Ya Heard: 50 Cent takes aim at T.I.

"Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goal."

After spending the weekend trading verbal jabs with Shawty Lo at an Atlanta concert, T.I. recently responded to a haymaker thrown by none other than 50 Cent. In a track that will be featured on the G-Unit's upcoming album "Terminate on Site," 50 rhymes, "Nowadays this rap [stuff] ain't adding up / How [guys] get caught with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months? / Oo-weee, don't talk to me / If you talking to him, you talking to them.../ I got the best lawyers that money can buy / they say at best they woulda got me 10 or maybe 9 / I said, how do you explain how the homie breezed? / They said, you keep your mouth shut or you eat the cheese."

Ouch! An obvious reference to T.I. being given what some call a "sweetheart deal" after he pleaded guilty to weapons charges. T.I. was arrested last year when he attempted to buy a cache of weapons from an undercover federal agent. After being confined to house arrest for months, T.I. eventually copped a plea deal and will serve one year in jail and perform 1,500 hours of community service.

Aside from 50, others within the hip-hop community have taken notice of T.I.'s "light" sentence, especially given his past felony convictions. Some artists including his current adversary, Shawty Lo, have gone as calling the man a snitch.

In response to 50's comments Tip simply stated that he would not get caught up in the situation.

Fortunately for the self-proclaimed "King of the South," his credibility and superstar-dom is able to withstand the current barrage of attacks, even from a heavyweight such as 50 Cent. His new single "No Matter What" is burning up the airwaves and gently building the anticipation of fans across the country who anxiously await his upcoming album, "Paper Trail."

YOUNG BUCK ... EXPOSED!

50 was also in the news for a different matter this week. Former G-Unit member Young Buck has been on an anti-G-Unit campaign for months now. Releasing diss records, screaming his disdain for his former crew at shows, and also claiming that his former boss owes him money.

Well, now a telephone conversation between the Buck and 50 has surfaced. The conversation appears to have taken place prior to Buck's dismissal from the group and finds the Cash-ville emcee basically pleading with 50 not to be thrown out of the group. In the nearly 16-minute conversation, Buck declares his loyalty to 50 and seems to get teary eyed while discussing debts to the IRS.

"I know Banks and Yayo gotta feel a certain way towards me 'cause of the way [things are] and I just [want to] iron [things] out and hopefully get back to the G-Unit record," said Buck. "Outside of what I owe you, you got tax time rolling around -- and my taxes. I still owe money from last year's taxes. It's so many other debts that I'm in for as far as the last year and this year's about to roll around."

50 attempts to calm Buck by saying, "You gonna be all right, you hear me? You gotta be able to stay closer to me, Buck, so you don't [mess] up. We'll fix the [issue]. You just got to stay closer to the space 'cause there ain't no -- it's not gonna happen. [Stuff] is different, Buck, and if you don't stay closer to what's going on it's gonna [mess] up. Tony's been the safest one, you know why? He's been staying closer."

For the record, I'd stay close, too, if I were Yayo because not only does his musical career depend on 50 Cent, but it seems that his livelihood in general is even moreso dependent on the G-Unit General. Nevertheless, this is just another display of 50 playing chess while everyone else is just learning checkers.

WAYNE MAKES HIS NEXT MOVE

According to numerous news outlets, Lil' Wayne's latest effort, "The Carter III," has reached a million copies sold within its first week of release -- a huge accomplish-ment for the kid, as well as a testament to hip-hop's power and influence as a genre and culture.

Amidst his latest success, Weezy is already looking toward his next project, which he says will be a collaborative album with T-Pain. MTV caught up with the Hot Boy earlier this week and here's what he had to say.

"We both have the same energy," Wayne stated. "I don't sleep. If you ask anybody, I don't sleep. I think it's the cousin of death. As much as you sleep, you're impersonating death to me. [T-Pain] don't sleep. I play all day. He plays all day and all night. The connection is crazy. He loves to be creative, he loves to work; I love to create, I love to work. He really wants people to respect his rapping; I really want people to re-spect my harmonizing."

I'm not so sure about Weezy's harmoninzing or Pain rhyming, but to each his own. Although, if this album does materialize, let's hope it delivers people's expectations. The recently acquitted R. Kelly and Jay Z's collaberative albums seemed to be a shoe-in for classic material, yet the overall music was aveage at best.

In related news, The "Carter III World Tour: Lil' Wayne & The Birdman" is kicks off June 27 in Louisiana. No other dates have been confirmed as of yet.

HIP-HOP TRIVIA

UTFO released the hit single "Roxanne" in 1984. Kangol Kid, Doctor Ice, Educated Rapper and Mixmaster Ice made up the group. What does the acronym UTFO stand for?

Early bird special! Be the first person to send me an e-mail with the correct answer and receive two free AMC movie tickets courtesy of the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger … until next week, peace!

Dennis Winn can be reached at 703-400-8301 or YaHeard40@gmail.com.