“I made that record a hit, yet hearing it just tastes bitter.”
Few rivalries in hip-hop history are as raw, personal, and long-lasting as the feud between 50 Cent and The Game. While fans remember their brief alliance as a golden era of West Coast–East Coast collaboration, 50 Cent remembers it as a business partnership that collapsed into hostility. At the center of that bitterness is the 2005 hit How We Do—a song that helped launch The Game into superstardom, but which 50 Cent now reportedly never wants to hear again.
The Architect Behind The Documentary
In 2004, The Game was positioned as the next great West Coast star, mentored by Dr. Dre and backed by Jimmy Iovine. To ensure commercial dominance, Dre and Iovine enlisted 50 Cent, who at the time was untouchable after the massive success of Get Rich or Die Tryin’.
50 Cent has repeatedly claimed that his role went far beyond guest verses. According to him, he wrote or heavily shaped the hooks and melodic structures for multiple tracks on The Documentary, including “How We Do” and Hate It or Love It. In his view, these weren’t equal collaborations—they were strategic blueprints designed to guarantee success for the G-Unit brand.
From Hit Records to Hostile Fallout
The irony is brutal. The Documentary was released in January 2005 and became an instant classic, debuting at No. 1 and solidifying The Game as a major force. “How We Do” climbed to No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a defining club anthem of the decade.
But almost immediately, the partnership imploded. A violent fallout between the two camps, reportedly linked to an incident at New York’s Hot 97 radio station, marked the point of no return. What followed was years of diss tracks, lawsuits, and open hostility. For 50 Cent, the success of “How We Do” stopped feeling like a win and started feeling like his own work fueling a rival’s rise.
A Song That Became a Reminder
The bitterness cuts deeper because the song never went away. Produced by Dr. Dre and Mike Elizondo, “How We Do” remains one of the most streamed tracks in both artists’ catalogs. Every replay is a reminder of what 50 Cent sees as misplaced loyalty and a fractured empire.
Fans hear nostalgia. 50 Cent hears a receipt.
To him, the track represents the moment the G-Unit dream cracked—proof that in hip-hop, business and brotherhood rarely survive success together. “How We Do” may be remembered as a classic, but for its alleged architect, it’s a hit that left nothing but a bitter aftertaste.