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50 Cent is ‘not somebody you would see in church’: Abington bracing for rapper’s bottle signing event


50 Cent is going to be south of Boston this weekend, signing bottles of Effen Vodka at Billy’s Liquors in Abington from noon to 2 p.m. And the whole thing has the town bracing for the worst.

According to a report by the Brockton Enterprise, which hilariously cites some of the rapper’s more violent lyrics, the liquor store is expecting roughly 700 people to show up and, at the very least, cause some traffic delays. A recent Abington police alert said his appearance “may cause some traffic jams in the area,” and urged motorists to seek alternate routes around the area.

Billy’s Liquors hired about 10 security guards to keep the peace, and there will be four town police officers directing traffic along Brockton Avenue, with three additional officers on hired police detail at the scene.

And of course, Fiddy, a brand ambassador for and investor in Effen Vodka, will have his own muscle on hand to make sure shit doesn’t get unruly. Back in April, a Syracuse store sold 1400 bottles of Effen during a three-hour 50 Cent signing.

Here’s more from the Enterprise:

In this town of about 16,000 residents, officials are preparing for the arrival of 50 Cent, whose hard-core rap music has depicted gritty street life and violence. His song “Crime Wave” preaches gun violence – “Them bullets come in flurries, next thing you know you’re buried, Yeah, I do away with nine (expletive) in nine days,” the lyrics say. “My nine sprays when (expletive) don’t go my way.”

“He’s not a good draw, not somebody you would see in church,” Selectmen Chairman Mike Franey said Wednesday.

[Police Chief David] Majenski said he doesn’t anticipate issues with crowd control but he does have traffic safety concerns. Brockton Avenue, or Route 123, is a busy road, he said. “We’re encouraging people to take alternative routes because we anticipate a lot of people, pedestrians,” Majenski said. “We don’t want anybody to get hurt.”

The small Route 123 liquor store, with limited parking and on a heavily-traveled road, is not the ideal venue for the event, Majenski said. “Would I choose Billy’s Liquors to have 50 Cent to go to, is that the ideal place? Not at all,” Majenski said. “But that’s not something that I could control.”

Those who still want a 50 Cent fix but don’t feel like driving down to Abington to get a vodka bottle signed can see the rapper in the flesh tomorrow night, the Boston Globe reports, when 50 makes an appearance at The IV Hundred party hosted by downtown nightclub Cure.


50 Cent Abington