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The title of rapper 50 Cent's new musical project - release date yet to be confirmed - is Before I Self-Destruct. Given the storm clouds gathering over the star's private life, an early distribution of the album may be advisable.
The rapper - real name Curtis Jackson - has placed the launch on hold while he fights Shaniqua Tompkins, the mother of his young son, in a case which has begun to plumb rare depths of bile and bitterness.
In the latest twist, the singer filed a £10 million ($26 million) defamation lawsuit against his ex-girlfriend last week. That move appears to be an act of retaliation against a temporary restraining order sought by Tompkins, requiring him to surrender all firearms and keep away from her.
America's hottest rap star already bears the scars from nine gunshot wounds. The mental bruising from his battle with Tompkins may prove as permanent.
The core of the dispute relates to the £25 million Long Island mansion occupied by Tompkins and her 11-year-old son by Jackson, Marquise. Police are investigating the possibility that a fire, which destroyed the property and left Tompkins and five others in hospital, was deliberate.
Jackson has said he finds it inappropriate that Tompkins was living in his house with her new boyfriend and several other people. But he vehemently denies any involvement in the blaze. The day before the fire, Tompkins was seen arguing with Jackson near the house, having recently taken the star to court to secure her right to stay in the property. The warring couple went to mediation where there was a fight between the rapper's bodyguard, Tompkins' current boyfriend and some other acquaintances.
A New York judge has ordered Jackson to hold on to the property ruins and place any insurance proceeds he receives into a trust account pending the outcome of Tompkins' £25 million lawsuit against him. She is also pursuing a claim that Jackson promised her half of his earnings for life.
The rapper has responded that his ex-partner has "a sense of entitlement because she was around during that time period when I didn't have much ... she has a [designer] bag habit that costs more than the child support".
According to Tompkins, the rapper is still fixated with her. "If he can't have me he feels like no one can. He's obsessed. He's very obsessed. We're in litigation, we're fighting over the house. He said he was gonna have someone come kill me ... "
- OBSERVER
