50 Cent on Hip-Hop Culture, Diddy, and Getting a Taylor Swift Shout-Out

"Your mother or your grandmother nurtured you before you knew how to sin. They see all good in you because they saw you when there was no bad. And later, when you get in trouble and you're in prison, she'll say, Look what they did to my baby. My grandmother used to say, Wear white underwears. They'll tell you when to change them. We used to have big blocks of cheese that the government gave us. I still eat cheese sandwiches sometimes."

"There's turkey and everything else in the fridge, and I'm still eating just the cheese and the bread. Habits are habits. You think you have money until you're in a room with people who have money. We evolve. If you stay the same, then you just falling behind. Onstage when it comes time to perform, I know what I'm doing. I've done the rehearsals. I don't care how many people show upgazillion people, I'll be fine. I'm not accustomed to being nervous."

"But having to speak in front of those people? Quincy Jones would go, Get me that guy from Chicago, that bass player. That boy was bad. And get me the piano player from when we was in that other town. He would bring the right people together. It was that experience that made hit music. Reciprocate the energy being put into the relationship, and then that person can live a whole life with you."

50 Cent reflects on the protective role of mothers and grandmothers who nurture children before wrongdoing and later defend them when they face punishment. He recalls his grandmother's advice to wear white underwear and habitual food choices like cheese sandwiches despite available luxuries. He observes that perceived wealth shifts when surrounded by truly wealthy people and stresses the need to evolve or fall behind. He expresses stage confidence built from rehearsal while admitting public speaking can be harder. He praises Quincy Jones' skill of assembling the right musicians to create hits and emphasizes reciprocating energy in relationships. He criticizes Puffy's king complex and warns that silence implies acceptance.

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