50 Cent News

(2/26/03, 5 p.m. ET) -- 50 Cent, Clipse, Eve, Jaheim, and Foxy Brown were among the performers at New York's WQHT's Block Party concert at Nassau Coliseum on Long Island Tuesday night (February 25). Brown's performance was a welcome surprise for many, but some were upset that co-headliner DMX was a no-show.

DMX was allegedly back in Los Angeles on the set of his forthcoming movie project, Never. In addition to starring in the film, DMX's production company Bloodline is producing the film. The rapper was in New York on Monday night (February 24) for the premiere of his latest film, Cradle 2 The Grave, which opens Friday (February 28) and also stars Gabrielle Union and Jet Li.

While some fans were disappointed, others didn't seem to care when the lights came on following 50 Cent's 40-minute set. The rapper performed several of his independent hits as well as tracks from his Number One album Get Rich or Die Tryin', including "In Da Club," "Back Down," "Many Men," "P.I.M.P.", and "21 Questions." The rapper took the stage flanked by Lloyd Banks and Young Buck of the G-Unit, and wearing his customary bulletproof vest.

Clipse opened up the evening by performing the hits "When The Last Time" and "Cot Damn," for which the group was joined by Ab-Liva and Roscoe P. Coldchain. Baby of the Big Tymers also briefly appeared on stage for a performance of "What Happened To That Boy." In addition, Pharrell Williams of the Neptunes joined in the group's finale--a performance of the hit song "Grindin'."

Swizz Beatz took the stage to introduce his latest find Cassidy before Eve performed a swift 10-minute set. Eve told the audience that she was sick and just wanted to perform a few songs for her fans.

Singer Jaheim managed to captivate the heavily hip-hop-oriented crowd with his 45-minute set, which included hits from his debut album, 2001's Ghetto Love, as well as his latest hit, "Fabulous," which appears on his 2002 set, Still Ghetto. The highlight of the crooner's performance came when he invited one of his die-hard fans, who was wearing a Jaheim sweatshirt, onto the stage.

The evening's biggest surprise was a quick performance by Foxy Brown that had not been previously announced. The rapper performed her verses from Jay-Z's "Ain't No..." and Case's "Touch Me Tease." She also performed "Stylin'" and "Oh Yeah."

While there was heavy security and a large police presence, it appeared that the 12,000 who attended came in peace and there were no apparent incidents of violence.

-- Yves Erwin Salomon, New York

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