"Ghetto Qur'an" is a song by 50 Cent from his unreleased Columbia Records debut album ''

Power of the Dollar ''Power of the Dollar'' is the unreleased debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. Originally set to be released as his major-label debut in 2000 by Columbia Records, the album's release was cancelled after Columbia discovered that 50 Cen ...

''. The song was leaked in early 2000. The song mentions drug dealers from the 1980s in his neighborhood of

South Jamaica, Queens South Jamaica (also commonly known as "The Southside") is a residential neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, located south of downtown Jamaica. Although a proper border has not been established, the neighborhood is a subsection ...

. "Ghetto Qur'an" is produced by Poke & Tone of

Trackmasters The Trackmasters are an American hip hop production duo composed of music producers Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), best known for their commercial hit records in the mid-late 1990s and early 2000s. Frank "Nitty" Pimentel joi ...

, and uses a sample from Diana Ross' and Marvin Gaye's duet "

Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) "Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)" is a Soul music, soul song songwriter, written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed that was originally recorded by the Philadelphia soul musical ensemble, group the Stylistics. The Stylistics original version An R&B ...

Lyrics

The track's lyrics mention several characters 50 remembers from his formative years in Queens, including Kenneth McGriff and his nephew Gerald Prince Miller of the '80s drug gang Supreme Team.

Aftermath

It is rumored that the song and the subsequent music industry blacklisting of 50 Cent by

Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff (born September 19, 1960) is an American convicted former drug lord and gangster from New York City. Background McGriff rose to prominence in early 1981 when he formed his own crack cocaine distributing and manufacturing ...

and his associates led to the murder of

Run DMC Run-DMC (also spelled Run-D.M.C.) was an American hip hop group from Hollis, Queens, New York City, founded in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as one of the most influential acts in the history ...

Jam Master Jay Jason William Mizell (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002), better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC became one of the big ...

. There is speculation that Jay ignored the blacklisting by mentoring the young 50 Cent and introducing him to the people in the music industry. According to an

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a stateme ...

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory tax ...

agent Francis Mace, law enforcement officials believed that the shooting of 50 Cent in 2000 was in retaliation for the lyrics of the song which detailed the history of The Supreme Team. "Ghetto Qur'an" served as a basis for 50 Cent's rivals (mainly

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with '' Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single " Holla Holla". Dur ...

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (born June 26, 1970), professionally known as Irv Gotti, is an American DJ, music producer, record executive, and the CEO and co-founder of Murder Inc. Records. He is best known for producing multiple number-one rec ...

and the Murder Inc. music group, with whom he was feuding at the time) labeling him a snitch. 50 Cent mentioned in an AllHipHop.com interview that the song was appreciated. He also talked about how Nas' song " Get Down" from the album '' God's Son'' similarly mentions names, but few people consider anything wrong with it.Berrios, Martin A. (June 27, 2007)
Streets is Watching: 50 Cent Part Two
. ''AllHipHop''. Accessed July 6, 2007. The song was later added to his 2002 mixtape ''

Guess Who's Back? ''Guess Who's Back?'' is a debut official mixtape by American rapper 50 Cent, released May 21, 2002 on independent label Full Clip Records in the United States. It is his first official release after his 2000 effort '' Power of the Dollar'' ...

'', titled as "Ghetto Qua ran". The chorus to this song was sampled on Proof's solo CD '' Searching for Jerry Garcia'' on the song called "Forgive Me".

References

External links

50 Cent's official websiteGenius lyrics annotation of "Ghetto Qu'ran"
{{authority control 50 Cent songs 1999 songs Songs written by 50 Cent Song recordings produced by Trackmasters Songs about drugs