50 Cent’s Free ’40 Day’ Concert Goes Off Without a Hitch

It was no piece of cake, but Queens rapper 50 Cent finally got the chance to throw his party. "40 Day," the event he planned with fellow Queens native Bette Midler, to give back to his community, finally went down on Saturday, Sept. 26, to the surprise of pretty much everyone.

According to MTV, over 2,500 people showed up to the event, which was promoted solely by word of mouth, with a couple of flyers passed out the day before. G-Unit rapper Lloyd Banks claimed he didn't even know about the event until 3AM, the night before. The show was initially canceled due to several local politicians' alleged concerns that "a rival or punk out to make a name for himself would try to shot Fitty during the performance," which in turn lead to 50 being unable to file the proper paperwork with the city.

The re-scheduled event went off without a hitch, however. 50 offered free BBQ, face painting and rides for the kids, while he and remaining G-Unit members Tony Yayo and Banks hit the stage and performed some hits for the adults, including a gang of mixtape tracks, which 50 said he was excited to perform for the neighborhood that inspired his early mixtape career.

Reminiscing over park jams, when anyone could plug in their speakers and throw a party, 50 announced that in order for him to throw a free show for his old neighborhood, the city charged him "half a million dollars."

Despite the excessive cost, everyone was enthusiastic about the event. "You been to a park jam before. You might have seen a lot of s---, but you never seen no s--- like this," 50 exclaimed. The Queens rapper then pointed out a group of police watching from a nearby housing project rooftop.

"Wave at 'em," 50 joked. "Y'all might as well come down and party." He then assured the police that there would be no trouble. "I'm on my best mutha-----n' behavior. Another day, I'll be on some bulls---."

He capped off the night by performing some of his biggest songs, "I Get Money," "What Up Gangsta," carried a young boy onstage in his arms and finished with his breakout hit "In Da Club."

"50 was really happy we could do this today, finally," Yayo explained to MTV. "It means a lot to perform in your neighborhood. We go all over the world -- Africa, Asia, Europe -- but to perform in your own neighborhood is extra special."

See politicians, was that so hard?