50 Cent Talks On Star-Studded New LP And More

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A few years ago, 50 Cent quarterbacked an unofficial remix of Justin Timberlake's "Cry Me a River," adding some raps to the song and releasing it to mixtapes. Now, the two have made a real record together. Timberlake is one of the many special guests who joined forces with 50 for his June 26 release, Curtis.

"I actually wrote a lot of the portions that other artists are working with me on, [but] in Justin's case, I flew to Florida," 50 said of their collaboration, which is called "AYO Technology." "He was on tour with Timbaland. Timbaland produced the beat in a studio/trailer, on the tour bus. We got the music, the first time. I wrote a first verse; I didn't want to finish without the content and chorus. We got together the second time and finished the song in Houston."

Besides Timbo and Timberlake, 50 rallied an impressive group of A-list performers and producers for the album.

On previous LPs, "outside of Eminem and Dr. Dre, it has just been G-Unit around 50 Cent as an artist," he said of how he's changed up his MO for the new LP. "This time I worked with Akon, with Mary J., Robin Thicke, Will.I.Am, Pharrell, Swizz Beatz, Kanye West. Me and Young Buck featuring Nicole from the Pussycat Dolls. The album, for me, was finding a space where I am content and comfortable with my career, where I can go off and create with other artists and experiment a little bit."

While "Straight to the Bank," the first record from Curtis, looks at 50's current financial status, the rest of the album was inspired by his life prior to Get Rich or Die Tryin', hence the title Curtis: the name he went by before the world knew him as 50 Cent.

50 had considered calling the album Curtis SSK