Published on Sep 4, 2003
Since LL Cool J’s single “Rock the Bells” and introductory album
Radio hit the streets in 1985, I have been a fan of rap
music (even its bastardized offspring). The above was my third
album owned (actually a cassette tape). Through the years, I’ve
listened, bellied or moped about rap’s progression or digression.
Seventeen years have elapsed since the genres’ undeniable maiden
mainstream success (“Walk This Way” by Run DMC w/Aerosmith); in
that time, rap has mutated into endless sub-genres and seems to
promote one or two champions each year. In 2003, rap’s exponent is
50 Cent (Curtis Jackson).
50 Cent’s hardcore rap pedigree is impeccable. He grew up in the
ghetto and was a professional crack peddler. He freaked due to the
birth of his son and his own lengthy rap sheet, turning to
performing as an underground rap artist. “Discovered” in 1996 by
Run DMC’s (former) Jam Master Jay, he was signed on and worked with
others in conjunction to his own projects. His street credibility
came from his actual life, lyrics and continuous work on mix tapes.
He and his G Unit posse hit it old school; like the rap pioneers
Sugarhill Gang, he rapped over stolen beats and music. Reaching
2000, his game was building toward a peak, 50 Cent was to release
his 1st solo album. However, he was nearly killed after being shot
seven times, his record company flinched and his CD was
shelved.
The gunshots would not hold Curtis down. The next two years, he
grasped and pulled himself back. Working the underground scene and
on mix tapes, he caught the ear of Eminem. Eminem publicly endorsed
the unsigned artist and ignorantly drove up the price of the artist
he signed. After reflecting, all the accidental hype seems to have
worked as a fluke marketing tool that ensured multi-platinum
sales.
Much like the cheeky merchandise near a Walgreen’s front
counter,
Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is all impulse and no substance. Each
track is expertly produced and provides a head-bobbin’, car bumpin’
blue print, but this potential energy is completely busted by 50
Cent’s misuse of its application.
Although the closest gunshot was actually 50 Cent’s cheek, it
sounds like a bullet penetrated his tongue because his mumbled
words flow with a dyslexic resonance. The lyrics are fearless, as
highlighted in “Blood Hound” and “Back Down,” but are retarded
retread of NWA, Nas and Tupac; no sense of purpose is heard, no
real vitality sensed. Guest artists like Eminem, Nate Dogg and a
host of anonymous others are actually more skilled and listenable
than the featured artist. 50 Cent is the only exclusive rapper that
I ever heard get schooled by his/her own guests.
Sadly, my speakers smoked, fizzled and needed to be replaced
because 50 Cent is pathetic excuse for a “professional” rapper.
Get Rich or Die Tryin’ battered like an Eminem pimp slap on
the entire music-buying public. It’s like he found the worst
possible MC, put him on a pedestal and laughed out loud while the
cash flowed in. Any purchaser of this CD has been bought and likely
ridiculed by Interscope Records.
If you happen to like gangsta-style rap with an artist’s flavor
and blueprint, do not waste your coin on
Get Rich or Die Tryin’.