50 CENT DRIVES "HYBRID"
TO STORES

50 Cent is one busy mofo. On the heels of the expected announcement that the hip-hop phenomenon has been given his own Interscope imprint, G-Unit Records, comes some more surprising news.

Shady/Aftermath/Interscope is shipping more than 1 million units of a "hybrid" release, hot on the heels of the now-quadruple-platinum Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Described by the label as a "true multimedia experience," the package, titled The New Breed and streeting April 15, includes a DVD containing two hours of material, accompanied by a CD featuring three unreleased tracks. The release comes in a standard CD jewel box and will be stocked in the music sections, not the DVD sections, of retailers. The New Breed will be tracked on the HITS Top 50 Albums sales chart.

Says Interscope sales and marketing ruler Steve Berman: "In today’s incredibly tough environment of selling music, we feel it’s extremely important to support the art and the creative vision of Dre, Eminem, Paul Rosenberg and 50 in what we believe will be the frontier of a new art form. We don’t want to pigeonhole this new release. That’s why we’re putting it in the brilliant box and marketing it in the music section. Is it a CD with a DVD attached? Is it a DVD with a CD added on? We don’t care. It’s a new piece of entertainment art from 50 Cent."

More than 70 minutes of previously unreleased material are on the DVD, including an exclusive video for the song "Heat," an interview with Tony Yayo of the group G-Unit from Riker’s Island and live footage featuring 50 Cent and Eminem. Also included are the clips for "Wanksta" and "In Da Club."

Meanwhile, the first release on G-Unit will be from the group G-Unit—Yayo, Lloyd Banks and Sha Money XL. The album is expected to come out by the end of the year.

Said 50: "Me and G-Unit are bringing it in 2003. First, I drop my album and people pay attention. Now that I got their attention, I’m gonna drop the next shit on them…the G-Unit shit, both the label and the group. The New Breed brings it all together. It’s like an extension of the mix tape for me—hitting people with something you won’t find anywhere else. I’m not leveling the competition, I’m destroying it."

Said IGA Chairman Jimmy Iovine: "When you have an artist like 50 Cent, you want to be in business with him on every level: movies, video games, wherever he wants to go. He has the kind of vision and work ethic that lets you know from the outset, he’s going to win. We’re looking forward to the same type of artistic quality and commercial success from G-Unit that we’ve had with both Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment."