50 Cent gives surprise performance at Oklahoma-Alabama game
By David Wasson
Published:
Curtis Jackson III doesn’t turn many heads when his name appears on the VIP pass list.
But when it is 50 Cent? That’s a whole different story.
The Grammy Award-winning rap superstar surprised the Memorial Stadium crowd in between the 3rd and 4th quarter of Friday’s College Football Playoff first-round game between Oklahoma and Alabama with a family-friendly rendition of “Many Men (Wish Death)” to pump up both sidelines an fanbases.
Jackson’s recorded rendition – the fourth track from his 2003 debut album “Get Rich or Die Tryin'” – has pumped up the Sooner faithful the latter part of the 2025 season as Oklahoma assembled its “Red November” of 4 straight wins to punch their ticket to the College Football Playoff for the first time since 2019.
The first appearance came between the 3rd and 4th quarters of Oklahoma’s 17-6 win against Missouri, as the Owen Field videoboard showed a video — narrated by former All-American linebacker Curtis Lofton — building off the team’s adopted motto of “Hard to Kill” and invoking imagery from the 2000 blockbuster film “Gladiator” before the 50 Cent’s track was queued up in the stadium.
Friday’s surprise live appearance clearly worked, as Oklahoma was trailing Alabama 27-17 at the time but only needed 2 plays after 50 Cent’s short show to get into the end zone via a 37-yard touchdown pass from quarterback John Mateer to receiver Deion Burks.
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. He also hosts Gulfshore Sports with David Wasson, weekdays from 3-5 pm across Southwest Florida and on FoxSportsFM.com. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
