April 26, 2007 @ 4:33 pm

Sha Money XL: Don't Believe the Rumors.

Keith Murphy

The G-Unit impresario speaks exclusively to VIBE.

After much rumor surrounding Sha Money's alleged dismissal from G-Unit, the label he co-founded with 50 Cent in 2003, the budding hip hop mogul spoke exclusively to VIBE online - and addresses the real reasons for paring down his duties at G-Unit. There are rumors going around that you split from G-Unit. What is exactly happening right now?
Business-wise, it's basically me opening my own company. You know, with G-Unit, it's no beef, it's all love. I love 50 and everybody. As you see, I still manage Lloyd Banks and Young Buck. It was an amicable decision and, you know, we want to expand the wings of where we're going. We just felt that it would be best - because I was being president and manager to some of the artists - it was best that I spread my wings. Buck is opening his record label, which is Cash Row Records – I'm getting ready to close on his deal right now, as we speak. I can't speak on the label that we're closing with, but his roster is 615, The Outlawz, and C-Bo. And you know, closing on that, and closing on Buck's clothing-line deal, David Brown Clothing. And I did a four-DVD distribution deal this year with a company called D-Con, where I'm releasing four different brands of DVDs. Next year I'll be releasing more. When you in a job, and you have a position, you kind of limit yourself because you had responsibilities. I just kinda had to spread it out so that everybody can have a different, diverse portfolio. Being the president of G-Unit, you know, that's a heavy responsibility. So the time dedicated to that wouldn't have allowed me to go through the things I needed to do to expand Buck's career and Banks' career. What's the status of your production company, The Money Management Group?
It's a management company and the clients diversify from hip-hop artists to R&B artists, to producers and engineers and video directors. Who are some of the people on the roster?
Hi-Tek being one, Young Buck being another, Lloyd Banks being another, Consequence being another, um, DJ Whoo Kid, and you know, Dangerous LLCs - the new production team doing a bunch of hits for 50 Cent's "Window Shopper" and "Disco Inferno," you know. I have a 14-producer squad. Even when you were in the thick of things with G-Unit, you had a roster of producers that was from Seattle? Yes, I call them 'Seattle's Best.' Jake One, Vitamin D, and The Business - which is different incredible producers. They were not the typical dudes you would associate with a clique like G-Unit, but they got a lot of run on those two G-Unit albums. Did people feel they were getting a bit too much love on those albums?
G-Unit's thing is this: it's all about good music, no matter who does it, right? 50's not gonna rap to a beat he don't like. So when they say 'Oh, Sha's only taking care of his guys,' that means 50 only likes my guys. G-Unit has over 400 CDs of different beats there that 50 went through. And, if it's a coincidence that it's only my guys, that means my guys are putting out the hottest shit. No one puts a guy to 50's head, Buck's head, or Banks' head and says, 'Rap to this.' These guys go through every CD and when they narrow it down and you start looking at it, it's my roster. I got the sickest roster. And that's what the world is gonna see after this year. When Roc-a-Fella had Kanye and Just Blaze at the same time, just scorin' heat - these are the new guys in that lane. So you're gonna see Jake One's name a lot because he's consistently puttin' out fire. If you check his record and every record he did, you're going to guarantee that 'aiight, this shit is hot.' For those who don't know, what are some of the records Jake is responsible for?
Yes, he did "Buck the World," which is one of my favorite records – hopefully the next single. He did "Clean Up Man," he did two on 50's new album, he did Hot Rod's single last summer, "Be Easy." On the Get Rich or Die Tryin' soundtrack he did "I Don't Know Officer" -which was the first time you heard Ma$e featured on a G-Unit record - so he's just been layin' it in. As soon as you see [wrestling superstar] John Cena come out in wrestling "The Time is Now" (singing tune), that's Jake One. He did a whole bunch of underground albums; Kardinal Offishall, you name it. He's everywhere. He's gonna do pop shit in two minutes. You know, I'm working on some Britney shit right now, so it's like, I'm taking my guys from every angle. He even did video game scoring, he did film scoring already. He did The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. So I'm not only trying to sell beats to artists, it's video games, it's movies, sound-scoring. Whatever it is, we're shopping it everywhere. Is there truly dissent amongst the G-Unit camp? And why does it always seem like when brothers go ahead to do their own thing, people automatically assume dissent?
I mean, people love negativity, so they're gonna grab onto anything negative first. They wanna see the Unit fail, and fall, so they're gonna say things that make it that way so when you start hearing the rumor mill - Sha got dissed, axed, fired, or left G-Unit - it's gonna all feel negative. It's gonna put a bad taste in your mouth whichever way you try to swallow it. That's the nature of man. People love to hate. So, with me, you see me, I'm humble, I don't care about what a person thinks, even when I wanted to speak out publicly when it first started, I couldn't because there was legal things that I couldn't speak on, and there's still things. So it's like, people just wanna see the fall, and I'm not gonna give them the fall. I love my brothers. 50 is an incredible, talented - the most talented person I've ever worked with, you know what I mean? You're never gonna see me - well, never say never, I don’t like to say never - but you're not gonna see me sittin' here sayin 'Alright, I'm better than this guy' or 'I made this' or 'I did that.' I was a team member, and we made history. I feel I peaked there, and now I'm gonna take my management company to a whole 'nother level. You know, they really trying to pin me up against 50. I got an e-mail 12 at night like 'Yo, Sha Money XL got fired by 50.' You think 50 gon' rap to something he don't like? You really think so? This boy could get anybody's music. You check his album and you're gonna see Money Management Group. People saw the impact that you had on that label. But do you think it takes separating yourself from G-Unit for the outside public to recognize you for your work?
Yeah, because I was buried behind the shadows of 50. It was always gonna' be 'alright, 50. They're about to see me, Sha: the executive, the manager, the producer, the full-fledged entrepreneur. Whether it's me opening a McDonald's store, or me opening a studio, or me opening a clothing store, or my management company, You're going to see me on the cover of Black Entrepreneur at the end of this year. I'm taking it to a level where people are stuttering. I've made my money. Now I'm making my money make me. I'm multiplying in different businesses. I'm not one for what people think, but they're going to see me take hip-hop where Russell Simmons did - first with the clothing line, first with the comedy, first with the poetry, first with the biggest hip-hop label. You're a kid from around the way; you came from the 'hood. Do you laugh at yourself, sometimes, like how far you've made it? Just being that little Haitian kid on the block having ambitions to do this shit?
Absolutely, 'cause you know, as Haitians - my moms, she came here with one dollar and a phone number, and that phone number was to her brother who'd been here a few months before her. And my mother right now? We got a Haitian bakery in Queens and she's makin' tons of dough, I mean, my story is diverse man. I'm a Haitian kid that, I will have seven jobs till I die, bro. Seriously. You're gonna see my bakery there, my studio there, my clothing line there, my management there, my production there, you're gonna see me with seven hats - seven jobs, like they say we from the West Indies have. Because it's never enough money - never enough. Never enough. It's the true story of just coming to this country. It's the land of opportunity. We come to this country and you see people, unfortunately, make more money than the people who've been here their whole life. I'm here for the opportunity, because I'm not gonna' be alive forever. I gotta make sure my kids' kids is good.

Article tags: Sha, Money, XL, Don't, Believe, Rumors 

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