50 Cent has been known to battle a rapper or two, but with his new book, "Playground," the G-Unit general is taking a stance against bullies. Before a signing Friday at a New York City Barnes & Noble, Fif told the book was inspired by his son Marques.
"I was inspired to write this project based on a conversation with my son," 50 said. "He was telling about someone else who was experiencing being bullied around him, and in order to explain the scenario, I had to explain it from the actual bully's perspective and say that he's dealing with his emotions the wrong way."
"Playground" tells the story from the bully's perspective and attempts to explore where the cycle of abuse begins. "The actual character, Butterball, he's dealing with multiple issues," 50 explained. "He's dealing with weight issues: He's overweight, and you know how common childhood obesity is right now."
He later added: "Bullying doesn't necessarily mean hitting or physically hurting someone. It can be something that you say that emotionally hurts the person."
The Before I Self Destruct MC also found inspiration in another book: Jeff Kinney's "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. "When you think about it — because the book is amazing — but it's about a kid being bullied, and we're laughing at the character being bullied throughout the project," Fif explained.
"It's kind of negative when you think about it, because you are laughing at the kid being taken advantage of. But it was an interesting perspective to write it from, and it kept my interest the entire time I was going through the book, so at the end of it, you get the message."