Don't even bother jumping. The wheels on the 50-Cent bandwagon are about to fall off.
After a little hype, 50 has become the Next One -- the One for which we've all been waiting. He's already posting incendiary SoundScan numbers, but this surely has to be attributed more to hype than his budding prowess.
There is no way to argue it, 50 harnesses a captivating, deceptively simple flow that reveals his talent as a wordsmith. And the kid has walked through fire and brimstone to take center stage as his horror stories of point-blank shootings, record label disloyalty and childhood drug dealing can attest. Yet, I wonder how many people are buying his major label debut because they've been feeling 50 since he first debuted on the hip-hop scene, and how many people are buying it because the insanely infectious "In Da Club" has invaded all channels of the pop world with MTV playing it every 15 minutes?
To fully appreciate "Get Rich or Die Trying," 50's long and troubled path must be examined.
He started recording in 1996 with the great Jam Master Jay and released "How to Rob" in 1999, but following an altercation that left him nine bullet-wounds richer he was dropped from his Columbia deal. Instead of trying to get another deal, 50 unleashed mixtapes, featuring his "G-Unit" compatriots Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, on the streets. With 50's current success, this innovative and alternative move will offer motivation for aspiring, unsigned talents of the hip-hop community to follow his unconventional path in hopes of getting a deal.
Perhaps through karmic justice, 50 ended up signing with Eminem's Shady Records, ensuring mainstream exposure and introduction to the pop crowd. 50 first assaulted the masses with "Wanksta," one of the contribution's to his boss's "8-Mile" soundtrack and a bonus cut on "Get Rich." It was a hot song, but the record is still dizzy from being spun so many times. Unfortunately, "In Da Club," is following the same route. While "In Da Club" fulfills its purposes for getting both pre-teen TRL suburbanites and club groupies up and dancing, 50's lyrical talents are lost somewhere in between the thundering Dr. Dre beat and the horrible hook.Is it even possible to rhyme "hugged" with "rubbed?"
"Get Rich or Die Tryin," however, is a different story.
The album starts off with the high-energy "What Up Gangsta," where 50 lays down some very clever yet equally violent lyrics. "They say I walk around like I got an 'S' on my chest / No, that's a semi-auto and a vest on my chest." Forget the fact that 2Pac used to always wear a vest when he went out, and look at how 50 is taking it to a whole new level, wearing the vest on TRL. K-Mart better stock up some bulletproof-wear, because every suburban kid is going to want to wear one to school now.
Eminem, who has been growing more comfortable producing songs lately, provides the beat and rhymes on "Patiently Waiting." Letting his lyrical craft justify his hype and proving what made him hot in the streets wasn't "Wanksta" or "In Da Club," but his cutting lyrics and off-beat humor. He even outshines Eminem with boasts like, "You shouldn't throw stones if you live in a glass house/ And if you got a glass jaw you should watch your mouth"
While 50 usually is busy making violent references either to "wankstas" or his guns, he'll occasionally sprinkle in some subtle humor. On the love song "21 Questions," he makes a humorously meager attempt to get poetic for his girl as he tells her he loves her "like a fat kid loves cake."
Returning to where the Ja Rule-aimed insult "Wanskta" left off, "Back Down" is another track the Murder, Inc. Fam won't be happy to hear, but unfortunately it's not enough to stop Ja's singing.
Some of the songs on the LP appear to be filler initially, but 50 can change that with one hot rhyme. "High All The Time" begins in this manner, not too intriguingly, but suddenly 50 spits the hottest bars on the album, "If David could go against Goliath with a stone / Then I could go at Nas and Jigga, both for the throne."
While every rapper dreams of taking out the two kings of New York, they don't have the bravura to say it publicly. And even more, they don't honestly believe it. But listening to 50 assuredly yell those lines, there is no doubt that he truly believes he can take them both out.While there's no doubt that 50 has the potential to make it happen, he's still got to put a few years and a few million records under his belt before it can become a reality.
The album's flaws will be evident to 50's hard core fans. The contributions from Banks and Yayo and the trademark "GGG G-Unit," which became so popular on the mixtape circuit, has been limited in favor of bigger guests like Nate Dogg and Eminem.The problem with such a decision lies in the fact that some of 50's mixtape songs are more innovative and fresher than some on the LP.
In the end, 50's debut studio album will be considered a success because of its towering sales, but it's important to look past that. This isn't "Illmatic" or "Reasonable Doubt" by any means, but it's one of the only albums that's been ridiculously overly-hyped and somehow doesn't fall flat. 50 Cent has brought a new style into a tiring commercial scene -- the true test for him is going to be if he can stay hungry in the game or if he's going to be content wearing his cute little vest with Carson Daly.
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