Two Five

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10630290/


The world knows his cousin, but he just wants people to recognize him. Two Five or 25 - real name Michael Francis - is the latest rapper to come out of Southside Jamaica, Queens. He just so happens to be the cousin of multi-platinum rapper 50 Cent.



While many would think having an older cousin who is on top of the rap game guarantees you instant success, think again. In fact, there have been reports in which 50 and his representatives have denied that the two are related.



The two are legitimate first cousins, said the 22-year-old prodigy, who says they grew up in the same house - their grandmother's. However, now the two cousins, who once ran the streets together and were so close that neighborhood friends referred to them as brothers, don't speak to one another.



It's been three or four years since their last conversation, said Two Five, who was given the name 25 Cent as teenager hanging around his cousin.



Two Five's flow may sound similar to 50, but he remains unsigned and is working on his debut project, which he will release independently some time next year if he isn't signed. He has also completed a DVD that takes you through his home in Queens and chronicles his dedication to making music. He has not seen 50's movie, nor does he have an interest to.



Though Two Five believes part of the reason 50 doesn't want to help him is because he doesn't want him to inherit his beef, he is determined to make it, even if it means he has to do it on his own.



AP: Do you consider 50 Cent to be a mentor to you?



Two Five: Yeah, he is. He will always be that. I don't look at dude as my big cousin, that's my brother. He raised me and did things for me when nobody else would, so I can't never turn my back on him for that.



AP: What's the relationship between you and 50 Cent right now?



Two Five: There is no relationship. I'm doing me and I'm handling my own business. I don't know how he feels, that's something somebody would have to ask him. My relationship with him, to my knowledge, is, stay on your side of the street, I'll stay on mine. I feel like I don't need him.



AP: What was the last conversation that you had with 50 Cent like?



Two Five: It was an argument. It was yelling and screaming. I think when people get a little money they really don't show their true colors. But when you get big money and you're in a different tax bracket, you start to feel yourself more than your supposed to, you get cocky.



AP: So you think he's gotten cocky and the money and all the success has changed him?



Two Five: I think he's lonely and bitter. I think he's that way because there is nobody around you to share your love with. You're making all that money just to have 15 security guards, two trucks and nobody around you that really cares for you. And when all your money is gone and there is nobody else there for you, you gotta come back to family and that's even if we'll accept you.



AP: Does 50 Cent give back to his family?



Two Five: Nah, he don't give back to his family not one bit. He's supposed to take care of my grandmother and my grandfather because they took care of him. I don't think he wants to put that situation out there. His whole excuse for not bringing me on is, "It's dangerous, people trying to hurt me, people trying to do that to me, and the closest thing to me is you." And that's true, but my whole thing is why you are bringing the camera crews around the same house you know your family is still in. All that money you got you can't help your family get out of the hood. Maybe not even me, but you do have cousins who have children and aunts who got bills. But you buying your homeboy a hundred thousand dollar chain.



AP: Is it true that 50 Cent is not acknowledging you as his cousin?



Two Five: I think it would be wise for him to try and prevent me from getting out because lyrically I am better than him. I think the best thing for him to do is to just not say anything about me, whether they acknowledge me or not I see you at Thanksgiving and Christmas. I still see you when you come to the house, whether you want the world to know or not. My whole thing with 50 is he just does stuff that makes him look like a hypocrite. In one article you'll say, "Yeah, that's my cousin. He's a fraud, he's this, he's that." Then in another article you'll say, "I don't know him." Then you'll say, "I don't break peace with nobody, it is what it is." But, yet you kissing Game on the cheek at a press conference. And you can't talk to your family?



- Michael Feeney - Associated Press

http://www.nydailynews.com/boroughs/story/382757p-324975c.html

He sounds a bit like him and even resembles him slightly, but rapper Two Five says he's nothing like his cousin, mega rap star Fifty Cent.

Two Five, whose real name is Michael Francis, is in talks with several record companies to drop an album he says will set the record straight on him and Fifty, with whom he grew up in South Jamaica.

"I can't follow in that man's footsteps, and that's what I'm trying to stay away from," said Two Five, 22, who also goes by the nickname Quarter. "I'm trying to separate myself from him. Nobody wants to live [in a situation] where everywhere you go you need to have security."

The cousins - Fifty's real name is Curtis Jackson - got their nicknames as teens while living in their grandmother's house near 134th St. and Guy R. Brewer Blvd.

One, a former gangster, went on to become world famous for his sensational lyrics and for surviving nine gunshot wounds. The other lived in the shadows of his cousin's celebrity, all the while dreaming of achieving the same stardom.

"At the time I couldn't come out because it was all his world," said Two Five. "I wanted to rap, and he felt like I shouldn't."

Two Five and Fifty are no longer on speaking terms, and haven't been for more than three years. The shooting of Fifty Cent and his subsequent rise to rap fame created a rift between the two that has yet to heal.

"It was fairly easy until he got shot," said Two Five, who now lives in Hempstead, L.I. "I reached out plenty of times, but there was no response."

Two Five said despite the lack of communication, he is proud of his older cousin's success. He considers Fifty Cent a mentor and remembers him best as his street guardian.

"He tried to keep me away from hustling, as far as being in the streets," Two Five said.

Two Five established a Web site that features such rap offerings as "Like Me" and "All I Need," which are designed to showcase his individuality as a rapper. The site makes no reference to Fifty.

"I'm my own man," Two Five insisted. "All of my records are going to hit it off."

Fifty's manager at Violator Management, Chris Lighty, could not be reached for comment on Two Five's aspirations.

Two Five, who now works as a music producer, also is working on a DVD that documents his life growing up in South Jamaica and his work on his as-yet-untitled album.

To hear Two Five's raps, visit www.whois25.com. Be advised that samples include explicit lyrics.

- Warren Woodbury