"Ghetto Qur'an (Forgive Me)" is a song by American rapper

50 Cent Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born in Queens, a borough of New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999–2000, ...

from his unreleased

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

debut album ''

Power of the Dollar ''Power of the Dollar'' is the debut EP and unreleased debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. The EP version was released September 12, 2000, by Columbia Records and Trackmasters Entertainment. The album version was originally set to b ...

'' and the song itself was leaked in early 2000. The song mentions drug dealers from the 1980s in his neighborhood of

South Jamaica South Jamaica (also commonly known as "Southside") is a residential neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is located south of downtown Jamaica. Although a proper border has not been established, the neighborhood is a subsectio ...

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

. As with most of the album the song was produced by Poke & Tone of

Trackmasters The Trackmasters, also known as Poke & Tone, is an American hip hop production outfit composed of Poke (Jean-Claude Olivier born January 21, 1970; Brooklyn, New York ) and Tone (Samuel Barnes born January 20, 1969; Brooklyn, New York). Active fro ...

, who used a sample from

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

' and

Marvin Gaye Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. (; April 2, 1939 – April 1, 1984) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer. He helped shape the sound of Motown in the 1960s, first as an in-house session player an ...

's duet "

Stop, Look, Listen (To Your Heart) "Stop, Look, Listen (to Your Heart)" is a soul song written by Thom Bell and Linda Creed originally recorded by Philadelphia soul group the Stylistics. The Stylistics original version An R&B ballad, it was the first track from their debut sel ...

". The name of the song is a reference to the

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

holy book the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

Lyrics

The track's lyrics mention several characters 50 remembers from his formative years in Queens, including

Kenneth McGriff Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff (born September 19, 1959) is an American former drug lord from New York City who founded the organized crime syndicate the Supreme Team. In 2001, he was convicted of murder conspiracy and drug trafficking and sentenced t ...

and his nephew Gerald Prince Miller of the '80s drug gang Supreme Team.

Aftermath

It was rumored that the song and the subsequent music industry

blacklisting Blacklisting is the action of a group or authority compiling a blacklist of people, countries or other entities to be avoided or distrusted as being deemed unacceptable to those making the list; if people are on a blacklist, then they are considere ...

of 50 Cent by Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff and his associates led to the murder of

Run DMC Run-DMC (also formatted Run-D.M.C., RUN DMC, or some combination thereof) was an American hip-hop group formed in Hollis, Queens, New York City in 1983 by Joseph Simmons, Darryl McDaniels, and Jam Master Jay, Jason Mizell. Run-DMC is regarded as ...

Jam Master Jay Jason William Mizell (January 21, 1965 – October 30, 2002), better known by his stage name Jam Master Jay, was an American musician, record producer and DJ. He was the DJ of the influential hip hop group Run-DMC. During the 1980s, Run-DMC becam ...

. There is speculation that Jay ignored the blacklisting by mentoring the young 50 Cent and introducing him to the people in the music industry. According to an

affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or ''deposition (law), deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by la ...

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

agent Francis Mace, law enforcement officials believed that the shooting of 50 Cent in 2000 was in retaliation for the lyrics of the song which detailed the history of The Supreme Team. "Ghetto Qur'an" served as a basis for 50 Cent's rivals (mainly

Ja Rule Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper, singer, and actor. Born and raised in New York City, Ja Rule became known for blending gangsta rap with pop rap, pop and contempo ...

Irv Gotti Irving Domingo Lorenzo Jr. (June 26, 1970 – February 5, 2025), professionally known as Irv Gotti or DJ Irv, was an American record producer and music executive. Gotti started off as a New York hip-hop DJ in the 1980s, then becoming an A&R t ...

and the Murder Inc. music group, with whom he was feuding at the time) labeling him a

snitch Snitch may refer to: * Informant An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a "snitch", "rat", "canary", "stool pigeon", "stoolie", "tout" or "grass", among other terms) is a person who provides privileged information, or ( ...

. 50 Cent mentioned in an AllHipHop.com interview that the song was appreciated. He also talked about how

Nas Nas (born 1973) is the stage name of American rapper Nasir Jones. Nas, NaS, or NAS may also refer to: Aviation * Nasair, a low-cost airline carrier and subsidiary based in Eritrea * National Air Services, an airline in Saudi Arabia ** Nas Air (S ...

' song "

Get Down Get Down may refer to: * Get down, a stance or movement in traditional African culture, in African American culture, and throughout the Black African diaspora Film and television * ''Get Down'' (film) or ''Treed Murray'', a 2001 Canadian film * ...

" from the album '' God's Son'' similarly mentions names, but few people consider anything wrong with it. The song was later added to his 2002

mixtape In the modern music industry, a mixtape is a musical project, typically with looser constraints than that of an album or extended play. Unlike the traditional album or extended play, mixtapes are labeled as laid-back projects that allow artists mo ...

Guess Who's Back? ''Guess Who's Back?'' is the debut official mixtape by American rapper 50 Cent, released May 21, 2002 on independent label Full Clip Records in the United States. It is his first official release after his 2000 effort '' Power of the Dollar'' ...

'', titled as "Ghetto Qua ran". The chorus to this song was sampled on

Proof Proof most often refers to: * Proof (truth), argument or sufficient evidence for the truth of a proposition * Alcohol proof, a measure of an alcoholic drink's strength Proof may also refer to: Mathematics and formal logic * Formal proof, a co ...

's solo CD ''

Searching for Jerry Garcia ''Searching for Jerry Garcia'' is the only studio album by Detroit rapper and D12 member Proof. It was released on August 9, 2005, through his own independent label, Iron Fist Records. The album is named after Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia ...

'' on the song called "Forgive Me".

References

External links

50 Cent's official websiteGenius lyrics annotation of "Ghetto Qu'ran"
{{authority control 50 Cent songs 1999 songs Songs written by 50 Cent Song recordings produced by Trackmasters Songs about drugs