It’s a day that ends in “y,” and as such, 50 Cent has found himself embroiled in a beef with another celebrity.
This time? Fif is trading barbs with T.I. over some old and new allegations regarding a canceled VERZUZ performance.
A few innocuous comments set off the affair, which marks the most recent development in the artists’…strained relationship.
Though both MCs certainly have more powerful beefs with other rappers, the New York icon and the Atlanta star seem to now have genuine disdain for one another. The battle has escalated to include wives, children, and even a deceased mother—a place we never want these disputes to go.
How did seemingly harmless speculation about a potential VERZUZ battle turn into the first true rap beef of 2026? T.I. initially suggested on Million Dollaz Worth of Game that the two had agreed on a VERZUZ battle, with the idea being that Tip would reveal the news.
He claimed on the pod, hosted by Gillie Da Kid and Wallo, that 50 went back on the plan, playing dumb when the “What You Know” rapper shared the news. From there, diss tracks were dropped, insults were lobbed, and past interactions have been brought up and recontextualized thanks to the spat.
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How did we get here? The two have a long history. Here is a timeline of 50 Cent and T.I.’s relationship.
2007-2008: 50 calls T.I. a snitch
Although the two didn’t collab, there seemed to be an uneasy peace, even if hints of competitive tension lurked underneath. In 2007, while T.I. was performing with Jay-Z and Kanye West at Screamfest 2007, 50 would pull a Lil Mama, jumping on stage and crashing the set.
In late 2007, T.I. would be arrested on federal gun charges. By March, he would make a deal with the feds, serving only a year in prison. This would catch the ire of 50, who would diss Tip on the G-Unit cut “You So Tough,” rapping:
“What’s today’s mathematics? Shit ain’t addin’ up/Get knocked with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months/Ooooh weee, don’t talk to me.”
November 26, 2011: 50 drags Tiny into it
Six months after being released from prison, T.I. got jammed up again when he and his wife Tiny were caught with pills that “resembled ecstasy” and weed.
This led to him being sentenced to another 11 months in jail—and prompted 50 Cent to very publicly question why Tiny didn’t take the fall for her husband.
T.I. responded in a VIBE cover story, saying:
“I’ma tell you, 50 Cent and anybody else: we not gonna have no discussion about what my ole lady shoulda, woulda, coulda done for anything as it pertains to me. We ain’t gonna do that. I’m the only one in my family that’s gonna take a lick when it pertains to the legal system. Since me, none of my other family members have seen a jail cell. Nobody. I’m the last one. The buck stops here. I feel that a person that stands behind [his woman for a criminal charge] is a coward anyway.”
The two would actually hop on a call and squash it not long after. In December of that year, 50 told VIBE that he and T.I. had settled things in a conversation that got “heated.” He explained:
“We got mutual friends and I was actually in conversation with one of them, and they were around him. I didn’t tell him to get [T.I.] on the phone and [T.I.] didn’t tell him to get me on the phone.”
July 6, 2020: T.I. publicly calls out 50 Cent
On 50 Cent’s 45th birthday, T.I. took to Instagram to offer his well-wishes.
This was back in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, when VERZUZ events had just begun popping off, and Harris used the opportunity of wishing Fif a happy birthday to challenge him to a battle.
In an Instagram video he said, “Pull your ass up with 20 of your records, man. Sit across from me, man. And get this work, man.” There was a bit of animosity in the message, though, as Tip added: “But I understand if you don’t want to answer to that challenge, because last time you got challenged, Kanye West dusted your ass off,” referring to Ye and 50’s chart battle for their respective September 11, 2007 releases, Graduation and Curtis. The “In Da Club” rapper didn’t take the bait, instead taking to X, formerly Twitter, to laugh about the challenge:
“Yo somebody passed T.I. the weed they gave smokey in Friday. L.O.L.,” he wrote.
July 9, 2020: T.I. pushes for a VERZUZ battle
Just three days later, T.I. kept the full press going, virtually joining Ebro in the Morning to discuss why he and Fif would be good VERZUZ matchup: “I just think [50 has] got an ego big enough to withstand my bravado. I don’t think he’d be intimidated by how I pop my shit …You got to get a gorilla for a gorilla,” he said, before adding: “And regardless of how you see me, inside me there’s a 900 pound gorilla…We really are similarly stacked. I don’t have a diamond album (like 50), but he don’t have five classic albums.”
T.I. clearly had a strategy to get 50 to agree to the contest, which seemed to consist of provoking him until he finally acquiesced. He added to Ebro: “I understand if he don’t wanna get down in the mud, ’cause he’s so accomplished now. He’s got so many TV shows, he got so many dope TV shows, and so many prosperous television deals that he just doesn’t [have] time to get down in the weeds and defend his catalog against the king, I understand…But as an artist, as a businessman, [50’s] extremely accomplished. But my catalog is doper than his.”
March 8, 2021: 50 shuts down plans for a VERZUZ with T.I.
Though 50 didn’t directly react to T.I.’s incessant calls for a VERZUZ battle, he did explain why he was avoiding them as a general principle during a guest spot on The Morning Hustle show.
