For two rappers trying to promote vodka brands, 50 Cent and Diddy sure like to talk a lot about beef.
Fifty is a master when it comes to throwing shade in the pursuit of sales, and in the case of promoting his new spirits line, he’s come up with one of his most formidable (and hilarious) opponents yet: Diddy and the bottles-in-the-club behemoth that is Ciroc.
Diddy has been involved with Ciroc since 2007, with a deal that gives him 50% of the vodka brand’s profits. Since he jumped on board, Ciroc has become a staple of hip-hop, gaining shout outs on songs from Kanye West, Rick Ross, Kendrick Lamar, and countless others.
Always an instigator, 50 Cent decided that he wasn’t going to let Puffy take the rap-game’s booze crown without a fight. In late 2014, 50 signed a deal with Effen Vodka for an undisclosed amount. You may not have heard of Effen yet, but 50 is banking on the fact that you will soon.
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As soon as 50 signed with Effen, he’s had one goal in mind: Knock Mr. Combs off his throne. After throwing out some tweets at the end of 2014 calling out Ciroc—or as 50 calls it, “Puffy Juice”—Curtis kicked his vodka-shilling mission into high gear this summer.
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In the middle of June, Diddy was arrested on UCLA campus—where his son attends college and plays football—for attempting to assault a strength training coach with a kettle-bell. Fif leaped at the opportunity. In an Instagram video which 50 has since deleted, he sits at his desk, talking on the phone to an imaginary person: “Yeah man, I heard Puffy went Ciroc coco on the coach with a kettle-bell!” followed by a shot of him counting hundreds and claiming it as Puffy’s bail money. Shots fired.
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Puffy fired back at 50 with his own Instagram shots, posting a photo of the rap moguls sitting together and wishing 50 a happy birthday in the caption. His present? A lifetime supply of Ciroc, “the superior ultra premium vodka.”
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Of course, it didn’t stop there. This past August, when Diddy made an appearance on The Breakfast Club at New York’s Power 105.1, the show’s hosts Angela Yee and Charlamagne Tha God pulled out a case of Effen vodka with a note attached: “Let’s be friends— Curtis Jackson.”
Diddy fired back once again. “When you’re first starting out in these little companies, they don’t really have a lot of supply. So that’s with homeboy’s vodka, sometimes maybe you can only send a case.” It wasn’t reported whether Diddy actually took home the Effen.
Since then, 50 has ramped up his promotion and Bad Boy bashing efforts pretty heavily. He’s taken shots at Ciroc boy French Montana too.
A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on
A photo posted by 50 Cent (@50cent) on
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At this point it’s hard to tell who’s winning the beef, but it doesn’t look like 50 will stop hating any time soon. He recently posted a photo of Luc Belaire champagne, the brand promoted by Rick Ross with the caption, “First alcohol endorsed by law enforcement,” a direct shot at Ross’ past life as a correctional officer. Watch out Ricky, it looks like 50 wants the whole alcohol market, not just vodka.