Beg for Mercy is the debut studio album by American rap group G-Unit, released through Interscope Records and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records. The album was released on November 14, 2003, nine months after 50 Cent's successful debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

For this release, G-Unit was composed of rappers 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, with support from Tony Yayo, who was an original member of the group but due to his imprisonment in 2002 only appears on two songs. The Game was inducted into the group after recording sessions were finished.

Following an assassination attempt and the subsequent industry blacklisting, 50 Cent focused on releasing mixtapes throughout 2002. This allowed him to generate public interest in his music. "At the time, 50's music was inescapable in New York", wrote Complex. Several mixtapes were recorded and released under G-Unit, the group consisting of him and his childhood friends Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. His debut mixtape, Guess Who's Back?, reached Eminem. Impressed with the project, Eminem introduced 50 Cent to Dr. Dre and helped him sign a $1 million record deal. In 2003, 50 Cent released his debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. By the end of the year, the album sold 12 million copies worldwide and was certified six-times platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). While working on a follow-up album, 50 Cent decided to delay it and instead release G-Unit's debut album, Beg for Mercy.

As the album was recorded, Tony Yayo was sentenced to jail on charges of gun possession and bail jumping, and so he makes only two appearances on the entire record, on the tracks "Groupie Love", and "I Smell Pussy". His image, which is from a photo taken from the photo shoot for Get Rich or Die Tryin', is seen on the brick wall of the album cover as he could not be photographed due to the jail sentence.

Beg for Mercy was released on November 14, 2003, four days earlier than planned to combat piracy. Due to the rush release, some stores did not receive the album in time. The album was released on the same day as Jay-Z's The Black Album, which was billed as his final album before retirement. Although they had toured together earlier that year, rumors suggested growing tensions between 50 Cent and Jay-Z. The release date change for Beg for Mercy was announced a day after that of The Black Album, which had also suffered from piracy.

Four copies of Beg for Mercy from the first batch contained a golden ticket, redeemable for a diamond-encrusted G-Unit medallion valued at $12,500.

50 Cent was confident in the commercial performance of Beg for Mercy and planned to set a first-week sale record with it. The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart with 377,000 copies sold in the first week, behind 2Pac's Tupac: Resurrection and Jay-Z's The Black Album. On the second week, Beg for Mercy peaked at No. 2 with 327,000 more copies sold, and another 193,000 copies sold in the third week. By April 2008, it had sold over 2.7 million units in the U.S. and has since been certified double platinum by the RIAA.

According to the review aggregator Metacritic, Beg for Mercy received "generally favorable reviews" based on a weighted average score of 62 out of 100 from 11 critic scores. Most music critics commended the album's production but criticized the lyrical themes. Opinions were divided on the performances of the G-Unit members. Rolling Stone's Christian Hoard praised the album's "cinematic, bouncy" production, along with the vocal performance of the members of G-Unit. In contrast, Soren Baker, reviewing for Los Angeles Times, commended 50 Cent's "animated, at times sing-song delivery", but panned "the monotone Banks and the supercharged but lyrically bankrupt Buck". Entertainment Weekly's Tom Sinclair thought G-Unit members successfully combine their brash style with a sense of charisma. Steve Juon of RapReviews thought the group members balance each other out. He praised the album, adding that its weak moments are "few and far between".