Taylor Swift‘s new album “The Life of a Showgirl” has generated headlines not only for its emotional songwriting but also for a surprising name-drop: 50 Cent.
In the track “Ruin the Friendship,” she sings “And it was not an invitation / But as the 50 Cеnt song played.” The song is believed to be about a high school friend she wished she had kissed, before learning he had died.
Upon learning that he was mentioned on Swift’s 12th studio album, the “In Da Club” rapper took to social media to share his reaction. Sharing a photo of the “The Life of a Showgirl” album cover, 50 Cent — whose real name is Curtis James Jackson III — wrote: “@taylorswift s— is popping right now, she shout me out, she don’t shout you out. LOL THIS IS FOR BIG TIMERS ONLY!@50centaction wait I’m the only shout out on the whole album.”
While Swift likely included the reference to set the scene and time frame of her teenage years, the mention is unexpected given his support for President Donald Trump and past controversies.
After Trump’s assassination attempt in 2024, 50 Cent shared an image of Trump’s face photoshopped on his album cover. Furthermore, while the rapper reportedly turned down a $3 million deal to appear at Trump’s Madison Square Garden rally ahead of the presidential election, he appeared to celebrate Trump’s presidential election win.
On Nov. 6, the day after the election, 50 Cent shared two photos with Trump. “I don’t care how the fight goes, I’m leaving with the winner s—. I still don’t know what’s going on. Congratulations,” he wrote in the caption.
Swift is a well-known supporter of the Democratic Party, having endorsed Kamala Harris for president ahead of the 2024 election. President Trump responded to Swift’s endorsement by publicly declaring that he “hates” Swift. Earlier this year, Trump also claimed that Swift “was no longer hot.”
50 Cent’s criminal record—which includes serving time for cocaine possession in 1994, and a 2017 charge for misdemeanor domestic violence and vandalism with an ex-girlfriend— further makes him an unusual choice for Swift to include given her mostly young female fanbase.
Are Taylor Swift and 50 Cent friends?
It’s unclear if Taylor Swift and 50 Cent are friends, but they appear to think highly of one another. In 2009, 50 Cent was asked to weigh in on Swift and Kanye West’s longtime feud, which began after he interrupted her during the MTV VMAs that year to declare that Beyoncé should have won the award. Vulture reported that 50 Cent showed support for Swift at the time, saying: “I wish he would try to come and take one of my awards; I’d black his eye in front of everybody.” Where we come from, them’s fightin’ words!”
Furthermore, in a 2010 interview with Chelsea Handler (via Digital Spy), Swift revealed that listening to 50 Cent is part of her warm-up routine.
“I love 50 Cent. Like, that’s my thing,” she told Handler. “When I’m on tour we have all three girls – the back-up singer, the fiddle player and me – all in one room and we all warm up to 50 Cent music.” Swift added that it was “surprising how many lyrics I know” to his songs.
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