50 Cent and G-Unit Crash Joe's Verzuz Battle With Donell Jones — and Joe Wins 18-2

50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Uncle Murda walked onto Joe's stage in round 14 of his Verzuz battle against Donell Jones on Thursday, Aug. 20, turning a '90s R&B showdown into a G-Unit reunion. Joe won the night 18-2 on the Verzuz scorecard, according to Billboard.

The surprise came when 50 Cent performed "Wanna Get to Know You," a 2003 G-Unit track that samples Marvin Gaye and features Joe himself. The song, from the album Beg for Mercy, peaked at No. 15 on the Billboard Hot 100 — the chart that tracks the most popular songs in the US across all formats. 50 also performed "Big Rich Town," the theme from the TV series Power.

For Joe, the heavy-hitting reinforcements capped a night built on his own catalogue. He performed his Mariah Carey collaboration "Thank God I Found You," pulling out the Nas remix, and the Mystikal-assisted "Stutter" — both of which reached No. 1 on the Hot 100. Jones had his own moment earlier in the evening, reuniting the group 702 for a performance of "Get It Together." YG and Tyrese also performed during the event, according to Complex.

Verzuz is a live format in which two artists trade songs round by round while viewers watch and a running scorecard tracks the results. The battle was streamed live on Apple Music, Complex and Verzuz's own channels. The official Verzuz X account posted clips of the G-Unit appearance, and Complex Music's X account also shared highlights from the night.

An 18-2 scorecard is a rout by any measure. The gap reflected the depth of Joe's chart history — multiple Hot 100 chart-toppers, cross-genre collaborations and a feature on a G-Unit record that put him in the same room as one of the biggest rappers of the 2000s. Jones brought a reunion and a proven earworm of his own, but the rounds stacked up in Joe's favour.

The Verzuz format, launched in 2020, has become a fixture for legacy R&B and hip-hop acts to resurface catalogue, stage surprises and reach audiences who first heard these songs on cassette or CD. Thursday's battle drew those threads together: a Mariah feature, a G-Unit cameo, a 702 reunion and a final score that left little room for debate.