Memphis Bleek prides himself on being a man of respect who can stand on his two feet. He’s made it as clear at every turn, from his soundbites to his album titles. The youngster who crashed the scene in a yellow Avirex jacket, durag, and Roc-A-Fella baseball cap on the cover of his 1999 debut Coming of Age is in no need of a crutch to lean on, approaching life with The Understanding of a man who’s made the most of his circumstances.
Yet, some people beg to differ. Some feel Bleek’s lifestyle and financial standing aren’t reflective of his position as a loyal friend and protege of Jay-Z, whose wealth has inspired discussions on entrepreneurship, capitalism, and the weight of cultural currency. Others have even demeaned the credibility of his creative achievements and professional accolades, attributing such success as a mere byproduct of his proximity and relationship to Hov.
Two of the loudest figures in that contingent are Uncle Murda and Tony Yayo, both of whom have questioned Jay-Z’s seeming lack of assistance in Bleek’s professional career and personal endeavors. In a 2025 interview on Club Shay Shay, Yayo – himself a longtime friend, crewmate, and soldier to 50 Cent, who has voiced his critiques of Jay-Z on several occasions – echoed the claim that Hov doesn’t assist those in his orbit, prompting a retort from Bleek himself.
Earlier this month, the 48-year-old responded to Yayo’s comments during his appearance on The Breakfast Club, highlighting Yayo and other G-Unit affiliates’ seeming reliance on 50 Cent for their livelihood.
“Niggas can’t compete, that’s why they talk like that,” Bleek said during the interview. “If 50 said, ‘[I’m stopping for] one year, these niggas would be in a shelter. They shouldn’t be allowed to talk about us or anybody when you literally are a dependent.”
While Bleek didn’t mention Uncle Murda, a friend of Yayo and a known 50 Cent and G-Unit affiliate, in his comments, the message struck a chord, as Murda lashed out at his fellow Brooklynite during an appearance on Gillie Da Kid and Wallo’s Million Dollaz Worth of Game podcast. Murda, who appeared alongside Jay-Z on Fabolous’ 2007 single “Brooklyn” and was briefly signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, scoffed at Bleek’s perceived financial standing, challenging him to show his receipts.
“We could continue to do month-for-month to see who’s making more money as far as that business is concerned,” Murda said. “We could go business-for-business as far as that, right?”
The East New York native continued, dissing Bleek’s rap skills and questioning his popularity amongst music fans. “The only Bleek verse I ever fucking liked is the one that Jay-Z wrote,” he said. “I ain’t never like a Bleek verse that he wrote by himself. Fuck outta here. Niggas ain’t no Memphis Bleek fans like that neither.”
Uncle Murda’s heated tirade, which was sparked by Gillie telling Murda that Bleek had been speaking about him directly in his comments on The Breakfast Club, quickly went viral.
Word got back to Bleek, who had a few things to get off his chest regarding Uncle Murda, Tony Yayo, Jay-Z, 50 Cent, and why his respect for Cam’ron and Jim Jones has grown bigger than ever.
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VIBE: I’ve got to address the elephant in the room. Uncle Murda had some comments that came out today, and he was blacking…
Memphis Bleek: I just want to know why he said next week. We got to wait til the 1st [of the month]? He says he wants to battle on Bitcoin. Somebody better tell him that Bitcoin is down, too [laughs]. He better jump on some of this AI tech, that’s on its way up. Bitcoin is down. I don’t have no Bitcoin. I never got paid in Bitcoin [laughs]. I have everything else, too. He said he wants to see how much our businesses make. Yo, this shit is comical to me. Come on down, B. I’ll show you payroll, and you’ll see how much the business makes.
Show me how many employees you’ve got working for you, and I’ll know how much your business makes right there. These guys are crazy, bro. Just talking loud and wrong for nothing. I heard him; he said I got one song. So, if I got one out of everything I did, and that’s equivalent to one, out of everything he did, it’s equivalent to none. He needs to get one like me [laughs].
If one did all of this, that nigga better pray hard to get one. I have no malice towards any of these dudes, man. Remember, all this stems from them asking if Jay takes care of me, and he did already. In 1996, when I signed to Roc-A-Fella Records, he looked out.
