50 Cent doesn't think DaBaby's recent homophobic controversy put a fork in the rapper's career. In fact, Fif thinks Baby has the potential to bounce back like Chris Brown, who was loathed by many at one point in his career.
During an appearance on E!'s Nightly Pop on Wednesday (Aug. 10) with cohosts Nina Parker, Morgan Stewart and Hunter March, Parker asked 50 if he thinks DaBaby can bounce back from the comments he made about people with HIV, AIDS, the LGBTQ+ community and more, which has resulted in Baby being condemned and removed from several festivals.
Fif replied: "Yeah, he will. As long as he keeps the consistency with the music. Remember they canceled Chris Brown like, five, six times?"
One instance 50 Cent is likely referring to is Chris Brown getting into a physical altercation with then-girlfriend Rihanna back in 2009. Images later emerged of Rihanna's battered face following the incident. C. Breezy pleaded guilty to one count of assault with the intent of doing great bodily injury in connection to the incident that stemmed from an argument allegedly provoked by Rihanna discovering a text from another woman on Brown's phone.
Years later, in 2017, Chris' former girlfriend, Karrueche Tran, was granted a five-year restraining order against the R&B singer after testifying that he abused her.
There have been numerous other times when Chris Brown has made headlines for his troubling actions, but he still releases and appears on successful songs with top artists like Young Thug's "Go Crazy" and Drake's "No Guidance," to name a few.
Elsewhere in the conversation, 50 Cent also weighed in on DaBaby's controversy in its entirety and shared the advice he'd give the Charlotte, N.C. rapper.
"He is a really talented, special artist, right?” 50 said. "And he just transitioned from being in that pool that everyone’s in as a rap artist. Like, they didn’t notify him that he’s turning into a superstar."
Fif continued: "There’s nobody that tells you, 'Now, you’re being held to these standards' that are mainstream standards that you can’t say things and you can’t do these different things. He didn’t have a publicist involved and this is why the response took so long. Even his apology, the first apology attempt at it, was what made it worse. You know what it is? When a person makes a general statement, ’cause he made a general statement on stage, he’s not directing that to any individual, but what happens is he’s still new and he’s being attacked by individuals."
The rapper-turned-mogul then addressed DaBaby being called out by the likes of Madonna and Questlove for his homophobic comments.
"’Cause Madonna said something to him," 50 explained. "Questlove said something to him. Then, Elton John. Elton John, these are people that are this big. DaBaby is being taken aback by who specifically is saying this to him. It's tough for you to not assess them when you see them as royalty or important people and they are personally attacking you because they're saying something about DaBaby. He never said anything about any of them personally."
50 Cent added: "He’s only two years into his career. There’s no artist development. There’s no strong A&R in this. There’s definitely no media training."
As previously reported, during DaBaby's Rolling Loud Miami performance last month, he said while onstage, "If you didn't show up today with HIV, AIDS, any of them deadly sexual transmitted diseases that'll make you die in two to three weeks, put your cell phone light in the air. Ladies, if your pussy smells like water, put a cell phone light in the air. Fellas, if you ain't suckin' dick in the parking lot, put your cell phone lights in the air."
The rapper offered an apology, which drew more backlash, and later issued a formal apology to the LGBTQ+ community via his Instagram that was deleted days later.
DaBaby and 50 Cent linked up for the first time in-person last month. Baby shared an image of himself and Fif, and in the comments of the IG upload, 50 wrote, "I lost pop before he could get it, This one already got it and he listen. I'm a teach him all the mistakes I made, so he can be better than me. THIS IS HIP HOP!."
Check out 50 Cent speaking on DaBaby's controversy and the rapper's ability to bounce back in the video below.