By Patrick Basler and Cameron Neimand

Motherfuckin’ P.I.M.P. alert: 50 Cent is in the building.

Well, on Saturday, anyway. And the building was Hyattsville’s newest liquor store, Town Center Wine & Spirits, where 50 himself stopped by to sign some bottles of #EFFENVodka and take photos with fans.

It might have slipped under your radar — unless you’re uniquely tuned in to local liquor store happenings or have dedicated the past 10 years of your life to following the G-Unit leader’s every move. But for the dozens of people lined up against the glass storefront, the chance to meet 50, and buy a $25 bottle of vodka, was too good to pass up.

Hugh Monahan, a University of Maryland alumnus and one of those eagerly waiting in line, said he thought 50 would be able to give him “some direction in [his] life, just personally and business-wise.”

Phani Dama, owner of Town Center Wine & Spirits, has been a 50 Cent fan for years — so having the rapper at his brand-new store was the perfect way to celebrate its opening.

“Effen Vodka has a special promotion, so we got it through that, and he’s going to be doing pictures, signing and everything,” Dama said.

It was 3:30 p.m. when the rapper arrived, making a beeline past rows of alcohol toward the store’s back corner, where he was guarded by two cardboard cutouts of a much thinner 50 Cent. He donned Effen Vodka gear from head to toe, displaying an unwavering commitment to brand loyalty.

A kid wearing a yellow hoodie, unfazed by 50’s stardom, sat behind the cash register. To his right was DJ Majestic, long braids swaying as he spun 50 Cent classics such as “Candy Shop.” The kid in the yellow hoodie — likely still in elementary school — innocently grooved. He’s at the age where he probably still thinks the song is about a candy shop.

The store itself is well-organized, with bottles of liquor grouped into their respective categories, something Dama takes pride in.

“We wanted to create a store where anyone can come in. So we wanted a local store where it looks good, it’s sharp, it’s not shabby,” Dama said.

We were granted early entrance to the event and grouped with the owner’s son, Mehul, and his friend Louis Lyles, both 16. Shopping carts full of various Effen Vodka flavors already autographed by 50 Cent himself sat in front of us. Those who purchased a bottle (such as co-author of this article, Cameron Neimand) were given their flavor of choice and sent in line to take a picture with 50. For those not yet old enough to purchase alcohol (such as the other co-author of this article, Patrick Basler), the instructions were to take a bottle, strictly for the photo-op, and return it to the shopping cart once the picture was taken.

A police/security officer of some sort pointed to the mat we were standing on.

“This is your demarcation line,” he said, an attempt at crowd control in a slightly bustling store.

We were asked not to cross the line for the sake of “the process.” Ultimately, we did anyway, heading into the separate line to wait and take our photo with 50. We attempted to Snapchat photos of him, but a much more official looking police officer wasn’t having it.

“No photos,” the man in uniform said.

The Effen Vodka team explained that they would be handling the pictures, and that we could see them once they were uploaded to the Effen Vodka Facebook page. Based on a brief glance of the page, we guessed it takes about two to three weeks for the team to get the photos posted.

Finally, it was our turn. Equipped with $25 Effen Vodka bottles, we were put on either side of 50 Cent. We both shook his hand and, to personalize the situation, Cameron told 50 that his mom bought him the clean version of The Massacre as a kid.

A nice story, but 50 couldn’t hear it over his own music, which was still being played loudly by Majestic.

The flash went off. We weren’t ready. And just like that, it was over.

But, hey, we kinda met 50 Cent … and we have an autographed bottle of cucumber-flavored Effen Vodka to prove it.