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By now the news of 50 Cent jetting from his longtime industry home of Interscope Records is well-worn into your brain. Besides being able to flex some independent freedom from being under all the stipulations that being under a major label brings, 50 is revealing he is now allowed to promote his SMS Audio brand without being confined to represent his former bosses’ Beats By Dre products.

In an interview with Forbes, 50 details the muzzle placed on him when he decided to become a direct competitor of Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre’s headphone cash chow.

“There’s no artist that has a marketing budget supporting what they’re actually doing that doesn’t have Beats headphones in the actual visual to support that brand, that company, says 50. “So when I invested in SMS Audio, it kind of made people afraid.”

In a brash summarization to drive home his point, he quipped: “Interscope is Beats Records.”

50 recalls of the time when his SMS Audio logo was blurred in his “My Life” video and found it very hard to keep it competitive with so much control pulled from underneath him.

Beats By Dre has been blazing through the mainstream with trendy ads whose spokesmen range from NFL superstars to Grammy-nominated rapper Kendrick Lamar. This past January, they launched their new streaming service in Beats Music and even acquired a licensing to be placed in newer Chevy models.

Then again, SMS Audio hasn’t been dormant since it launched in 2011. They are currently in alignment with a NASCAR racing team and have the NBA’s second leader scorer in Carmelo Anthony promoting the brand.

The obvious conflict of interest hasn’t tainted 50’s relationship with Aftermath relationship like one may think, the rapper admits. “I’m a special case and situation,” he explained to Forbes. “It’s also because of the leverage of having the strong relationships with Eminem and Dr. Dre. They don’t want me to be uncomfortable. They value our friendship to the point that they would never want [to jeopardize] it over that little bit of money.”

Which makes for further promotion for 50’s independent debut Animal Ambition, in stores June 3.

Photo: Judy Eddy/WENN.com