“I was robbed” – 50 Cent, probably.
I was today years old when I was made aware of 50’s decade-long beef with Evanescence over the rock band’s Grammy win back in 2004. Not because of the usual web page jumping, but because the rapper mentioned his disappointment about losing “Best New Artist” over 16 years ago during his Hollywood Walk of Fame speech.
Talk about bringing the issue back to life (yes, pun definitely intended). He reportedly said, “The Best New Artist, they gave that shit to Evanescence. Can you find fucking Evanescence? I ain’t seen Evanescence since that night. Since that night they gave them the trophy.”
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For a bit of context, back in 2003 the rapper came out with a largely successful debut hip-hop album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” At the time, 50 seemed like a strong bet for the award. But as soon as the rock band Evanescence was named “Best New Artist” it seemed the rapper’s disappointment wasn’t just contained in a 5-second snippet of him scowling at the audience cam.
50 Cent actually walked up the stage in the middle of the band’s acceptance speech and interrupted the entire thing. The “I’mma let you finish” music award drama is one that stretches back all the way to the early 2000’s it would seem.
Like Taylor Swift being dragged into the infamous 2009 Kanye VMA interruption, I’m pretty sure Evanescence would like to remove themselves from this narrative as well.
Photo from 50 Cent’s official Instagram