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G-Unit Information
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'G-Unit' or the Gorilla Unit (as spelled on clothing) is a rap group consisting of 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Young Buck and others, and has become one of the most dominant groups in hip-hop.
The group first garnered a following in the underground and "street" scene in New York by independently releasing several mixtapes. They also appeared on many other mixtapes, including those of DJ Kay Slay and DJ Clue. They now have their own official DJ Whoo Kid.
In 2003 the group released their debut album Beg for Mercy. It debuted at #2 on the Billboard Top 200 albums chart, and has sold over two million copies. The success of this album led Reebok to release a line of G-Unit Sneakers.
History
When 50 Cent gained solo success in his multi-platnium selling album "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" featuring G-Unit the group rose to fame. 50 Cent was granted an own record label called G-Unit Records through his labels Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment (both divisions of Interscope Records). He appointed his manager Sha Money XL to be president of the label. The first artist signed to G-Unit Records was Lloyd Banks because the other member Tony Yayo was in prison and Young Buck wasn't part of the group yet. Quickly after Young Buck and Tony Yayo signed they released their G-Unit debut album "Beg for Mercy" on G-Unit Records which Tony Yayo featured on several songs.
Controversy
The feud with The Game
The Game's debut album, The Documentary, was surrounded by controversy. Soon after its release, 50 Cent and G-Unit publicly ousted the rapper from their clique on many radio stations, notably the controversial Hot 97. 50 Cent claimed that The Game didn't follow the tradition. On the anniversary of the Notorious B.I.G.'s death, the two publicly made peace, jointly donating money to charities and promising that they wouldn't risk their lives in the feud. Within a few weeks, however, members of G-Unit continued dissing The Game in interviews. Finally The Game shot back at Hot 97's recent Summer Jam 2005 and on his 'How The West Was One' tour. The Game recently released a 15-minute-long song titled "300 Bars and Runnin". He has also started a campaign titled: "G-Unot", which many hip hop stars have supported by wearing "G-Unot" shirts. G-Unit have released few "disses" towards The Game, but have on many occasions mentioned their views on him at interviews. Recently Game claimed victory in the feud and declared it over.
Discography
Albums
'G-Unit'
*2002 50 Cent is the Future (50 Cent & G-Unit) [Mistape]
*2003 Beg For Mercy #2 US 2X platinum, #13 UK, 5X Platinum worldwide
*2006 G-Unit World (working title)
'50 Cent'
*2003 Get Rich or Die Tryin' #1 US, #1 UK, 6x Platinum (11 million worldwide)
*2005 The Massacre #1 US, #1 UK, 4x Platinum (over 8 million worldwide)
*2005 Get Rich or Die Tryin' Soundtrack #2 US, #18 UK (gold) (700,000 worldwide )
*2007 50
'Lloyd Banks'
*2004 The Hunger For More #1 US (2x Platinum) (4 million worldwide)
*2006 The Big Withdraw
'Young Buck'
*2004 Straight Outta Cashville #3 US (1x Platinum) (2 million worldwide)
*2005 T.I.P. #46 US
*2006 Buck All Y'all
'The Game'
*2005 The Documentary #1 US (4x Platinum) (5 million worldwide)
(Although Game is not a member of G-Unit, 50 Cent has credit on the album, And 50 Cent got paid from the album, so Game's album should remain here)
'Olivia'
*2001: Olivia (wasn't a member of G-Unit then)
*2005: Behind Closed Doors (official debut)
'Tony Yayo'
*2005 Thoughts of a Predicate Felon #2 (gold) (1 million worldwide)
Singles
From Beg For Mercy:
* 2003 "Stunt 101" #13 US; #2 UK
* 2003 "Poppin Them Thangs" #25 U.S.; #3 U.K.
* 2004 "Wanna Get To Know You" (feat. Joe) #15 US, #2 UK
From And Then ...'' (by Joe):
* 2004 "Ride Wit U"/"More And More" (Joe feat. G-Unit) #47 US, #3 UK
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