50 Cent, more than anyone else, was at the front of the line, singing his iconic 2003 hit “Many Men (Wish Death)” from his debut studio album following the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump on July 13. The rapper raised his voice in tribute to Trump, just as 50 Cent survived his own near-death experience in 2000, when he was shot nine times, thus establishing an unspoken connection between the two public figures.
50 noticed his classic trending alongside the failed assassination attempt on Trump in July 2024, so he took full advantage of the situation and tried to make the song even more viral more than two decades after its release. On his X/Twitter account, the “In Da Club” rapper not only shared a video edit showing Trump pumping his fist in the air after dodging a shot while his song played in the background, but he also shared an altered album cover of his successful release “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” with his face replaced with Trump’s.
Following this, the “Many Men” hitmaker went to the club last Sunday and played the music at one of his Boston gigs, showing the same edited poster of Trump in the background and enthusing the crowd with his performance. The classic record soon made waves on social media, as the song later garnered accolades on streaming platforms as well. As Billboard reports, streams of 50 Cent’s song increased by 250%, garnering over 2 million streams in just two days.
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Why won’t 50 Cent’s ‘Many Men’ producer allow the song’s use by the Trump campaign?
Despite the buzz and the rapper’s quick response to the song topping online tags, the track’s veteran producer has no plans to share the song with the former president’s camp.
Contrary to many netizens pushing the Trump team to team up with 50 for a “Many Men” remix, and others urging the rapper himself to “authorize” the Republican presidential candidate to play the song as his campaign anthem, the song’s producer, Darrell “Digga” Branch, has firmly established his opinion on the matter.
Despite being happy with the song’s record-breaking news, Digga told TMZ that he would not allow it to be used “to make Trump look like a gangster” as he has no particular affection for the former president.
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He first posted a screenshot of a Billboard story on his Instagram that reported on the unexpected win “Many Men” achieved following the event on July 13. “All of this resulted in a massive surge in streams and sales for the song, as it amassed over 2.2 million U.S. on-demand audio streams from July 13-15,” he captioned the post.
The Harlem native confessed that he was shocked by his notifications constantly ringing and questioned if it was a prank. Even after the song was played by 50 people at his Boston concert and all of Trump’s edits were circulated online, Digga has banned the former president from using the song in his campaign.
On July 13, a would-be assassin, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire at Trump’s Butler County rally in Pennsylvania in an assassination attempt. He was seen on a rooftop, from where he fired multiple shots, one of which killed an innocent bystander at the rally.
