Released 2005 Genre Gangsta rap Writer(s) 50 Cent, K. Cain | Recorded 2004 Length 4:15 | |
Label Aftermath, Interscope, Shady | ||
"Piggy Bank" is the fifth track from 50 Cent's second album, The Massacre. It was not released as a single, but charted at eighty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 due to controversy over its attack on long-time rival Ja Rule, as well as Jadakiss and Fat Joe, who had worked with Ja Rule on his song "New York". The song also takes lyrical swipes at rappers Shyne, Kelis, Sheek Louch, Cassidy, Lil' Kim (who featured 50 Cent on her song "Magic Stick") and Nas. He also mentions Tupac Shakur, Jay-Z, Mobb Deep and Michael Jackson in the song, but not negatively.
Contents
Song background
In 2004, Ja Rule released "New York", a song from his successful album, R.U.L.E.. The song was very well received by hip hop fans and featured appearances from fellow New York rappers Fat Joe and Jadakiss. The song was a welcomed re-entry for Ja Rule into the public eye after his drop in popularity after feuding with 50 Cent. In the song, Ja Rule subliminally mentions 50 Cent:
Apprentice you're fired, you're no longer desired/So take off them silly chains, put back on your wire/I'm on fire...
The final line being a reference to a 50 Cent-assisted Lloyd Banks song titled "On Fire". The lines also included a subtle reference to the belief 50 Cent had at one point been a police informant. 50 Cent, perhaps feeling offended by the song, and the other two rappers' willingness to participate in it, countered with "Piggy Bank".
50 Cent states that he mostly attacked Jadakiss and Fat Joe for their partnering with Ja Rule, who was, in essence, recording a 50 Cent diss song. According to 50 Cent, the two had allegedly been making subliminal disses to him in the past.
The song features vocal samples from the 1977 song "Sheakspeare's Poem" performed by iconic Russian singer Alla Pugacheva.
Shyne
50 was in the process of building his legacy at this point and went to speak to Shyne, while he was imprisoned, about becoming a member of his G-unit group. Shyne refused.
Shyne first came under 50's fire when he began talks with Ja Rule to sign to Murder Inc. while in jail. As a result, 50 mentioned Shyne in a mixtape freestyle where he said:
I heard Irv trying to sign Shyne so I don't have no love for him, tell him 50 said he's soft, he won't shoot up the club again.
This freestyle eventually found its way to Shyne, who was in prison for firing a handgun in a New York club. Shyne then responded, over telephone, with his own freestyle, where he threatened to handle their rivalry violently. It was for this freestyle, that he was added to the Piggy Bank attack.
Nas
In 2003, there circulated rumors throughout the rap industry that Nas was in talks with Irv Gotti to sign to Murder Inc. Although the rumors proved false, they did not help strengthen ties between Nas and 50 Cent. Initially, the two had been relatively close associates, with Nas featuring in two tracks on 50 Cent's 2002 album Guess Who's Back?. However, time led to the two becoming estranged. 50 Cent cites Nas's erratic behavior as a reason for his distrust. 50 notes that while Nas has in the past stood for peace, he was also the same person on June 27, 2002, that although unprovoked, verbally attacked several rappers including Cam'ron, Nelly, N.O.R.E. and New York Hot97 radio disc jockey Angie Martinez. Nas later apologized to those he had attacked, reverting to his previous peaceful beliefs.
It is also speculated that bad blood originated between the two as a result of 50 Cent being replaced as the guest star on a remix of a popular Jennifer Lopez song ("I'm Gonna Be Alright"). After he had been shot, his producers, Trackmasters, allegedly dropped him from the song for Nas. It is possible that mistrust between the rappers developed because of this. It is also worth noting that Nas was working with Irv Gotti, who had arranged the song. Also the raps of 50, on the Jennifer's song were removed in the international editions from her remix album.
References to other rappers
"Piggy Bank" contains several references to the rap community:
Music video
The music video for the song was computer animated. It features parodies of Fat Joe looking like King Hippo of Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! and 50 Cent as a boxer, fighting him, and also getting squashed by a Mercedes-Benz car later in the video. After this, 50 Cent fights Jadakiss, who is made to look like a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle. The video shows Nas dressed up liked Superman (with instead of the Superman tag on his chest, says his name instead, but normally, his name is censored) chasing after his wife, Kelis, in an ice cream truck labelled "Milkshake", and Shyne (popping off his mouth) in jail. The video was produced after The Game was expelled from G-Unit. Although, The Game is mentioned in a positive way in the song since it was recorded before the rift between them, a parody of The Game as Mr. Potato Head is shown. Also, Philadelphia rapper Cassidy is shown as a young kid in a pink hoody with "I'm a Hustla" printed on it and later in the video he is shown being punched. The video shows 50 Cent and G-Unit in it, with 50 Cent being a boxer and a gangsta, holding guns, which is normally censored. The video makes a reference of "Gatman and Robbin," the next track on The Massacre after "Piggy Bank". Ja Rule as Stuart Little at the arcade with his own video game with Yellow tape rapped around it saying Out of Order.
Fat Joe
That fat nigga thought Lean Back was "In Da Club"/My shit sold 11 mill, his shit was a dud
Jadakiss
Jada don't fuck with me if you wanna eat'Cause I'll do your lil ass like Jay did Mobb Deep/Yeah homie, in New York, niggas like your vocals/But that's only New York dawg, your ass is local
Shyne
Shyne poppin' off his mouth from a cell/He don't want it with me, he in PC/I can have a nigga run up on him with a shank/For just a few pennies out my piggy bank
Kelis and Nas
Kelis said her milkshake brings all the boys to the yard/Then Nas went and tattooed the bitch on his arm
Lil' Kim
Freak bitch look like Kim before the surgery/It's an emergency, a Michael Jackson see/Looked at a picture and said she looks like me
The Game
Though complimented in the actual song, the music video disses The Game, by showing him as Mr. Potato Head.
Cassidy
Though not mentioned in the actual song, Cassidy is parodied as a young boy wearing a pink hoodie that says "I'm a hustla" and gets punched by a couple of other young kids at a subway station. This diss was in response to Cassidy's video "B-Boy Stance" where he parodies 50 Cent as a homosexual stripper wearing tight black underwear that says "B-Unit" on the back. Cassidy claims that he dissed 50 Cent because he was saying negative comments and beefing with artists Fat-Joe and Jadakiss who Cassidy says he was friends with and that they showed him a lot of support in the beginning of his career.