What else do you have to do? The opportunity is there. Make records, make money, sell merch, do what I did. I ain’t sign a contract [that said] if I go platinum, I’m going to take care of you for the rest of your life. What contract?
I’m on Daddy/Daughter Day right now. This is what I have to do, day to day. You think I could call another man and be like, “You ain’t looking out for me,” when my daughter’s sitting here? I have to look out for her.
That’s why I posed the question, “Who do these niggas look out for?” He said he took 13 kids to Disney World [laughs].
Like they said in the comments, “Yeah, he’s a ca-billionaire.” I don’t want to battle him with nothing ’cause I would tell you right now, I could never take 13 kids to Disney World unless Disney World is giving me a deal [laughs].
Would you say that the back-and-forth comparisons of what this one has done for that one, what that one did for this one are kind of part of the cold war that 50 Cent and Jay-Z have had over the years?
That question is one-sided ’cause what did Jay ever question or compare himself to anybody for you to ask that question? It’s them comparing them to him, and then my name came up. So I’m just standing up for me. Jay don’t speak to nobody. He don’t even answer half the shit. Me, I’m not that. My thing is, I’m not Jay, and Yayo damn sure ain’t 50. What, he thought I was going to be quiet like that because you got a podcast now? You’re going to build your views on shooting at niggas, and I’m one of them?
Yeah, I’m just not the quiet shot. Not the easy target. It’s going to take some work to get the W over here. That’s just it. Again, I don’t like talking through blogs, YouTube, and podcasts. I reached out to Uncle Murda before all of this blew up to where it is now.
When the fuse was just lit, I reached out to Uncle Murda because I knew I had a relationship with the homie. Invited him to the pod; he kindly declined. He didn’t want to come up. Yayo called N.O.R.E. [and said], “Yo, what type of bullshit y’all on trying to invite Murda up there knowing what it is. I thought you was Queens,” and all that. All type of ill shit, and it’s like damn. Niggas called as if I was trying to set the homie up.
I thought I had a relationship with you to where we can sit down, man to man, talk about differences or whatever it was, and we could have looked each other in the eye and said, “I don’t fuck with you from here on out,” or, “You my nigga from here on out.” It could have gone either way, but we were supposed to have that conversation as men, not through the internet. I started this pod to be on some shit like when they called you solid back in the days, you were the realest nigga in the neighborhood. You’re solid, you’re real, you don’t bend, you don’t break, you don’t fold for nothing. The Roc is family. So when I call it Roc Solid, it’s family. We’re the most solid niggas you’re going to meet. We ain’t got to be the killer-est niggas. We ain’t got to be the biggest drug dealers; it’s just you ain’t going to find no holes in our story over here.
Everything’s solid, and to keep that and to make sure people appreciate and know that. Why wouldn’t I have conversations with niggas that slighted me or felt like they were my enemy? If you’re a real nigga and you can’t sit down and look your enemy eye to eye, how real are you? Remember, it’s easy to squeeze and shoot. Half these niggas don’t even shoot and be close to face-to-face. That’s why there’s more shooting murders than knife murders. Why? ‘Cause the nigga don’t even want to look at you. He’s going to shoot from down the block and kill you. That knife, nigga, I’ll be up on you and smell your breath.
Yeah, that’s extra personal.
Just real shit. That’s the difference, and that’s just what it is, my nigga. Me, I ain’t afraid and opposed to sit down with no man and have a conversation.
Whether it go right, left, indifferent, or whatever, but you going to know how I feel from my mouth to your ears. We’re not going to do it this way because this is how rumors start. When they go through this, “You heard of such and such,” thing. “He said this, he said that,” and it ain’t even been said like that. I’d rather you hear it from the horse’s mouth, nigga.
Right there, when you look at me in my eyes, and I’m telling you what it is and you telling me what it is. Whether I agree with it or not, I still got to respect it as a man. That’s why you have no idea the amount of respect I have for Jim Jones and Cam’ron. Whatever they’re going through, I have nothing to do with that, but I know as my niggas before the rap, before our little incident, and after the incident, my respect level for them has grown through the roof because both of them looked me in my face and told me what it is. And there was nothing we could do but either agree or disagree. That’s it.