J. Cole Calls ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’’ Better Than ‘Thriller’ During Brooklyn Show With 50 Cent

J. Cole is claiming that 50 Cent’s seminal 2003 debut is superior over Michael Jackson’s 1982 masterpiece, Thriller. On Wednesday (August 9), 50 Cent, legal name Curtis Jackson, brought out guests including Jadakiss, Moneybagg Yo, A Boogie Wit da Hoodie, Flo Rida and Cole, with the latter calling Get Rich or Die Tryin’ “the best album of all time.”

At Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, Cole and Jackson performed “No Role Modelz” from the North Carolina rapper’s third studio album 2014 Forest Hills Drive. Also the last guest performer of the night, Cole gave a major salute to Jackson.

“Can I say this before I walk off this stage? If y’all don’t make some noise for one of the greatest n***** to ever do this shit — 50 m*********** Cent, Curtis Jackson,” Cole said.

He added, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is the best album of all time. … It’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’ at number-one and it’s Thriller at number-two, and I love Michael Jackson but I promise y’all that. Curtis Jackson, 50 Cent, we love you my n**** for real. New York City, good night.”

The two rappers go way back, as Cole was once in talks to sign to Jackson’s G-Unit Records in the late-2000s. Jackson would reveal on The Breakfast Club last August that he was unsure if “if everybody was ready” for Cole’s conscious lyricism.

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“That was so early, bro,” Jackson said at the 33-minute mark. “To me, J. Cole, Kendrick Lamar… These artists existed early on when I fell in love with hip-hop, but it was Talib Kweli, it was Mos Def, it was A Tribe Called Quest, it was Common Sense.

“As dope as they are, it’s smarter rap, smarter music. The logic is: ‘sit down, be humble.’ We supposed to already know to sit down and be humble. But when they put that there, it’s almost the conscious side of it.”

He continued, “I’m like, yo, it was cool, but I didn’t really know if everybody was ready for it because of how strong they were embracing what we were doing.”