50 Cent recently opened up about why he’s stepped back from rapping. In an August interview at Invest Fest with “Earn Your Leisure,” now circulating on social media, the G-Unit icon shared his belief that today's rap music has become watered down.

“If you listen to the music that’s out right now, I have to tap into my stupid,” 50 began. “I have to tap into the stupid side of me to write the right thing when it comes time to write the music. This is why I haven’t created as much content as I was creating in the past and I started going towards the film production and development of these projects. Because I can impact things in a bigger way through that. Tyler [Perry]’s been there all by himself.”

This isn’t the first time the “Power” creator has shared his thoughts on the state of hip-hop. In a 2022 interview with Houston's 97.9 The Box, he emphasized that it's up to the younger generation of rappers to keep the genre thriving.

“Look, I’ma be all the way a hunnid with you; part of Hip Hop is youth culture. I don’t think you’re supposed to have the hottest verse at 50 years old in Hip Hop,” 50 said. “I think the 16-year-old kid, the 15-year-old…that guy should be thinking and doing what is keeping the culture thriving, so it grows to a new energy with new vibes, with new music.”

He continued, “I mean, some of it you look at, and it’s easier! The cadences are the same, they’re rapping the same way on the records. If I gotta go make a record right now, I could do that record easy! You could actually take your favorite records and write your version of your favorite records with your words on that track, and then go get the next track because they’re using the same melody every time.”