50 Cent Rips Jay-Z Friendship Card, "We Don't Have Those Kinds Of Relationships"

In 50's eyes, Jay and other elite hip-hop artists are merely business associates at most.

"We don't have those kinds of relationships. These people are people I associate with. We are in the same business. We are not necessarily friends. We don't call each other for no reason," he explained. "It's not like we have something against each other to make us enemies," Fiddy continued. "Me and Jay[-Z] will use each other. Repeatedly. For energy." 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson III, added that he was always open to doing collaborations but there was a simple reason why he hadn't done more. "They don't pick up the phone and call me," he revealed. (MTV UK)

Last year, 50 claimed Jay mastered the art of subliminal dissing.

"It's the competitive nature of the art form," Fif explained about his relationship with Jay. "It's still there, he still competes too. He just does it so subliminal that people don't read it. To me, it's a softer way to do it. A safer way to do it because no one directly feels offended by it...Why not just say it? I don't feel the [disses]. You gotta at least let the [diss be noticeable.] A guy that's that subtle, how do you really take offense to those activities? You know, I get really disrespectful, I don't mind. And then it's like, we can go to the other space and it can really go down." (Power 105.1)

In a past interview, 50 suggested Jay used his former roster of artists like Beanie Sigel and Tru Life to protect him during beefs.

"Jay is a really smart guy," 50 explained in an interview with reporter Gina Torres. "He'll analyze other people and other things that they're doing and not actually look at what's happening to him and his transitions. Right now, he's in this really safe space. He created this safe aura -- it wouldn't be like that if he handled his issues himself. He's a piece of work, he always puts somebody in front of him. When [Jadakiss] came for him, he put Beanie in front of him and Beanie went back and forth with Jadakiss. When [Cam'ron] came for him, he put Tru Life in front of him and they went back and forth and he just didn't compete." (All Hip Hop)