Close to two weeks after the death of his mother and manager Dr. Donda West, rapper Kanye West is receiving condolences from his biggest music rival, 50 Cent.
In an interview with the Associated Press, the G-Unit leader stood by West’s decision to return to the stage following the sudden tragedy.
“That’s really an unfortunate situation and I hope he can work his way through it,” 50 Cent said Tuesday (Nov. 20). “It’s good to see him actually touring: You can work your way back into a comfortable space where you can deal with those situations.”
Dr. Donda West died Nov. 10 at her home after she stopped breathing. The 58-year-old educator and author was laid to rest in a private ceremony on Tuesday in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.
Although an official cause of death has yet to be determined, rumors persist that the 58-year-old former educator died from complications from recent plastic surgery.
The man who operated on Dr. Donda West prior to her death, Dr. Jan Adams, walked off on talk show host Larry King during an interview on Tuesday.
The plastic surgeon cited a request by Dr. West’s family to not appear on the show as well as a threat to have him decertified by The Medical Board of California as the reason why he cut the interview short.
Dr. Donda West’s death echo a similar situation experienced by G-Unit crew member Lloyd Banks, whose father died when the rapper was on tour.
In response to the tragedy 50 Cent encouraged Banks to focus on work as a way to overcome his grief.
“I was telling him, ‘You need to go back and do what you need to do,’ and he thought maybe I was a little insensitive,” 50 Cent revealed. “But I can definitely understand how that’s a huge loss, and how that would be, and then (Kanye’s) relationship with his mom had a lot more depth to it than a lot of people’s. He was real close to his mom.”
50 Cent’s condolences to Kanye West may surprise those who believed the two were enemies during their recent highly publicized sales battle, when West’s Graduation and 50’s Curtis albums were released on the same day.
However, 50 Cent is quick to admit that nothing could be further from the truth as he never considered West a rival.
“He’s a talented artist. I actually sat with him during the creation of Curtis while he was creating his new album,” the rapper told the AP. “I never viewed him as an actual enemy; what I was trying to do is build a competition.”
