Police made their presence felt at 50 Cent's perfomance in Toronto last night (Dec.20).

Concert organizers, well aware of gunfire marring 50 Cent shows in the past, beefed up security with uniformed and plainclothes officers at Ricoh Coliseum.

In between performing hits like "Guns Come Out" and "What Up Gangsta", 50 mocked Canadian officials, who refused to allow several members from G-Unit to enter the country due to various legal problems.

"We went on tour everywhere else, but they stopped us from bringing them into Canada," he said to the 7,000 fans in attendance, eliciting a round of boos.

It was the only moment during the concert, when the rapper commented on accusations by police and federal politicians that his immensely popular style of gangsta rap promotes gun violence.

The issue took on extra significance in Toronto, the site of 50 gun-related murders this year.

But fans--mostly 20-something men and women, waiting to enter the arena slammed the officials who tried to play censor.

"I listen to that stuff and I'm not going around killing people," scoffed Andre Malais, a 23-year-old York University graduate. "It's entertainment - enjoy it for what it is."

Before entering the arena, fans were patted down, required to go through a metal detector and videotaped as dozens of police officers and security guards kept watch.

"It's a little much," said 18-year-old Ashlee Goheen.

Toronto police Staff Sgt. Frank Besenthal said concertgoers were co-operative, and he denied the extra measures were prompted by past incidents at 50 Cent shows.

During a 50 Cent concert in Toronto on Canada Day last year, a 24-year-old Hamilton man was fatally gunned down at close range.

Three months earlier, a man in his 20s was shot after the rapper performed at Montreal's Bell Centre.  The victim, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, survived.

50's visit to Canada, had generated a storm of controversy since Liberal MP Dan McTeague asked Immigration Minister Joe Volpe to bar 50 Cent from crossing the border, alleging his music glorifies a life of crime.

But 50 Cent, real name Curtis Jackson, was granted a temporary resident's permit, allowing him to perform here.

Toronto rapper Kardinal Offishall, one of the concert's opening acts, implored the audience to raise their middle fingers to the politicians who tried to prevent 50 Cent from entering Canada.

50's Canadian tour ends tonight in Ottawa and he will tour Australia and New Zealand early next year.  Click here for those dates.

Credits: Tara Brautigam, Canadian Press