50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

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50 Cent - Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Friday, 28 November 2003 19:00

A Letter To Curtis Jackson

Dear Curtis Jackson aka 50 Cent aka Ferrari aka Fiddy aka Mumbling Jackass,

How are you doing? Excellent I presume, considering over the past year your album has sold well over 6 million copies, and you seem to be enjoying yourself in all of your videos. And I'm sure you have lots of fine ladies at your every beck and call, and that's every man's dream. I'm not doing too bad myself - until I heard your record Get Rich Or Die Tryin', that is. To put it bluntly, and in terms you are sure to understand, it sucks. I have fond memories of How To Rob; that track was catchy and rather clever. What happened? Something in the water over there in New York? Your underground mixtape material wasn't half bad. Sure, you weren't the most intricate lyricist (and it's saddening that any tiny bit of complexity you had has vanished) but you definitely had some charisma on the mic.

	Record Author(s): 50 Cent
	Record Title: Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
	Record Producer(s): Rob 'Reef' Tewlow, Eminem, Darrell 'Digga' Branch, Dr. Dre, Mike Elizondo, DJ Rad, Sha Money XL, Sean Blaze, Denaun Porter, Rockwilder, Dirty Swift, Megahertz, John 'J-Praize' Freeman, Red Spyda, Terence Dudley
	Executive Producer(s): Dr. Dre, Eminem, Sha Money XL & 50 Cent
	Release Date: February 6, 2003

The first thing I noticed when I popped in your album was that you certainly mumble a lot. I understand this is because have been shot in the face more times than Jenna Jameson, but you could at least try to enunciate your words, couldn't you? Let's begin with the opening cut, What Up Gangsta. A painfully irritating bassline, noisy drum loops that detract from the beat more than anything, and repetitive synthesizers create a beat actually worse than your lyrics. And I didn't believe that was possible. Your chorus is also brutally annoying, however when compared to your elementary and boring rhymes, I can't decide which is the greater evil.

Allow me to discuss the positive elements of your album before I voice any further concerns.

Your buddy Eminem makes an appearance on Patiently Waiting, which is a surprisingly tight track. Slim Shady's production isn't bad at all, and the threatening and pulsating atmosphere even makes up for your average lyrics. You know how Nas said that Eminem murdered Jay-Z on his own track? Well he accomplished that with his guest verse here too. In fact, he murdered you, dug up your body from its grave, and raped you up the butt. Em's verse is far more enjoyable than yours, but it's a vast improvement on your part from a lot of the other rhymes on the album, and in the end this is an enjoyable track, so I commend you for that.

Eminem also produces Many Men (Wish Death). The production is very catchy, with its melodic piano loop - and for once Eminem puts together a beat that doesn't sound like a rejected Dr. Dre effort. This is by far the most introspective track on your album, and for a brief moment we can see why Eminem thought you had some potential. Lyrically, you improve marginally, and deliver some rhymes that actually held my interest for the duration of the track! If above average lines like "Sunny days wouldn't be special, if it wasn't for rain/ Joy wouldn't feel so good, if it wasn't for pain/ Death gotta be easy, cause life is hard/ It'll leave you physically, mentally, and emotionally scarred" were the standard for your lyrics, you could make much better music.

There are a few tracks with some really nice beats. Take If I Can't for example: Dr. Dre's sparkling production with upbeat piano keys fits well with your (as much as I hate to admit) charismatic delivery on this track. Your braggadocio rhymes aren't particularly memorable, though they are competent enough. I understand you

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