50 Cent only seems like an overnight success story. The truth reveals quite the contrary. Before there was "Wanksta," there was "How to Rob An Industry N----." The underground rapper aroused the ire of big industry hip-hop and R&B artists with lyrics dissing P. Diddy ("I'll snatch Kim and tell Puff, 'You wanna see her again?/ Get your ass down to the nearest ATM) and Mariah Carey ("I'll manhandle Mariah like, 'B----, get on the ground/You ain't with Tommy no more. Who gonna protect you now?'")
But 50 Cent's first major label effort in 2000, "Guess Who's Back," never received full support from Columbia Records, due to rampant bootlegging. Nine gunshot wounds later, 50 Cent's third album, "Get Rich or Die Tryin," has literally emptied store shelves with the backing of industry connoisseurs and co-producers Dr. Dre and Eminem.
Now it is virtually impossible not to recognize the mesmerizing beats from 50 Cent's two hit singles, "Wanksta" and " In Da Club." But as a whole, "Get Rich or Die Tryin" is authenticated by 50 Cent's raw energy and blunt narrative, fueled by a close connection to his true-life stories.
Lyrically, 50 Cent is a mastermind, especially in comparison to the wave of hip-hop lyricists who really aren't saying much at all. On "Back Down," 50 Cent tells Ja Rule, and on a more discreet level, DMX, "You sing for hoes and sound like the Cookie Monster/I'm the hardest from New York, my flow is bonkers/All the other hard n----s, they come from Yonkers."
50 Cent's songs depict the trials he has encountered in his hard life. For example, "Many Men (Wish Death)" features 50 Cent's gritty, bleak vocals as he raps, "Are you illiterate n----? You can't read between the lines/In the Bible it says, 'What goes around, comes around,'/Almost shot me, three weeks later he got shot down."
With 19 tracks featuring his unique voice and hardcore lyrics, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin" won't merely result in 50 Cent's 15 minutes of fame. He is here to remind other "wanksta" rappers what hip-hop should sound like.
Photo: Meredith Forrest Kulwicki
