US rapper 50 Cent says it is up for the public to decide whether a song from the new G Unit album is an attack on fellow rapper T.I.

In the song, entitled 'You So Tough', 50 Cent raps: "Nowadays this rap shit ain't adding up/ How niggas get caught with 10 machine guns, only get 12 months/ Oowee, don't talk to me/ You talk to him, you talking to them."

The lyrics have prompted people to speculate whether the rapper, whose real name is Curtis Jackson, is referring to T.I.'s recent arrest for gun possession.

As previously reported, the rapper was arrested before last year's BET Awards and is currently awaiting sentence.

Speaking to MTV about the new song, 50 Cent said: "[It's] absolutely for the public to decide. My intentions — you know me, you know my MO — I would just say something.

“It's not really directed at him. It's me taking real-life situations. These things are relevant to hip-hop, period.

"I make something that's interesting enough for people to sink their teeth into, and I move forward."

(by Jason Gregory)