody else: we not gonna have no discussion about what my ole lady shoulda, woulda, coulda done for anything as it pertains to me,” he said. “We ain’t gonna do that. I’m the only one in my family that’s gonna take a lick when it pertains to the legal system.”

Tip continued: “Since me, none of my other family members have seen a jail cell. Nobody. I’m the last one. The buck stops here. I feel that a person that stands behind [his woman for a criminal charge] is a coward anyway.”

After seeing T.I.’s comments to VIBE, 50 hopped on X (formerly Twitter) to clarify what he had to say about the self-proclaimed King of the South. The G-Unit boss essentially explained that the numbers didn’t add up for him when it came to Tip’s sentencing.

“Man I just saw something T.I said in VIBE about a tweet I wrote when he caught his drug case. He just got out a jam and caught a new one,” he wrote on Twitter. “Any other time a n—a done. Get caught with 10 machine gun an silencer then catch a drug charge. You will f—k around and get natural life.”

50 continued: “This boy got a get outta jail FREE card. Don’t get emotional over your lady. It a get you in some s—t you don’t want to be in. If U can get 5 years easy 4 some shit and I’m the support of my family. Why would it be wrong if ya lady had to take probation? S—t she ballin to lol”

With tensions heightened, 50 and T.I. ended up hopping on the phone to not let their feud boil any further, and squashed their beef.

“We got mutual friends and I was actually in conversation with one of them, and they were around him,” 50 said to VIBE. “I didn’t tell him to get [T.I.] on the phone and [T.I.] didn’t tell him to get me on the phone.”

T.I. wished 50 a happy 45th birthday on Instagram, and his shout-out came with a challenge to step into the Verzuz ring.

“Pull your a— up with 20 of your records, man. Sit across from me, man. And get this work, man,” Tip said. “But I understand if you don’t want to answer to that challenge, because last time you got challenged, Kanye West dusted your a— off.”

50 didn’t take Tip too seriously and brushed off his summons. “Yo somebody passed T.I. the weed they gave smokey in Friday. L.O.L,” he replied.

T.I. joined Hot 97 for a virtual interview, wehre the Atlanta rapper continued to poke at 50 while instigating a potential Verzuz battle.

“I just think [50] got an ego big enough to withstand my bravado. I don’t think he’d be intimidated by how I pop my s—t. And regardless of how you see me, inside me there’s a 900-pound gorilla,” he said. “We really are similarly stacked. I don’t have a diamond album, but he don’t have five classic albums.”

T.I. implored 50 to “PICK A DATE” for a potential Verzuz battle, but the “In Da Club” rapper continued to scoff at Tip, while opting for jokes and trolling on social media.

“Bro ya beard is not quite connecting like your music. … you just make sure you’re at work on time,” 50 quipped, before adding in another post, per PEOPLE. “My run permanently damaged the culture, Get Rich or Die Expeditiously, Nah Bra were is my exhibit in the Trap museum. I moved more of that than y’all to Facts!”

Still, Tip remained unmoved by 50’s repeated denials and was still looking for a battle. “I’m DYYYIIINNNN yo Dis n—a @50cent slow af,” T.I. replied. “he actually think he got a shot wit that one & 1/2 albums he got U washed my boi. Now cmon & PULL YO YOUNG BABOON FACE A— ON UP & GET SERVED CURTIS @verzuztv #BringMeTheBully.”

50 joined The Morning Hustle show in March 2021, and explained that he felt the moment for Verzuz had passed by, with areas of the U.S. beginning to open up from COVID-19 restrictions.

“I thought Verzuz was something we did when we was stuck in the house,” he said, “As soon as we got out of the house to come back outside, Verzuz didn’t make sense to me. Verzuz to me, that showed up and was the hottest thing. I was paying attention to it, watching it like everybody else. As soon as we could go back outside, I don’t know why we still doing it.”

T.I. joined a live episode of Shannon Sharpe and Chad Ochocinco’s Nightcap in San Francisco during Super Bowl weekend. Verzuz was among the topics of discussion, where Tip explained he originally wanted to face off with Gucci Mane, but then turned his focus to 50, whom he taunted about not wanting any smoke with him.

“I called my man. I said who I wanted. I said I wanted 50,” T.I. said. “He don’t want no smoke, though. I called my man out, he don’t want no smoke. He ducking smoke. It’s cool.”

