G-Unit is an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. After releasing a string of mixtapes in the early 2000s, including 50 Cent is the Future, God's Plan and No Mercy, No Fear, the group released their debut album Beg for Mercy in 2003, which went on to ship over 4,000,000 copies in the US and was certified Quadruple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The album, which followed the critical and commercial success of 50 Cent's major-label debut Get Rich or Die Tryin', served as a platform for Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo to release their respective solo debut albums; The Hunger for More, Straight Outta Cashville and Thoughts of a Predicate Felon. In 2008, the group released their second album TOS.During Tony Yayo's imprisonment in 2003, the group recruited Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck, who was featured throughout the Beg for Mercy album. The Game was also added to the group, a proposition made by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine in late 2003, to promote the Aftermath/Interscope newcomer.