50 Cent has been labelled a "coward" by rapper Fat Joe. 

The 'Candy Shop' star - who famously survived being shot nine times at close range in 2000 - is a "punk a** motherf***er" who is too scared to leave his home, according to his hip-hop rival.

Fat Joe, real name Joseph Cartagena, ranted to website Complex.com: "He got shot by people who he knows and he doesn't do nothing about it.

He gets criticised by people like Ja Rule, little Ja Rule, and he never even fought him one on one. He's going to come f**k with Fat Joe? Are you serious? He still don't leave his house. "He's looking for attention, I'm gonna diss him. I'm gonna tell him to suck my d**k, everything you can think. I'm gonna tell him that. What does he want out of me? He's gonna tell me, 'Oh, Fat Joe, you're a sucka', and I'm gonna be like, 'Suck my d**k you punk a** motherf***er."

The two rap stars have been engaged in a war of words since the video for 50's 2005 hit 'Piggy Bank' featured an animated boxing match between the pair which ended with a cartoon Fat Joe being badly beaten. Joe responded with the song 'F**k 50' in which he dubbed him "the fakest gangster around".

Their feud was reignited last month when 50 said he would like to "eliminate" Joe from the "rap game" on US TV show 'Rap City'. The 'Lean Back' rapper responded by branding 50 a "clown", on the same programme the following week. On his new song 'Southside Nigga (I'm Leavin')' 50 threatens to put Joe's "brains on the floor". 

50 Cent (Curtis James Jackson III) was born on July 6, 1975 is an American rapper commonly known by his stage name 50 Cent.

He rose to fame following the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. 50 Cent achieved multi-Platinum success with both albums, selling over twenty million records worldwide... read more...