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Ghetto Qur'an (Forgive Me)
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Wikipedia article
"'Ghetto Qur'an'" is a song by 50 Cent from his unreleased Columbia Records debut album 'Power of the Dollar'. The song was leaked in early 2000. The song mentions drug dealers from the 1980s in his neighborhood of South Jamaica, Queens.
"Ghetto Qur'an" is produced by Poke & Tone of Trackmasters, and uses a sample from Diana Ross' and Marvin Gaye's duet "Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart)".[http://www.undergroundhiphop.com/store/detail.asp?UPC=SB9819LP 50 Cent - 'The 50 Collection Vol. 1 (Original Samples)']. Accessed March 29, 2008.
Lyrics
The track's lyrics mention several characters 50 remembers from his formative years in Queens, including Kenneth McGriff and his nephew Gerald Prince Miller of the '80s drug gang Supreme Team.
Aftermath
It is rumored that the song and the subsequent music industry blacklisting of 50 Cent by Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and his associates led to the murder of Run DMC's Jam Master Jay. There is speculation that Jay ignored the blacklisting by mentoring the young 50 Cent and introducing him to the people in the music industry. According to an affidavit by IRS agent Francis Mace, law enforcement officials believed that the shooting of 50 Cent in 2000 was in retaliation for the lyrics of the song which detailed the history of The Supreme Team.Teather, David (September 8, 2005). [https://www.theguardian.com/usa/story/0,12271,1564919,00.html US investigators uncovered plot to kill rapper 50 Cent]. 'The Guardian'. Accessed July 6, 2007.
"Ghetto Qur'an" served as a basis for 50 Cent's rivals (mainly Ja Rule, Irv Gotti and the Murder Inc. music group, with whom he was feuding at the time) labeling him a snitch. 50 Cent mentioned in an AllHipHop.com interview that the song was appreciated. He also talked about how Nas' song "Get Down" from the album 'God's Son' similarly mentions names, but few people consider anything wrong with it.Berrios, Martin A. (June 27, 2007). [http://allhiphop.com/blogs/features/archive/2007/06/27/18191339.aspx Streets is Watching: 50 Cent Part Two] . 'AllHipHop'. Accessed July 6, 2007.
The song was later added to his 2002 mixtape 'Guess Who's Back?', titled as "Ghetto Qua ran".
The chorus to this song was sampled on Proof's solo CD 'Searching for Jerry Garcia' on the song called "Forgive Me".
References
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