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, I’ve 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...