50 Cent got wind of T.I.’s comments on Nightcap and took to social media with a direct message for Tip: “Keep my name out ya mouth.”

50 clowned T.I. by posting a clip from a 2010 Crime Stoppers ad on Instagram . “I know Atlanta pick and choose who they support, but yall gotta do better,” 50 wrote. “LOL keep my name out ya mouth !”

He continued to antagonize T.I. with another clip of T.I. allegedly testifying in a case surrounding the 2006 murder of his assistant Philant Johnson in Cincinnati. “No, no , i don’t like it,” 50 added. “No verses let’s do (The stay away challenge ) and stay away from me. LOL.”

Hip-hop historian Nuface posted a video of a phone conversation between T.I. and Kevin Hart on Instagram on Feb. 10. The video finds Tip flaunting his confidence in a potential Verzuz battle with 50 while telling Hart to get 50 to step into the ring.

The post eventually made its way onto 50’s radar and he called out T.I. for snitching in the past while labeling him “King Rat” in the comment section.

Tip didn’t waste much time to fire back, claiming that 50 was “a rat in real life.” “You playing on MY NAME when only one of us a rat in real life…you know I got your paperwork right? And my transcript is available online,” he wrote. “Your excuses is useless. Get yo h— a— in the box or STFU and live in fear. You soft son. You’ve lost my respect. Fckn [duck emoji].”

T.I. joined Million Dollaz Worth of Game on Feb. 22, and Verzuz came up once again — but this time around, the trap pioneer provided context, claiming that he and 50 Cent discussed battling before the public back-and-forth.

While the duo was traveling around Hollywood locking in TV/film deals, Tip said that 50 seemed interested behind closed doors in participating in a Verzuz, but sang a different tune on social media, which made T.I. lose respect for Fif.

“It was really about celebrating each other’s catalog. Me and this n—a talked about this,” he said. “I just ain’t call him out of the blue. This ain’t come out of nowhere. We were moving around in Los Angeles, selling some shows together.”

T.I. continued: “It’s like, f—k all of it. Now, I question your character. N—a, just say you don’t want to do it. That shit ain’t going to happen. I don’t want to stand on stage with him. I don’t respect him.”

50’s mental warfare and petty social media antics picked up when he posted a not-so-flattering photo of T.I.’s wife, Tiny, and then compared his son, King Harris, to the Pepe the Frog meme.

“Fu*k Ni66a you can post a fat ho in a snowstorm on a unicycle juggling dildos…. You still a HO!!!! #KingSaid That,” T.I. wrote in the comments, according to Complex.

Tip then took it to the studio, where he released the menacing “War,” which doesn’t address 50 by name, but appears to include several warning shots. “The bear hibernating, don’t poke him/ When you see the giant sleeping, shouldn’t have woke him,” he raps.

While 50 stuck to jabbing at Tip and his family with memes, T.I. headed back to the booth. He returned with the bristling “The Right One” diss track, which leaves no doubt he’s got his crosshairs aimed at the Queens native.

T.I. covers the board while defending his family and sniping at 50 about his relationship with women, the Black community, being a bully on social media and a rapper unwilling to stand on his catalog.

“You take no issue with them white boys/ It’s only our people that you find to be an eyesore/ Duckin’ smoke, he won’t even stand up for his legacy/ I guess it’s ’cause he see ain’t s—t to fight for,” he raps.

T.I. didn’t let 50 come up for air to close out February. He dropped another diss track, which found a frail version of 50 on the cover art from his role in 2011’s All Things Fall Apart. Tip blasts 50 for allegedly being an informant as well as his tendency to antagonize those on their worst days on social media.

“Msg to da Dildo dealer: I don’t make memes I MAKE MUSIC!!!! IDGAF what you erase… You keep posting = it’s Problems!!!! #WhatBully,” he captioned the diss track post.

Even if 50 wasn’t going to respond, T.I. was going to make sure he was controlling the narrative with his raps and he had plenty more to get off of his chest. Tip returned with “Lessons” hours after his last missile was fired at 50.

“Yeah I changed my mind too FN!!!! I don’t want u to RAP bcuz we all know it’ll be A— anyway!!! We just want you to answer to these Johnsons you juggling in real life,” he wrote when releasing the diss. “You can write a poem, draw a picture, do a dance or somn to explain this shit cause we wanna fckn know!!!! Now Keep on posting!!! Ion make memes I make music Pu$$yyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!”