What was the connection between Mike Tyson and the person who allegedly shot 50 Cent nine times?
American rapper and singer-songwriter Curtis James Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, did not fabricate this story; he was indeed famously shot nine times back in 2000, in front of his grandmother’s house.
On May 24, 2000, 50 Cent was attacked by a gunman outside his grandmother’s home in Queens with a 9mm handgun and was shot in his hands, legs, hips, arms, chest, and left cheek. He spent 13 days in the hospital and then five more months to fully recover.
50 Cent identified his attacker as Darryl ‘Hommo’ Baum in multiple interviews, including on Lil Wayne’s Young Money Radio program on Apple’s Beats 1 station. Darryl Baum was a close friend and personal bodyguard of Mike Tyson, who himself was shot and killed a month later by fatal bullet wounds in the back of his head.
The authorities charged Damion ‘World’ Hardy, Dwayne Meyers, and Edward ‘Taz’ Cooke of the notorious gang Cash Money Brothers for the murder. Dwayne Meyers testified that Mike Tyson put out a hit of $50,000 on Hardy and Cooke to avenge the death of his friend.
Mike Tyson also dedicated his 38-second knockout of Lou Savarese in June 2000 to Darryl Baum.
50 Cent opened up about the experience in a 2014 interview on 97 Seconds, explaining:
“May 2000, I got shot, so I was dropped from Columbia Records and then I came back and the next deal was done in 2002 with Eminem, Dr. Dre… I was hurt bad. I was afraid and uncomfortable with being afraid and the only time I wasn’t afraid is when I was actively involved in actually looking for somebody connected to it.”
He spoke about the same in a 2012 Q&A with Oprah Winfrey as well.
Who was actually convicted of shooting 50 Cent
During the trial of controversial rap moguls Christopher and Irving Lorenzo a.k.a The Gotti Brothers, certain discussions emerged that led to the reveal that a three-member squad attacked 50 Cent that night and left him for dead, per The Guardian. The testimony was given by gang member Jon Ragin.
It was also revealed that the assault was planned by drug kingpin Kenneth McGriff, a.k.a. ‘Supreme‘, a close associate of The Gotti Brothers, because 50 Cent would continuously target rapper Ja Rule in his songs. Ja Rule was the biggest name under the label of The Inc., which was allegedly the covert money-laundering operation run by the Gottis.
50 Cent’s unreleased track Ghetto Qu’ran was reportedly another reason for his attempted murder. The leaked version of the song revealed that the lyrics hinted at the drug trafficking activities of Kenneth McGriff.
Summary of the shooting of 50 Cent
50 Cent did not fabricate this story; He was indeed shot nine times back in 2000. On May 24, 2000, 50 Cent was attacked by a gunman outside his grandmother’s home in Queens with a 9mm handgun and was shot in his hands, legs, hips, arms, chest, left cheek, and face, which resulted in a dimple scar and slur that is often heard in his music. He spent 13 days in the hospital and then five more months to fully recover.
50 survived and were dropped by Columbia. 50 rapped on Many Men that it was Mike Tyson’s bodyguard Darryl Hommo Baum who in turn was killed by Lil Kim’s ex Damion World Hardy.
It was also revealed that the assault was planned by drug kingpin Kenneth McGriff, a.k.a. ‘Supreme‘, a close associate of The Gotti Brothers, because 50 Cent would continuously target rapper Ja Rule in his songs.
