Tupac Shakur’s connection to Mike Tyson is finding its way into Street Fighter more than 30 years later. While promoting the new film, 50 Cent explained that hearing Pac’s alternate version of “Ambitionz Az a Ridah” gave him the foundation for the music he created for the movie.
“Tupac’s first version of ‘Ambitionz Az a Ridah’ was he wrote a version of it for Mike Tyson, and it already had everything,” 50 told Extra at the Los Angeles premiere. “So, when I listened to it, it was cool, and I wrote a version of it so we have it for the theme.”
The Pac recording, commonly known as “Ambitionz Az a Fighta,” dates back to the 1990s and was created around Tyson’s return to boxing. It has already been used in Street Fighter promotion, giving the film a direct musical connection to the heavyweight champion years before 50 began working on his own contribution.
That is separate from another collaboration 50 teased over the summer. During a July appearance on TODAY, he revealed that he had been working on new Street Fighter music with Eminem and unreleased Tupac vocals. He also made clear that Pac’s estate approved the material and that they weren't using artificial intelligence to recreate his voice.
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50 Cent Took The Balrog Assignment Seriously
The music is only part of 50’s involvement. He plays boxer Balrog in the live-action adaptation, a role that sent him back into training for a sport he practiced as a teenager. At the premiere, he said preparing for the character meant spending close to three hours a day in the gym. He also worked with a boxing coach while filming in Australia.
That level of preparation came with a less glamorous transformation once production got to Balrog’s appearance. 50 shaved his facial hair and adopted the character’s distinctive haircut. He was less than thrilled when he had to leave the set looking that way.
“I went home with a hat on,” he joked. “That hairline was crazy.”
The role also reconnects 50 with something he knew before Rap or Hollywood. He recalled playing Street Fighter at a neighborhood Chinese restaurant as a kid. The icon recalled scraping together change for turns on the arcade machine. Now, he is playing one of those characters in a movie that opens Oct. 16, with Tupac’s old music scoring the trip back.
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