THE YOUNGEST G UNIT SOLDIER IS JOYRIDING THROUGH THE RAP GAME
In the greenroom of MTV’s DFX (now Sucker Free on MTV), 50 Cent adjusts Young Hot Rod’s racing gloves—pulling them back, scrunching them down, making sure they’re just so. In a few minutes he’ll introduce his new protégé to television audiences and pub up the rookie’s forthcoming debut, Fastlane (G Unit/Interscope). In preparation, Hot Rod, 21, slips his iced-out Jacob the Jeweler–designed G Unit ring over his gloved right hand. Most of those with him think the combo looks a little off. But 50 said it’s cool, so it’s cool.
Rodney “Young Hot Rod” Toole has been happily taking 50’s direction since their first phone conversation last February. The Sacramento-born, Phoenix-based upstart was working a typical day as a mortgage broker when he received a call from the G Unit general. “When 50 heard my demo, he thought it was something he recorded a long time ago,” Rod says with a laugh.
During their initial phone chat, 50 told Young Hot Rod to quit his job and immediately hop a plane to New York. After a sit-down with 50 at G Unit’s Manhattan office the next day, Rod went to Fif’s studio in Connecticut, wrote a verse, laid down a track with Olivia (which became his frisky, swaggering first single, the Dr. Dre–produced “Be Easy,” featuring Mary J. Blige), and picked out a room in 50’s eighteen-room mansion. The next day 50 bought him a G Unit chain and a watch—he’d been initiated.
Though the rookie’s smooth flow and cocky persona mirror those of 50, his lyrics are way more “Candy Shop” than “Many Men (Wish Death).” As he puts it, “I didn’t grow up in a garbage can shooting at people and selling drugs. My style’s fun, witty, party.”
“I’m that cool, fun-loving guy. I’m talking about how many girls I get, how cute I am,” he says. And, to 50’s relief, it’s talk Young Hot Rod can back up. “When we met, 50 was like, ‘Ah, looks cool, got a lil’ handsome young man right here.’ He ain’t want a big fat monster. You can’t market that.”
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