“I thought VERZUZ was something we did when we was stuck in the house,” he explained. “As soon as we got out of the house to come back outside, VERZUZ didn’t make sense to me. VERZUZ to me, that showed up and was the hottest thing. I was paying attention to it, watching it like everybody else. As soon as we could go back outside, I don’t know why we still doing it.”
September 24, 2021: T.I. continues to press 50
Like a little brother who just wants to be invited to the high school party, T.I. wouldn’t quit pestering 50 Cent to join in on a VERZUZ. By this point, it’s becoming clear why Fif played dumb when Tip tried to get him to agree to the battle; At the premiere after party for Black Family Mafia in 2021, T.I. again tried to bait 50 Cent into the battle. “Hey 50, we got to do this VERZUZ, man,” he said as his DJ queued up “Whatever You Like.” He added, “Give them what the people want to see, man!”
February 6, 2026: After years of silence, T.I. revisits VERZUZ matchup
Five years passed with nary a word from T.I. about wanting, needing, having to battle 50 Cent.
Then, seemingly for no good reason at all, Tip renewed the request and it seems like Fif has finally had enough. The latest iteration of the drama began on February 6, when Harris stopped by Nightcap with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson.
The duo got T.I. all excited about VERZUZ again, and the rapper found himself wading into familiar territory: “When I was talking to Swizz, I was like, ‘Yeah, I’d do it, but the one that would really be the one, it probably ain’t gonna happen — if Gucci, that’s the one,’” he said. “And he hit me back like, ‘Don’t even trip, Tip, I think we gonna get Gucci to do it.’ I said, ‘Well, you don’t need me then.’” Gucci eventually battled Young Jeezy. “Then I called my man. I said who I wanted. I said I wanted 50,” T.I. added. “He don’t want no smoke, though. I called my man out, he don’t want no smoke. He ducking smoke. It’s cool.”
February 22, 2026: T.I. calls out 50 for changing mind on VERZUZ
T.I.’s media tour continued a little over two weeks after he revived his disdain for 50 Cent’s refusal to battle him in a VERZUZ matchup—this time on Million Dollaz Worth of Game. Co-host Gillie Da Kid shared the clip on Instagram, seemingly interested in stirring the pot just a bit. In the clip, Harris explains: “It was really about celebrating each other’s catalog. Me and this n***a talked about this. I just ain’t call him out of the blue. This ain’t come out of nowhere. We were moving around in Los Angeles, selling some shows together.”
He said that the duo had decided that T.I. would reveal the news and 50 would confirm it, but after T.I. accomplished his part of the mission, Fif instead acted confused and ignored their deal. “It’s like, fuck all of it,” T.I. adds. “Now, I question your character. N***a, just say you don’t want to do it.” Though the interest in a battle used to come from an amicable place, T.I. explained to the show hosts that this was no longer the case: “That shit ain’t going to happen. I don’t want to stand on stage with him. I don’t respect him,” he said.
February 23, 2026: 50 and T.I. beef gets ugly
Fifty officially entered the chat shortly after T.I.’s appearance on Million Dollaz began circulating. The King rapper finally got what he wanted: a response from 50. Tip, though, might have forgotten to calculate that the Queens rapper can get rather nasty on social media. Fif posted two photos to his Instagram account, the first a rather unflattering photo of his wife, Tiny Harris, alongside the caption: “Keep my name out ya mouth!” In a second post, he compared T.I.’s son, King Harris, to Pepe the Frog.
T.I. himself commented on 50’s post about his wife, writing: “Fu*k Ni66a you can post a fat ho in a snowstorm on a unicycle juggling dildos…. You still a HO!!!! #KingSaid That.” King added: “Where ya mama.”
Shortly after, King posted a long tirade aimed at Fif, taking issue with the post featuring his mom and taking more shots at 50’s own late mother. During his defense of Tiny, King got nasty, saying: “So, tell your dead ass mama, dig her ass up and post a picture that look better than my motherfucking mama n***a. Fuck wrong with you, n***a. Y’all n***a better tie y’all motherfuckin’ shoes. Y’all n****s don’t know who the fuck y’all fucking with.” King also posted an image of a tombstone to Instagram Stories and wrote, “This where yo mama at!”
50 responded with an image he attributed to YouTuber 050themovement, featuring photos of King and his mom with the caption, “God don’t like ugly.”
Late in the day, T.I. upped the ante, sharing a new diss track entitled “War.” On the song, Tip warns that he’s not to be trifled with. He raps, “The bear hibernating, don’t poke him / When you see the giant sleeping, shouldn’t have woke him.” While there aren’t any specific shots at 50, it’s pretty clear where he’s looking.
And if it wasn’t clear, T.I. offered up a take two late on Monday, sharing another diss track entitled “Right One.” He dropped the song alongside a caption that read, “Now say sum’ else…,” and this one was more explicitly targeted at 50 Cent. He raps, “To me, you just a small man in a big shell / Bitch made ass n**** need pigtails,” he raps. “You take no issues with them white boys, it’s only our people you find to be an eye sore.” It’s your move, 50.
