50 Cent was front in the line more than anyone else, turning up his iconic 2003 hit “Many Men (Wish Death)” from his debut studio album after the July 13 assassination attempt to take out former President Donald Trump. The rapper went high and low, paying tribute to Trump after he survived the harrowing incident, much like he 50 survived his own near-death experiences in 2000 when he was shot nine times. An unsaid bond of relatability was thus struck between the two public figures.
As 50 saw his classic trending alongside the failed Trump assassination attempt in July 2024, he took full advantage of the situation, pushing for its further virality more than two decades after the song’s release. Taking to his X/Twitter account, the “In Da Club” rapper not only shared a video edit picturing Trump pumping his fist high in the air after surviving a shot that grazed his right ear with his song playing in the background, but he also shared an altered album cover of his breakthrough release “Get Rich or Die Tryin,” replacing his face with Trump’s.
Thereafter, the “Many Men” hitmaker took the song to the club and blasted the music at one of his Boston gigs last Sunday, displaying the same edited Trump poster in the background as he hyped the crowd with his performance. The classic record soon lit up social media in a frenzy, as the song also reaped rewards on streaming platforms in the aftermath. Streams for 50 Cent’s song shot up 250%, with over 2 million streams in just two days, as reported by Billboard.
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Why 50 Cent ‘Many Men’ producer won’t allow for the song to be used by Trump campaign
Despite the buzzworthy feat and the rapper’s instant response to the song trending atop online tags, the track’s veteran producer has no plans of sharing the song with the former president’s camp.
Contrary to many netizens pushing for the Trump team to link up with 50 for a “Many Men” remix and others urging the rapper himself to “authorise” the Republican presidential hopeful to play out the song as his campaign anthem, the song’s producer, Darrell “Digga” Branch has firmly established his take on the matter.
Despite relishing the news of the song breaking records, Digga told TMZ that he wouldn’t allow it to be used “to make Trump look gangsta” because he doesn’t particularly share any affinity for the former president.
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He initially posted a screenshot of the Billboard story reporting the unheard-of victory “Many Men” had achieved at the heels of the July 13 incident on his Instagram. “ The result of it all was a massive surge in streams and sales for the song, as it collected over 2.2 million U.S. on-demand audio streams from July 13-15 – up,” he captioned the post.
The Harlem native confessed to having been shocked by his notifications ringing off the hook and questioning if it was a prank. Even with 50 playing up the song at his Boston concert and all the edits of Trump floating online, Digga has drawn the line at the former president using the song on his campaign trail.
The July 13 assassination attempt saw would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks open fire at Trump’s Butler County rally in Pennsylvania. He was spotted on a roof from where he let loose multiple shots, one of which also left an innocent rally attendee dead.
