Biography

The Unit (short for Gorilla Unit, not Guerilla nor Gangsta Unit, as often believed) began as a trio comprised of 50, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo (often with the accompaniment of either DJ Whookid or Cutmaster C as their DJ), and this particular lineup resulted in a series of popular mixtapes: 50 Cent Is the Future, God's Plan, No Mercy, No Fear, and Automatic Gunfire.

Practically every East Coast hardcore rapper has a posse to back him, and 50 Cent is no different, with G-Unit as his particular crew. Before the group had a chance to record its debut album for Interscope in the wake of 50's breakthrough with Get Rich or Die Tryin', Yayo was sentenced to prison for a gun-possession charge.

His replacement, Young Buck, stepped up soon afterward, and the group continued its activity, working on yet more mixtape recordings and scoring some big-time success on the "G-Unit Remix" to 50's "P.I.M.P.," which also featured Snoop Dogg and got heavy rotation on MTV.

Meanwhile, G-Unit recorded their debut album, Beg for Mercy, over the course of 2003, and Interscope finally rush-released the album on November 14 (to combat bootlegging), preceding it with a lead single, "Stunt 101."

Several other singles followed, including "Poppin' Them Thangs" and "Wanna Get to Know You."

Recently, The Game was dropped from G-Unit Records by 50 Cent. Although there were a number of reasons for this, the main reason was that 50 Cent claimed that Game had not shown him enough support in his newly instigated feuds with Nas, Jadakiss/D-Block, and Fat Joe. He also claims that 50 Cent has not received the proper credit for his work on The Game's album, The Documentary. During a radio interview with Hot 97's FunkMaster Flex in New York City on March 1, 2005, 50 Cent, while discussing the growing rift between the two rappers, was rushed out of studio as The Game's posse allegedly attempted to gain entrance to the studio to confront 50 Cent. In the process, a man from Compton was shot, an associate of The Game's Black Wall Street company, reportedly by a member of 50 Cent's posse [Although no arrests have been made, and a spokesperson for 50 Cent denies any involvement].

This controversy was put off by 50 Cent, The Game, and their respective companies. A formal announcement was made at a press conference on March 9, 2005.

"It's going to be a positive thing for both sides," said The Game. I think it's so much bigger being that the date is March 9 [The day Biggie Smalls was murdered]. I'm definitely going to do what I got to do...[to be] on a positive note."