King of the Sand Castle

With the release of Blood on the Sand, we hope 50 Cent has enough VitaminWater to keep up his stamina. This follow-up to 2005's no-thrills Bulletproof (average game play, average graphics) has a plot that's more ridiculous than a pre-Madonna Guy Ritchie flick. After doing a concert, the promoter stiffs 50 and his band of brothers. In order to get compensated, the Unit—minus Young Buck—battles it out with international gangsters in order to seize a diamond-encrusted skull worth millions. Sure, it sounds like a warped Indiana Jones–Terminator love child, but at least you're not hunting down Fat Joe for shits and giggles.

You and Tony Yayo were really involved in the game. What did you guys like from Bulletproof that you've kept for Blood on the Sand?
Yayo has a bigger passion for video games than Banks and I. So, he had issues with how difficult it was to control the characters in Bulletproof. We talked to [producer] Aaron [Blean] about using new technology to improve that functionality. One of the things that we kept and built upon was the musical component. They got a chance to hear [mixtapes] Elephant in the Sand and Return of the Body Snatchers before anyone else. Specifically with Body Snatchers, those were new street versions of songs that were produced specifically for the game.

What were some of your influences that ended up being used for the game?
My influences were from the movie Blood Diamond with Leonardo DiCaprio and Home of the Brave, the movie I filmed with Samuel L. Jackson. Some of my experiences while filming that movie in Morocco really stuck with me, man. When you think of Morocco, you think of belly dancers and shit like that, but it wasn't anything like that. The area we were in was war torn and it was interesting. I took a lot of photos, and those pictures I ended up giving to the developers.

You're the first rapper with your own licensed title. Was having your own video game always a cog in the 50 Cent branding machine?
That was an opportunity that I wasn't aware of until Grand Theft Auto came out and really popped. [Rockstar Games] wanted me to do voiceover work and asked for my music to use for the game. They were so persistent about it, I thought to myself that it'd be better to do it on my own. A lot of times when people play these games, they turn the game down to let their stereo play, while playing the game. So, it worked better to put them both together so fans could enjoy it all.

Is there any chance of Young Buck being an unlockable player in the game?
Buck is not actually in the game. Let me get this clear: This is not something where G-Unit made a collective decision to not put him in the game. When we were all in Connecticut, recording for the album, he felt like not recording anymore. He asked someone to book him a flight to Atlanta. He felt it was more important to be at a music video for Young Jeezy's artist, while we're still recording the album.

That's not too bright.
We have deadlines to live up to. It came time for us to take pictures for the video game, and when he left to go to Atlanta—to make no money at all—he lost out on an opportunity to be in the video game. He just wanted to be with his friends. Buck needs to do what Buck wants to do instead of being within a collective. I don't have a beef with Young Buck. He's like my little brother. I just think he's in a space where he'll damage everything if you allow him to.--Kevin L. Clark

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Blood on the Sand is in stores now.