Pointless Intro aside, Get Rich or Die Tryin' starts out introducing 50 to the rap world in What Up Gangsta, proclaiming 'G-Unit we in here. It isn't the most original musical recipe in the world, but somehow Get Rich or Die Tryin' manages to avoid the usual trappings of bland mainstream Hip-Hop albums. Dre's influence is clearly felt in Get Rich or Die Tryin' most of the songs revolve around catchy repeating hooks with his rough and slightly slurred hard rapping over the top.
Whether he wanted it or not (and he certainly did), Eminem had grand plans of fame, glory and a top selling album with Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Many people today criticize Eminem's latter albums, but one must appreciate the genius in his vision for 50 Cent.
That highly illegal lifestyle that rappers always write rhymes about was something that 50 Cent had actually been through: drug dealing, felonies, imprisonments, stabbings, and the infamous shootings. With such a violent and chaotic past, 50 Cent made the perfect subordinate for Eminem and Dr. In his time in the mainstream Hip-Hop industry, Curtis Jackson has also built up feuds with well known gangsters Lil' Kim, The Game, Fat Joe and Jadakiss. His conflict with fellow New York rapper Ja Rule has been well publicised, and stemmed from claims that 50 Cent stole jewellery off Ja Rule, which led to several mix tape 'disses' and 50 Cent's stabbing. In the years prior to Get Rich or Die Tryin' being released, 50 Cent built up a number of rivalries and feuds in the mainstream Hip-Hop scene. This hasn't been the only controversy surrounding 50 Cent, otherwise known as 'Fiddy' and to his mother as Curtis James Jackson. Nobody steps on Fiddy's turf and gets away with it. Even 50 Cent himself has hinted that his assaulter was killed in retaliation. A man by the name of Darryl "Hommo" Baum was the alleged assailant, who was coincidently shot and killed three weeks later. The catalyst for 50 Cents shooting was drug related. As an impartial commentator, what surprises me is not that he has had nine bullets fired at him, but rather that he can count that high.
50 Cent has also claimed that he has had nine bullets fired at him over his lifetime. Unfortunately for New York 'gangsta' 50 cent, he has been unlucky enough to be shot three times. Album DescriptionThe chance of getting shot by a gun in your lifetime is less than 1%. See More Your browser does not support the audio element. But until he drops that truly jaw-dropping album - or falls victim to his own hubris - this will certainly do. And though he very well could be the rightful successor to the Biggie-Jigga-Nas triptych, Get Rich isn't quite the masterpiece 50 seems capable of, impressive or not. Dre (who does four) credit for laying out the red carpet here, and also give 50 credit for reveling brilliantly in his much-documented mystique - from his gun fetish to his witty swagger, 50 has the makings of a street legend, and it's no secret. Give Em (who produces two tracks) and Dr. After all, when co-executive producer Eminem raps, "Take some Big and some Pac/And you mix them up in a pot/Sprinkle a little Big L on top/What the f*ck do you got?" you know the answer. In sum, Get Rich is an incredibly calculated album, albeit an amazing one. That debate aside, however, Get Rich plays like a blueprint rap debut should: there's a tense, suspenseful intro ("What Up Gangsta"), an ethos-establishing tag-team spar with Eminem ("Patiently Waiting"), a street-cred appeal ("Many Men "), a tailor-made mass-market good-time single ("In da Club"), a multifaceted tread through somber ghetto drama (from "High All the Time" to "Gotta Make It to Heaven"), and finally three bonus tracks that reprise 50's previously released hits ("Wanksta," "U Not Like Me," "Life's on the Line") - in that precise order. The thing, though, is that 50 isn't exactly a rookie, and it's debatable as to whether or not Get Rich can be considered a true debut (see the unreleased Power of the Dollar and the Guess Who's Back? compilation ). Even so, Get Rich is indeed an impressive debut, not quite on the level of such landmark debuts as the aforementioned ones by Snoop or Nas - or those by Biggie, Wu-Tang, or DMX either - but impressive nonetheless, definitely ushering in 50 as one of the truly eminent rappers of his era. In fact, the expectations were so massive that they overshadowed the music itself - 50 becoming more of a phenomenon than simply a rapper - so massive that you had to be skeptical, particularly given the marketing-savvy nature of the rap world. Probably the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade, most likely since Snoop's Doggystyle (1993) or perhaps Nas' Illmatic (1994), 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' certainly arrived amid massive expectations.