Sha Money Speaks On New Artists & 50 / G-Unit

Sha Money XL might not make a lot of headlines like the artists on G-Unit's roster, but the label's former president definitely makes money like them. And since he parted ways with 50 Cent and company earlier this year — at least in an official capacity because he still manages Lloyd Banks and Young Buck — the Queens, New York, native has expanded his firm, Money Management Group. Its new clients include Tha Bizness, the production duo behind Fif's leaked track "Follow My Lead" featuring Robin Thicke.

"They're a part of my secret weapon I call 'Seattle's Best,' " Sha told Mixtape Monday last week. "Out in Seattle there's a lot of talent people don't even know. I got Jake One, Tha Bizness and Vitamin D. Three producers, they're like my favorite."

Sha said he's spent a lot of time in the Emerald City recently on business. He's in talks with Microsoft to both adapt his "Traxxpad" video game to Xbox and hopefully have the software giant come on board as a sponsor at his next producers' conference. But the multiplatinum producer also said business at home has kept him plenty busy as of late.

Two weeks ago, Sha revealed that G-Unit — the group, not the company — came together and talked in-house business until the wee hours of the morning. The results, as we heard recently from 50's tracks "I'm on Some Sh--" and "Southside," which both feature Banks and Tony Yayo, is that G-Unit are back.

"The whole squad [was there]," Sha Money said. "G-Unit is back. Every beef is squashed."

Sha explained that his departure from G-Unit was a mutual decision between him and Fif at the time, but leading up to the decision, there was plenty of tension between the two. Sha said he was working his hardest to push albums by Banks and to set up 50's Curtis — this was back when the album was titled Before I Self Destruct, which is now the name of his anticipated February 4 follow-up — but he said he felt handcuffed by Interscope's inability to move things forward. But he said 50, who hasn't replaced Sha as president and is instead handling all the duties himself, is now experiencing the same frustrations.

"There is no replacement," Sha said. "There's 50 Cent. 50 Cent is the president and CEO of G-Unit. He's not gonna replace anyone. He has to fix things himself now, outside of [his manager] Chris Lighty, and Chris Lighty has a lot of responsibilities with Diddy and his other clients. There's a lot of pressure. 50's under a lot of pressure. But he's really killing it. He's doing what he got to do. It's frustrating and I tried to tell him that's the frustration I used to have. I'm one man, Interscope has 500 people. Some things you just can't fix. People in L.A. are real Zen. [New Yorkers are] more aggressive. And Fif is really aggressive. He wants to see results now. The same things I tried to conquer before I brought [them] to him, I was knocking down walls myself. 'Cause you don't want it to be like always going to Daddy. But it was the same thing that happened with Banks, so he's experiencing it a year later. Last year, I was mad. But eights months later, I'm good."

Sha said to expect more big things to come from G-Unit, including a group album featuring Fif, Banks, Buck and Yayo. In the meantime, Sha is in Las Vegas with Buck prepping the launch of the Cashville rapper's new clothing and watch line, the David Brown Collection.

"I was doing a lot [before], Fif was right," Sha said. "So I had to downsize, and we back to the basics. I just need tunnel vision right now. Buck is a brand on his own, so he's a lot [of work]. ... [We all had] too many things going on. That was the problem, until 50 said, 'We back.' No more extra sh-- when it's time to get to the work. So now everybody is back."