50centrich

Artist: 50 Cent
Album Title: Get Rich or Die Tryin’
Label: Shady/Aftermath/Interscope
Release Date: February 6th, 2003
Producers: Dr. Dre, Eminem, Denaun Porter, Dirty Swift, Rob ‘Reef’ Tewlow, Darrell ‘Digga’ Branch, Megahertz, John ‘J-Praize’ Freeman, et. al.

 

It was August of 2003. I was starting my 5th semester at the University of Connecticut and was attending a pre-requisite course for public speaking. The instructor wanted us to do one of those “stand-up-and-tell-us-about-yourself” spiels that students have to participate in on the first day of classes. He wanted us to say our names, where we’re from, our major, our age and the kind music we liked. Pretty much our first exercise in public speaking, come to think about it. The prospect of having to talk aloud didn’t bother me, even with my quiet nature. What bothered me at the time was some of the answers given by my classmates when it was their turn. The ones who were speaking, clean-cut preppy White frat boys decked out in Abercrombie & Fitch gear, all had the same answer in regards to the music question: Eminem and 50 Cent. Throughout the next few months, I’d see guys of the same stock wearing G-Unit t-shirts that read, “Free Yayo” (the one that Eminem wore at the Grammys earlier in the year). At the time, the saturation and exposure prompted a two-fold question in my head: “Are these folks clones of each other or is 50 THAT popular?”

 

Before that, in the 2002-2003 school year, 50 gained widespread recognition via the mega-hit “Wanksta” which was included on the 8 Mile soundtrack in late 2002. With this song being the hit that it was and with his association with Eminem and Dr. Dre, 50 got a bigger buzz quicker than Nirvana. Not to mention, 50 has a predilection for creating hype for his own projects by manufacturing disputes with other rappers, with Ja Rule being his greatest target during this period. Lastly, 50’s thug image became much more easily marketable when it became disclosed that he had been shot nine consecutive times, adding to his street credibility and acceptance on both sides of the fence. Plus, with feverish singles like “In da Club” and “Wanksta” dominating the airwaves, the anticipation for his debut album culminated with critical acclaim and a whopping 872,000 copies sold within the first week of its release. 50 was everywhere at that point, having Eminem and Dr. Dre behind him helped immensely. Hell, I even saw him perform at UConn’s Spring Weekend!

 

For Flashback Friday, looking at this album as a 31-year-old man instead of the 20-year-old kid that I was at its initial release proved to be challenge in theory only. I listened to Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in full twice today and my assessment of it hasn’t even changed 11 years later. 50’s lyrical presence lies not in complexity or thoughtfulness, but his hedonistic Queens thug persona coupled with the ability to come up with catchy melodies and hooks for his songs. He has an ear for beats and picked only the best from his contributors to create what was arguably the strongest gangsta rap album that emerged from George W. Bush’s post 9/11 America.

 

The very first song, “What Up Gangsta?” doesn’t exactly set the tone for the album, but is a fiery menacing track regardless. The quick, pounding beats and the dark violins go perfect with 50’s melodic bravado and threats. Though not released as a single, “Patiently Waiting” gained significant attention through its frequently sampled status in the rap community. Featuring and produced by Eminem, the track has both emcees making references to 9/11 in the rhymes along with Em’s now oft-sampled line “The juggernauts of this rap shit!”. His tongue-twisting 9/11 lines were controversial, but well-done and well-delivered from a technical perspective:

 

“Shady records was eighty seconds away from the Towers
Some cowards fucked with the wrong building, they meant to hit ours”

 

Although there’s not a track on here that I didn’t like, some of his best work was born from being able to reach his bicameral audience: The streets & the suburbs. You know what? The whole album already does that! I couldn’t go to a single frat or Rugby house party in which “In da Club” wasn’t played. I remember the video for the song and the chorus, but nothing else. If you ask me a lyric from any of the verses, I couldn’t help ya. Similarities notwithstanding, it’d be a misnomer to label the song as a one-hit wonder. My point is, when you heard it, everyone got down to it. One of several tracks helmed by Dr. Dre, the best one was “Heat”. With it’s “Thug Luv”-inspired cock-aim-and-gunshot for the drum programming, it exemplifies the fatalistic attitude of 50’s public persona and creative production.

 

The DJ Rad-helmed “High All The Time” is the album’s obligatory weed track. With it’s sample-based urban feel, it’s definitely a track you can roll an ‘L’ and burn some incense to. The Snoop-assisted “P.I.M.P. (remix)” also gained greater worldwide traction for the album as did having Nate Dogg (R.I.P.) on the hook for “21 Questions”. For the latter track, I still laugh hard when 50 says “…I’ll do whatever it takes/I love you like a fat kid loves cake“. Not only is it a blatant crossover track, but it’s a blatant crossover that actually, well….crossed over.

 

Listening to Curtis Jackson’s debut album doesn’t necessarily  ‘take me back’, but it doesn’t change my opinion of it either. 50 Cent is no Rakim or Nas, and I didn’t expect him to be. He showed an ability to craft songs and a keen eye for capitalizing on his fame (Glaceau Formula 50, $400M anyone?). The ultra-popularity of the album didn’t shun me away or make me skeptical of it. I contributed to that popularity as a supporter at the time. In fact, I believed 50 was right to shut Ja Rule down on this album and subsequent releases. With the fever pitch for the album, its hit singles, ubiquity, brashness and the beneficial associations, 50 Cent embodied the new breed of gangsta rapper for the 2000’s.

 

Music: 10/10
Lyrics: 7.5/10
Overall: 9/10

 

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Sy L. Shackleford is a jack-of-all-trades columnist for Action A Go Go. A UConn graduate with a degree in both psychology and communication sciences, he is a walking encyclopedic repository for all things Marvel Comics, hip-hop, et. al.