29/04/2009

The Perfect 50 Cent Album - Part 1


By KNL

Ok so you don’t need to be a genius to work out that 50 Cent has an album coming out soon. With numerous freestyles and admittedly hot promotional tracks circling the internet and radio, there is much talk of the old 50 being back.

Now as much as this would be appreciated, we gotta wonder if Mr Cent can really capture that gutter-appeal magic he graced us with when he first hit the scene…some of us are sceptical, but for the most part we’re hopeful. To celebrate the fact that Mr 2 Quarters is returning to old form, Ive decided to go back and revisit his old albums and pick the best cuts to construct my own perfect 50 cent album! I’m going to start with his pre-‘Get Rich’ days and then finish off with his last effort, “Curtis”…so let’s see what it would take to make me really Self Destruct!


Track: F*** You
Album: Guess Who’s Back

Why?
With 50’s back to the wall and constant criticism of how he’s fallen off, not to mention the fact that G-Unit’s sales have been really shit, whilst losing out in sales to foes Kanye and Wayne…what better way to strike back by putting up a middle finger and just spitting straight aggressive bars at the competition? This has got be one of my all-time favourite tracks from any artist, never mind 50 cent…it combined thoughtful and deep lyrics with a typically testosterone filled aggression that 50 Cent has become famous for. There is no better way for 50 Cent to bite back at critics and enemies alike than by saying these very simply 2 words. And even if the lyrics aren’t incredible, the flow is undoubtedly one of the best we have ever seen from the rapper you love to hate.

Killer Opening Lines:
“Either I’m tripping off of ecstacy, or I can feel the world turning/ I’m having flashbacks, I can feel the shells burning/ Coming up, I was taught never back down/ That’s why I act the way I act now/Hold the Mack Down…”


Track: Heat
Album: Get Rich or Die Trying

Why?
In my opinion, this is when we see 50 Cent at his best. He may sound clumsy on a love track, and he may look stupid when trying to relate to a pop audience…but when it comes to ‘shoot em up’ appeal, he fits his acclaimed niche nicely. This track was perfect before he spat bars, purely down to the fact the good Dr. Dre was behind the boards…50 Cent however managed to kill this track with some suitably hardcore lyrics that did this beat justice. I want to see this track so he can remind us of how good his story telling techniques once were, and how he was able to do an Andre Young beat pure justice. The track Heat is pure fire!! (no pun intended)

Killer Opening Lines:
“Keep thinking I’m caine/ Till your skull get popped/ And your brain come out the top/ Like Jack in the Box/ In the hood, summer time is the killing season/ It’s hot out this bitch, that’s a good enough reason/ I see gangsters get religious when they start bleeding/ Saying Lord Jesus help me…coz they’re ass leaking…”


Track: Life’s On the Line
Album: Get Rich or Die Trying

Why?
So I hear Lil Wayne recently mentioned Fifty in one of his tracks? Let me ask you something interesting…if we saw the old 50, the one that super-hoed Ja-Rule, do you think Weezy even stands a chance if the 50-cent of old is let out the cage? I severely doubt it. This is not only one of my favourite 50 tracks, it’s one of my favourite diss records period. How can you not love the aggressive lines, catchy hook and the way he almost seems to toy with the idea of fucking with Ja-Rule as if it really means nothing to him. With the beef with Ricky Ross getting more serious, Kanye being a constant thorn in the side and Lil Wayne referencing him yet again, we need a track like this to set the tone once again. Come on Fiddy, get them gloves out!!

Killer Opening Lines:
“I came into rap humbly/ I don't give a fuck now I'll serve anybody like niggas who hustle uptown/ The coke price go up/ Cats just come down/ The D's run in my crib/ I'm nowhere to be found/ Niggas who hustle for me/ They don't even stash cracks/ They keep it on 'em/ Right there in they ass crack/ I don't like a nigga/ I don't pretend to/ I'll Have the paramedics wrappin' your fuckin' head like a Hindu”


Track: In Da Club
Album: Get Rich of Die Trying

Why?
Look we’re not stupid, 50 needs to hit commercial success too whilst keeping hip hop fans at bay, and with nemesis Wayne currently hitting billboard charts with hits such as A Millie and Lollipop, he needs to find something that will appeal to as many people as possible. He needs Dr. Dre. He needs to get back in the club. To be honest, 50 cent hasn’t been able to recreate such a club anthem since this track (Out of Control remix came close). He was still talking tough, but he was being cheeky and chilled at the same time. The most played out song of all played out songs is still a classic in any club you bump it in, face it Wayne/Fat Joe/Camron/Nas/Rick Ross (who was ‘working’ in prisons at the time) you were all rubbing yourself over this when it came on. 

Killer Opening Lines:
“When I pull up out front, you see the Benz on dubs/ When I roll 20 deep, it’s 20 knives in the club/ Niggas heard I fuck with Dre, now they wanna show me love/ When you sell like Eminem you get plenty of groupie love..”


Track: Many Men
Album: Get Rich or Die Trying

Why?
Given 50’s clear history of violence, Many Men set the tone of 50’s struggle and a constant sense of dangerous living thanks to a brilliant beat and catchy but depressing hook. On the track 50 cent bites back at his enemies and gives a peak of life from the eyes of the man behind the gun. It would be nice to hear the same deep 50 come back, especially if the moral of “more money, more problems” is true because we all know he’s got shit loads of the good stuff. Come on 50, let us in to what’s going on in your mind again…

Killer Opening Lines:
“Now these pussy niggaz putting money on my head/ Go on and get your refund motherfucker, I ain't dead/ I'm the diamond in the dirt, that ain't been found/ I'm the underground king and I ain't been crowned…”


Track: In My Hood
Album: The Massacre

Why? 
I gotta be fair to 50, I didn’t think the Massacre was such a bad album, it just had some really shitty cuts lying here and there (Candy Shop, Disco Inferno et al)…but dig deep and skip the commercial hits and you will find that the Curtis never left. In My Hood is a deep and provocative track that gives you a sneak peak into Southside Queens and the many ills and tragedies that occur in his native hood. Despite the modern content, the beat is absolutely incredible giving it an old gangster like feel. The lyrics are on point and it seemed 50 needed this track to remind us just where he came from, I wanna see him shout out Queens again. Not in the LL Cool J way (irrelevant), but in the Nas way…and this is the way to do it. Go ahead and represent.

