G G G G G Unit! Once upon a time in hip-hop, longtime friends 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo, later joined by Young Buck and The Game, ruled the rap game. In the early 2000s, after 50's success under Eminem and Dr. Dre's Shady/Aftermath joint venture, G-Unit (short for Guerilla Unit) blossomed and saw massive worldwide acclaim. In 2003, a year after 50's Get Rich or Die Tryin' classic album, the group released their debut, Beg for Mercy. Its 2008 follow-up, Terminate on Sight, however, wasn't much of commercial success, leaving us wondering: what could go wrong?
Things didn't always go smoothly for the South Jamaica natives, and we honestly knew this fallout was about to come. The first fallout happened in 2005 after The Game released his debut album, The Documentary. 50 heavily involved with the production of the record, but he felt like he wasn't getting enough credit for that. He also saw Game's desire to work with artists who were feuding with G-Unit at that time, like Ja Rule and Jadakiss, as disloyalty to him.
Since then, for years and years, 50 and the rest of the crews have been on a tumultuous, love-hate relationship. It's been 17 years since they released their debut album, and here is what the crews have been up to today.
15. 50 Cent: Power (2020)
Via ABC
Apart from his work as a rapper and a savvy businessman, 50 Cent is also an actor by heart. He served as an executive producer, a composer, and one of the main characters of Starz's highly-rated series, Power. The show closed its curtains on February 9, 2020, but the TV network has announced that there will be four spinoffs planned in the same world as Power. This includes Power Book III: Raising Kanan a prequel into Kanan's life (50 Cent), starring Omar Epps.
14. Tony Yayo: The Beauty Of Independence (2014)
Via G-Unit Records
Even though their backlash had been heavily publicized, and Tony Yayo claimed that G-Unit had officially broken up in 2014, the crews were back together in the same year. They surprised their fans with their first-ever six-track EP, The Beauty of Independence, which was released at midnight on August 25.
13. Lloyd Banks: Battling Depression
Via Hypebeast
Lloyd Banks, on the other hand, has been battling depression. It all started way back in 2006 when his father passed away, and his mother's health condition slowly deteriorated. He nearly quit hip-hop and threw in the towel, and 50 Cent wasn't so helping at all. "Seeing my life pass before my eyes," Lloyd told XXL Mag. "It was like, no matter how much sh*t you have or how good you're doing, you're going to go through this and be devastated."
12. Young Buck: The Rehab (2010)
Via Wealtholino
Nope, Young Buck did not go to a rehabilitation center in 2010. Instead, he released his third studio album. The Rehab, on September 7. It was initially released way back in 2008, which YB made an exaggerated claim that it will sell a million copies in the first week, but continuously delayed due to the bad blood between him and G-Unit.
11. 50 Cent: Street King Immortal (TBA)
Via XXL Magz
50's Get Rich or Die Tryin days might have been long gone, and he is now an actor-slash-savvy businessman, but it never stops him from making music. His upcoming album, Streets King Immortal, was initially scheduled for a summer 2012 release. However, it was postponed as Fiddy began to write more material based on a different concept.
10. Tony Yayo: Australia, Welcome To G-Unit (2019)
Via Tony Yayo/Instagram
In 2019, Tony Yayo linked up with Lloyd Banks to rock the 'Down Under.' The cities of Adelaide, Perth, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, and Auckland witnessed the mini-reunion of two of the three G-Unit original members as they performed some of their biggest G-Unit and solo hits. 50 Cent, however, was not present.
9. Lloyd Banks: Goodbye, G-Unit (2018)
Via Complex News
In 2018, Lloyd Banks made his exit from G-Unit and G-Unit Records official, which 50 Cent confirmed by himself in a now-deleted Instagram post. "Check out my boy Lloyd bank$," Fiddy wrote. "New mixtape coming soon! Independence Day! He is doing his own thing, and you know it's gonna be loaded with bars. Check him out!"
8. Young Buck: Behind The Walls (TBA)
Young Buck has encountered problems with the law throughout his career, and he was sentenced to 18 months in prison on weapon charges back in 2012. In 2015, after dropping his new mixtape 10 Bullets, the G-Unit rep continued to work his pen and announced his first. The book, titled Behind the Walls, tells "the redemption of the powerful hip-hop celebrity who fell off course but was able to learn from his mistakes enough to change the path of his future."
7. 50 Cent: A Hollywood Star (2020)
After more than 20 years of ups and downs, Hollywood appreciated 50 Cent with a star on its Walk of Fame, only ten days before the finale of his crime series, Power. His mentors, Dr. Dre and Eminem, joined him on the stage for a celebration. “I look at this like a lifetime achievement award,” Jackson said. “It’s cool. They’ll give me more. I know they’ll give me a lifetime achievement award because I’m not done, you know what I’m saying? So I’ll be back, like, they got to save space for me down the street.”
6. Tony Yayo: Whiskey Festival (2019)
Via HotNewHipHop
After all, the show must go on. In 2019, despite all the drama in the past, Tony Yayo, joined by 50 Cent, staged a mini-reunion of G-Unit during Oregon's Whiskey Festival. The Unit pals rocked the stage to P.I.M.P and put their differences aside. With Lloyd Banks quitting in 2018, Tony Yayo and 50 are the remaining members of the legendary squad.
5. Lloyd Banks: Life Of A Father (2018)
Via Lloyd Banks/Instagram
Life has been lowkey and calm for Lloyd Banks, the most prolific and lyrical member of the group. In 2019, Lloyd took to Instagram to announce the second member of his little unit family, two years after having his first mini-me. "It’s a BOY!!! Now I can rest well you know what that means..timbs..fitted caps..hoodies..Jordan’s and headbands," Lloyd wrote.
4. Young Buck: BOOM (2018)
Via WSHH
Even though the glory days of G-Unit are long gone, the grind doesn't stop for Young Bucks. In 2018, he released his single, BOOM, exclusively through the World Star Hip-hop YouTube channel. The song serves as a single for the G-Unit's original southern representative's 2018 mixtape, 10 Plugs. Boosie Badazz and Tray 8 also made their cameos on the record.
3. Honorable Mention: The Game
Via Aftermath
Back in the days when G-Unit was on the top of the world, Jimmy Iovine (the CEO of Interscope) and Dr. Dre introduced The Game and placed him into the group as a devotee. Things, however, didn't go smoothly at all. Game refused to take part in the feuds that G-Unit was into and even worked with some of their nemesis. 50 saw this as disloyalty, and in the next couple of years, the two heavyweight rappers sent shots and insults through songs and even escalated to a violent and bloody altercation.
2. Honorable Mention: Kidd Kidd
Via All Hiphop
In 2014, Lousiana-based rapper Kidd Kidd joined the group during their reunion at the 21st annual Summer Jam in New Jersey. "I still get the chills. [I'm] with people [I] grew up listening to and everything," Kidd recalled the reunion to XXL. "And I mean, really, really listening to. I can probably rap each one of these dudes' CDs front to back. When I am on stage with them, I still get that fan mode."
However, Kidd left the group in 2018 to focus on crafting his own label, RLLNR Entertainment.
1. What's Next?
So, what's next for G-Unit? Well, even though they have shared a fair amount of a tempestuous relationship within the years, you can not deny that their bond is more profound than rap itself. With several small reunions between festivals and concerts that occurred in the last couple of years, it's not harmful for fans to expect a reunion in a full-battle mode, like the good old days.
