Sunday, January 25, 2009

50 Cent Explains Why He Skipped Obama Inauguration

By Jayson Rodriguez
'If Obama didn't invite you, you really shouldn't be there,' MC says.

50 Cent hopped on the "Change" train a bit late. The G-Unit rapper initially backed now-presumptive Secretary of State Hillary Clinton over President Barack Obama during the Democratic primaries, before changing his allegiance to Obama and finally saying he didn't know.

While he says he's pleased with Obama's victory, 50 said he never thought to attend the festivities, unlike Diddy, Jay-Z, Nas, Young Jeezy and others. He even poked fun at Obama-mania, saying that since the president didn't invite him to party, he'd stay home.


"I [might have] watched it from a really nice hotel room in D.C.," the rapper told HollyScoop.com at the Sundance festival before Tuesday's inauguration. "Because there's gonna be a whole lot of people out there, for no reason, doing different things. If Obama didn't invite you, you really shouldn't be there. You really shouldn't. That's the way I feel about it. Because when I go places that people didn't invite me [to], they look at me crazy, like, 'Why is he out there?' "

Fif wasn't all jokes, however. He soberly admitted the difficulties the new president faces and the challenges that lie before him.

"I think he's inheriting the country in a difficult state," 50 said. "Actually the worst [state], right? So I think it will take time. I hope, for all of our sakes, that whatever his plans are work for us.

"People watch [Obama on] the monitor like God is speaking, like, 'I hope he can get me a job,' " Fif added.

Watch "Be the Change: Live From the Inaugural" online now, and come back Thursday for the full performances from Kanye West, Kid Rock and Fall Out Boy. Stick with us for wall-to-wall coverage of the inauguration and of the scenes in Washington, D.C., New Orleans and Kenya.

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