Reason First: Is 50 Cent a Rolling Stone?

If you owe 50 Cent money, he’s going to let you know about it. If you claim to be his alleged son Marquise, he doesn’t want anyone to know about it. The young man was disrespected, many people hold, by the Queens, New York City rapper, who will tell you in strong language that he is not the father. Should this be a clear indication that 50 Cent’s stability within the hip hop sphere may be in question? Because he is so well known on the mic and on screens large and small. This is a telling turn of events that leads to the question of fathers in rap. Most dads like Nas, Jay-Z, Ice Cube, Master P, and Eminem (to name but a few) excel at being fathers. The cliché that runs through not only rap, but other genres as well is that fathers are merely sperm donors who may or may not stick around to see their seeds grow.

With 50 Cent, he seems to have distanced himself from his alleged son based on the fact that he has so many disagreements, allegedly. 50 Cent grew up without a father, and now he’s pushing the myth of the Black Absent Father to extremes. He appears to be set on denying the idea of having Marquise as a son because he holds anger for his own father for shunning and rejecting him. To take to Instagram and blare to the world that Marquise is not his son à la “Billie Jean” shows a man who may need to see a psychiatrist.

It is one thing to repudiate the fact that there is a connection based on words and deeds, but to completely write off his alleged son is a cause to investigate. Should Marquise reach out to 50 when he knows that he could be turned down by him? Is it 50’s responsibility as a man and father to take in the young man and claim him as his own? The concept of the fatherless child is so ingrained in the culture as well as that of other genres, it is difficult to truly understand how a man can take care of his family. For 50 to neglect and reject Marquise may display signs that he is just not ready to face reality. This evasiveness shows that 50 struggles to consider that Marquise is allegedly his offspring. With a child from another relationship with a different woman, 50 seems to only take paternity for one child.

As the video footage of Marquise dancing to 50’s music seems like a scene from a Blaxploitation film about a father and son separated, 50 continues to emphatically deny that he is not the father, which begs the question: Will 50 and Marquise end up on Maury?

The best way to resolve this whole affair is for 50 and Marquise to sit down and settle their differences. That 50 doesn’t acknowledge his own (alleged) flesh and blood is rather abhorrent. It is ugly to see the rift between a black father and son. Marquise dancing to his alleged father’s music has a blues appeal to it. The way that he’s so passionate in the video regarding 50’s music reveals something rather disheartening and uplifting like the blues. He is exhibiting a way of reaching out to his estranged father by dancing away the pain in a physical expression of a philosophical premise that is built in both the blues and rap music.

By not recognizing Marquise, 50 continues the downward spiral of his personal life. All that he has to do is show up and be a father for the remaining time that they would have together. 50 should be able to man up and look Marquise in the eye and tell him the truth. While streets have no love, at least a father and son ought to be able to come to a rational place in their lives. 50 Cent is too mature to not take Marquise seriously. While social media personalities have cropped up to criticize him for not granting backstage access and free tickets to Marquise for 50’s concert, Marquise seems to be taking 50’s coldness toward him with aplomb. Maybe 50 will be able to mend the wounds with Marquise by next Father’s Day. That would be the real gift.