Killer Opening Lines:
“I'm from Southside mothafucka, where the gats explode/ If you feel like you on fire, boy drop and roll/ niggas'll heat ya ass up cause they heart turns cold/ Now you can be a victim or you can lock and load…”


Part 2 coming soon...

01/04/2009

The 8 Most Unlikely Hip Hop Albums

Image Credit

TheRapBuzz is back, yes, yes , yes. It's been a crazy few months of mad random chaos for our hungry team of writers...but the excruciatingly long wait is finally over (aight) and good ol' KNL is riding our pages again with another one of his sparkiling written gems...The 8 Most Unlikely Hip Hop Albums....word people, more to come. Over to KNL...


With the ludicrous acts that seem to pop up every single day in the world of urban music, this post, was, kind of...inevitable.

50 Cent and Ja Rule – Curtis Atkins (The Duet Edition)

Following their troubled past and their heated battle, 50 Cent finally reaches out to his Southside native resident and decides to form a Jay & Nas like truce to end the long standing feelings and resurrect Ja Rule’s career. With Ja signed to G-Unit, 50 Cent pushes this album forward and comes up with something for the ladies with this auto-tune free album. The cleverly named “Curtis Atkins” Duet Edition features the pair singing like they’ve never quite sang before...

 

Memphis Bleak – Greatest Hits

Enough said really. An album ready for the bargain bin at your nearest supermarket. Is there even a solo ‘hit’ to put on there? (ah harsh KNL, harsh - editor's note of the day)

 

Lil Wayne and Baby – Lick my Lollipop

After the runaway success that was the auto-tune crazed Lollipop, Weezy decides that it just simply isn’t enough and claims in an online interview that, “Even after our kiss….even after we did that shit on screen, even after that Lollipop tune…enough people still didn’t get that the song was about me wanting to get on a Lollipop…it puzzles me how y’all so thick these days…” Following these comments, Weezy quickly released The Carter 19.5 and then announced a follow up album that would be a Homo-Rock-Pop-Singing-Rnb-HipHop-Album featuring mentor Baby. The witty titled Lick my Lollipop album featured hits such as “A Millie (before taxes Remix)” and “Don’t get too Comfortable (in my tight jeans)”.

 

LL Cool J and Dr. Dre – Botox

Following the superb Detox album, and the rather shit Exit 13 album from Dre and LL respectively, the duo decided to pair up and make a joint effort due to their shared love of fitness regimes, pills and questionable alterations in physique/facial attributes. The Botox album features Dre mostly behind the boards, but not without a few LL ghostwritten tracks, however it’s mostly LL who graces the mic. Hits on this album include “I’m Still D.R.E (even though you don’t recognise me)”, “Let’s Get Botox” and “Calling Dr. Dre to Surgery (for LL’s Botox)”.

 

DMX – Who Am I?

DMX has had his fair share of shit to deal with over the past year or so, but his return to form has been marked by this credible album aptly named “Who Am I?”. Whilst the name at first enchanted and attracted fans into a possible insight of why DMX had been acting as he had; it was in fact just an album with 12 tracks featuring DMX asking who he was. With great lyrics such as “Who Am I (WHAT!) Am I a Man, Am I a Dog? (WHAT!) I don’t know who I am. But I know that I can bark (ARGH!)” 11 Songs all questioning Damian’s identity must have been puzzling for fans, but there are some gems such as “Who Am I?” “Where Am I?” “How Did I Get Here” and “I’m Arrested Again.”

 

Rick Ross – Diary of a Correctional Officer / Big Time Drug Dealer Guy

Following much of the controversy around Ross’s troubled past, Ricky decided to market the whole thing and document it on an album. Diary of shows Rick Ross’s life story moving as a humble correctional officer onto a drug kingpin with ties to the most powerful people in the game. Hot cuts include “Everyday I’m Struggling”, “I’m Still Fat, no Lying” and “Thug Dietician (feat. Young Jeezy)”

 

Young Jeezy – Global Warming

Quick to grab the latest trends, Jeezy knew where he was going with this one. Having heard enough bout the Recession and naming his last album after it, Jeezy releases “Global Warming” in an effort to raise awareness on the issue. Hot tracks include “My President is Black, My Lambo Pollutes” and “Pricey (Gasoline remix)” and the club anthem “I Put Out” featuring and aptly named by Kanye West in his attempt to finally push the final boundaries of homophobia in Hip Hop.

 

Fat Joe & R Kelly – Elephant in the Closet

Thanks to recent successes on both parts, Fat Joe teams up with Kells on this surefire hit album featuring Joey spitting rhymes and Kelly singing hooks. Reminiscent of the Best of Both Worlds album, Fat Joe seeks to take his storytelling abilities to the levels possessed by R Kelly. The title track, Elephant in the Closet was hyped to involve a story revolving around Joey watching drama unfold from behind a closer door. It was in fact, a story of how Fat Joe walked into a closet but could not get out; R Kelly puts it so well in his verse “So I said what the hell you doing in there…Joey said he was stuck…I said why did you go in there…Joey said, what the fuck? Why you asking all these damn questions mayne…just hurry up and call the Fire Brigade…."



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