G-Unit: Guerrillas and Gangstas

G-Unit is the hard work of a few rappers out of New York-hard work first at growing up in one rough neighborhood in the city, hard work at running drugs, and then hard work at perfecting their rhyming and rapping craft. The group is made up of a few "small" rappers who you've maybe heard of: 50 Cent, Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck. Together, G-Unit has ridden 50 Cent's initial blast off into fame so that now all of the group members are legitimate contenders on the rap scene.

The three main members of G-Unit, 50, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, all grew up together in the same neighborhood, hence the joke before about how all of them worked hard together to survive the city and sell drugs together.

The ride has not been easy. Ever heard of the story how 50 Cent was initially signed into a lucrative record deal and then got shot nine times and dropped from said label? Sure you have. Everybody has! Those are the breaks, right? But 50 Cent and G-Unit did not quite. He eventually signed with Interscope and released "Get Rich or Die Tryin," which would go on to become one of the biggest smash hit records of all times.

All Mixed Up

Following the success, the G-Unit as a group tried to get their first studio G-Unit album done, but then Tony Yayo got sent to prison. Like we said before, it's not been an easy path to fame. That's not to say that before this time there weren't G-Unit albums out. There were, plenty of them, but they were mixed tapes, such as the G-Unit mixes "God's Plan," "50 Cent is the Future," and "No Fear."

But the first GUnit record did eventually come out as well in 2003, while Tony Yayo was still in prison. So you don't hear too many Yayo lyrics among all the rest of the G-Unit lyrics. The album was called "Beg for Mercy." It would go on to sell more than 2.3 million copies in the United States, 4 million all over the world. The 2008 G-Unit record is due out, called "Terminate on Sight."

Besides their rapping, the G-Unit is also known for its drama, particularly with folks that considered themselves members of the group, then left, or those who wanted to be part of the group and really never got their chance. There's Bang Em Smurf, who claims that 50 Cent owes him money from one of the mix tapes. There is also the big fight with The Game, who GUnit claimed was being disloyal to the group when he joined and refused to take up all of their other beef. Then even former member Young Buck is not on 50 Cent's favorite list, after the rapper was accused of spending too much and saying in public that he wasn't getting paid enough.

From G-Unit to Hip Hop Music