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Rick Ross can’t escape 50 Cent’s Instagram, and first-week numbers for Set in Stone just gave Fif the sharpest weapon he’s had in years.
50 Cent posted on his official Instagram with his signature casual brutality after the sales data came in, writing, “I just saw your records sales! LOL 2,000 WTF,” and leaving it there for the internet to absorb.
Ross’s latest album is projected to move over 26,000 units, much more than 50 Cent claimed, but still less than his last album Richer Than I Ever Been, which moved about 34,000 units in its first week in December 2021.
Coming from an artist who’s spent 17 years making Ross’s life a recurring meme, the timing was immaculate, and even the most loyal MMG supporters struggled to fire back.
Ross came out swinging at 50 in the weeks leading up to the release, publicly threatening to slap Fif with his million-dollar ring and trading barbs on social media.
Set in Stone, Ross’s 12th studio album, dropped July 17 via Gamma and Maybach Music Group and came packed with 19 tracks featuring T.I., Jeezy, French Montana, Gucci Mane, Don Toliver, and Kodak Black.
That’s a stacked feature list for an album that reportedly couldn’t clear three thousand units in its first week.
Even the early reviews were rough, with some listeners calling it one of the worst mainstream rap albums in years.
The beef between these two men stretches back to 2009, when Ross took shots at 50’s personal life on “Mafia Music” and Fif countered with “Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me),” using Ross’s past as a correctional officer to dismantle his street image.
The war escalated well beyond music after 50 leaked a sex tape involving Ross’s baby mother, Lastonia Leviston, ultimately costing him $7 million in damages and forcing him into bankruptcy.
That didn’t cool him down.
He mocked Ross getting attacked at a Vancouver concert in 2024 and has been circling ever since, according to Billboard.
For his part, Ross seemed to read the room before the album even dropped, posting an Instagram video about two weeks out, saying, “I’m already paid before the album come out,” and explaining that today’s industry is about the brand, not the chart.
It’s a solid business argument, and 50 Cent is going to clown it for the next six months regardless.
Ross launched his career with Port of Miami, debuting at No. 1 in 2006 with 187,000 first-week units.
