50 Cent is quiet. Maino, Jim Jones, Fabolous, and Dave East all decided to rap over Fif’s instrumentals and poke the bear on Christmas Day. We all leaned forward. Normally, this is where the explosion happens. Someone says something. Someone tweets something. Heck, even a meme drops. Silence is not what he expect and that’s got me suspicious.

The verses themselves were mostly light sparring. Jim Jones showed some aggression but never really crossed the street and rang the doorbell. LOL! Fabolous, however, did not come to play. The Brooklyn veteran went straight for 50’s nerves. He started ddressing the squatter talk head-on and even reference Fif’s baby moms. I heard that and cringed. By the way, people, there was once a time when Fab’s name was mentioned in king of New York conversation. This is the same guy who dropped an album on the exact same day as Jay-Z released The Blueprint and stood on it. That chip-toothed Fab showed up like The Grinch.

That is what makes the absence of a response from 50 Cent so interesting. History says he usually reacts instantly. He does not sit with disrespect. He turns it into content and tries to destroy that other person. But here we are, a full day later, and nothing. So…now we have to ponder.

To be fair, 50 picks his targets carefully these days. He recently took aim at Lil Kim over a video, dragging her over her looks and saying she looks like an alien. Yet Nicki Minaj remains untouched. Interesting. Anyway…

So what is happening now? One theory is strategy. Another is respect. A third is fear, though is a word 50 Cent does not recognize. Fabolous is not a troll! He is a technician on the mic. If this turns lyrical, the playing field changes. Most people do not think 50 well get on the mic.

Maybe Fif is cooking something. Maybe he is letting the internet do the work for him. Or maybe he knows that jumping into a bar-for-bar moment with Fab opens a door he would rather keep closed. There is one other thing: he might be digging up dirt on F-A-B-O. We know he is good for that too.

Either way, we are watching…the clock is ticking.