Back in the early 2010s, one of the biggest rivalries in hip-hop was the ongoing beef between 50 Cent and Rick Ross.
At the time, 50 Cent and the G-Unit camp were known for aggressively trolling opponents both on records and in real life, while Rick Ross was building Maybach Music Group (MMG) into one of the hottest labels in rap. Artists like Meek Mill, Wale, and Gunplay were becoming major names, and tensions between both camps were already extremely high online and behind the scenes.
Things escalated in 2012 during the BET Hip Hop Awards in Atlanta.
According to multiple reports and interviews from people connected to the situation, Gunplay was involved in a backstage altercation with several individuals associated with the G-Unit side. Details of the fight have always been debated because there was never full footage released publicly, but what is confirmed is that a real confrontation happened backstage during the event.
Gunplay later admitted in interviews that he was outnumbered during the incident. The situation quickly became one of the most talked-about moments in hip-hop because shortly afterward, Gunplay’s famous MMG chain was missing.
In rap culture, chains are much more than jewelry. They represent loyalty, status, crew affiliation, and respect. Losing a chain during a beef is often viewed as public humiliation, especially during the street-heavy era of early 2010s hip-hop.
Not long after the altercation, 50 Cent appeared online and in videos wearing an MMG chain, instantly causing social media and rap blogs to explode with speculation. Many fans believed it was Gunplay’s actual chain taken during the fight.
The images spread rapidly across the internet, and people immediately treated the situation as a symbolic victory for G-Unit in the ongoing war with MMG.
However, the full truth behind the chain has never been completely confirmed.
50 Cent later stated publicly that the chain he wore was not Gunplay’s real chain and claimed it had been custom-made specifically to mock MMG during the beef. Because there was never clear evidence showing who physically took the original chain — or whether it simply fell off during the chaos — many details of the story remain based on rumors and street narratives rather than verified facts.
Over the years, the internet exaggerated the story heavily.
Some retellings claimed Gunplay was “completely stomped out.” Others said 50 Cent personally snatched the chain himself. But none of those details were ever fully proven publicly. Much of the mythology surrounding the incident grew because of hip-hop blogs, YouTube storytelling channels, and social media discussions that turned the moment into almost a legendary street-rap story.
Still, several parts of the incident are widely accepted as true:
• A real backstage altercation happened at the BET Hip Hop Awards in 2012
• Gunplay lost his MMG chain during the situation
• 50 Cent later mocked MMG publicly using similar jewelry
• The beef between G-Unit and MMG was completely real at the time
The incident became one of the defining moments of that era because it represented how personal rap beefs could become during the mixtape and DVD-blog period of hip-hop culture.
More than a decade later, fans still debate exactly what happened backstage that night. Even today, the story continues to resurface whenever people discuss the most disrespectful moments in rap beef history.
