Jay-Z's longtime engineer Young Guru was a recent guest on Math Hoffa's Expert Opinion Podcast where he discussed 50 Cent's early 2000s rise.

"We were in the studio, we had just done State Property and we were working on Blueprint 2," Guru explained. "Jay-Z walked in the studio, and he had said this before, but I'm telling you how impactful it was. He said, 'This dude 50, y'all gonna have to deal with him in a couple of months.' He said that to the whole crew. It was a warning like there's another power coming!"

Guru said that he already knew 50, but that the 50 who came later was totally different than the "How To Rob" 50 Cent.

"50 is one of the most incredible hook writers," Guru proclaims. "Hooks will get you everywhere. There was one time that me and [Memphis] Bleek was in the studio and I heard a 50 record and the hook said 'I know you don't love me, 'cus you ain't the same when Jay-Z's around.' I said that's our hook! How did we not say that??"

When asked if projects like State Property got swallowed up by the 50 phenomena, Guru responds that he doesn't think so. "I believe State Property got caught up more in the Jay and Dame break up," he said.

Guru goes on to remind the listener that Memphis Bleek, State Property and Beanie Sigel all had multiple platinum and gold albums. "As a label, Roc-A-Fella artists were guaranteed 300,000 sales in the first week," he said. "Young Guns was the first time that an album did 60,000."

Guru attributed the decline in sales to MP3s and posed the question: "How we gonna sell records when records are free?"

See the clip above.