![Here Are 22 Rappers Who Said They Were Retiring During Their Career](https://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2016/06/rappersretire.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Here Are 22 Rappers Who Said They Were Retiring During Their Career
Longevity in the rap game can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, there's the potential to gain a fan base that can only grow alongside an artist over time as the music evolves and more money is earned—more than most people make in their lifetime. But on the other hand, there's rap industry politics, hierarchy headaches, public scrutiny and debt. This is why so many of rap's talented MCs decide to bow out at times.
Sometimes, when a rapper like Jay-Z or Lupe Fiasco claims that they are retiring at the height of their careers, it comes as a shock to the fans. But when a rapper hasn't even dropped their debut LP yet, as was the case for contemporaries like Kid Cudi or iLoveMakonnen at one point, the claims are rarely taken seriously.
Business savvy wordsmiths have even used the claim that they're retiring as marketing for their upcoming albums. Master P said he would end his rap career with his 1998 LP, MP Da Last Don, which went on to go four-times platinum in record sales. 50 Cent announced he would hang up his mic forever if his Curtis album was outsold by Kanye West's Graduation. Jay-Z even held a star-studded farewell concert for himself at Madison Square Garden to commemorate his moment.
Whether it was a temporary hiatus, a temporary lapse in judgment or deciding to hang up the mic to move on to other ventures, check out the rappers who've claimed to retire from the art form over the years.
See Rappers Who Said They Were Retiring During Their Career
More From XXL
![Rick Ross Offers Truce to 50 Cent If 50 Wants to Pitch Film Ideas to Him for Funding](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-rick-ross-50-cent.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Travis Scott Sparks Dating Rumors With 50 Cent’s Ex-Girlfriend Cuban Link](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-Travis-Scott-50-Cent-Cuban-Link.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The Most NSFW Moments of Ye and His Wife Bianca Censori](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/01/attachment-kanye-west-bianca-censori1.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![The 13 Best New Hip-Hop Songs This Week](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-drake-ice-spice-cordae.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![50 Cent Calls for New York Supreme Court Judge to Be Removed After Viral Video Shows Her Threatening to Shoot Black Teens](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-50-cent-judge.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Ice Spice Considers Latto’s Beef With Her One-Sided and Thinks It’s All a Joke](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-latto-ice-spice.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Joe Budden Says He’s in No Rush to Listen to Eminem’s New Album and Explains Why](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-Joe-Budden-Eminem.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Here’s What the 2023 XXL Freshman Class Has Been Up To This Past Year](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-2023-xxl-freshman-class-photo.jpg?w=980&q=75)
![Rappers React in Outrage to Murder of Sonya Massey by Police](http://townsquare.media/site/812/files/2024/07/attachment-Sonya-Massey.jpg?w=980&q=75)