> HFM2
sometimes I sit and stare at life from a different angle/don’t know if I’m God’s child or I’m Satan’s angel
applebird replied to your video: 50 Cent - I Get Money (G-Unit/Interscope, 2007) …
50 being musically relevant again would be fly, but it won’t happen.He’s a 3 trick pony whose time has passed. Outside of Many Men & Hate it or love it he is limited to street life songs,bully disses & im rich songs. 50 is stale & it’s his own fault.
This is admittedly very true, although you forgot 50 being a nympho (ayo). Although 50 has more songs that go beyond those subjects (Ryder Music, As The World Turns, Do You Think About Me, etc.), he is a street-level rapper at heart, which BISD proved, and gangsta rappers aren’t marketable in 2010. It’s probably for the best that he stays in his current position - a mentor to the rappers following in his footsteps and guardian of G-Unit - but I think that rap could use more machismo-driven rappers like 50 to balance out all those sensitive rappers in skinny jeans. In 2007, there was a sense of equality; 50 Cent and Kanye West stood side by side at the top of the rap game. In 2010, everyone’s trying to follow in Kanye’s foosteps (and honestly, coming off as cheap imposters, since Kanye is more talented and inspired than most rappers, uh, ever - or at the very least, he’s far more musical), and gangsta rappers (Gucci, Waka, Ross.. am I forgetting anyone?) are essentially being buried underneath all this new found sensitivity in rap. I like those rappers as much as the next guy (as long as the next guy isn’t someone whose blog I read reguarly), but the radio is sorely lacking that gangsta shit.
I don’t think it’d be hard for 50 to score a comeback hit - after all, Eminem did (granted, it wasn’t that good) - he has a great ear for pop music, and knows (knew?) how to make hits. I don’t think it’s so much that 50’s time has passed (although I don’t neccessarily disagree, let the new bloods run wild - at the same time, get some balance), I just think that 50’s kinda settled into his own niche since 2008. He realized that Curtis was the end of his hit-making days it seems, and decided to make the music he wanted to, and it’s had some great results thus far. However, all these remixes he’s making of popular songs lately is kinda making me question how much longer it is before he re-emerges.
50 Cent - I Get Money (G-Unit/Interscope, 2007)
It’s painful to think that this song came out over three years ago already - one of those time flies moment that’s utterly hard to believe in retrospect. It’s hard to believe that song exists in a time before Lil’ Wayne dropped Tha Carter III, before Gucci Mane became a genuinely great rapper, before every rapper wanted to be Kanye West, and before T.I. started doing songs with Rihanna (he was still doing songs with Justin Timberlake, they were just really fucking good). 2007 seems like forever nowadays, but somehow this song exists in a vacuum that feels downright unearthly. I Get Money was the last genuine commercially successfully street-banger to come out of New York - no, those BP3 songs don’t qualify. There’s a timeless quality to it; something that’s kinda hard to put your finger on, mostly because of where it originated.
Curtis was a strange album; an uneven mess overall, with some genuinely great songs hidden beneath Straight To The Bank and Amusement Park. I’m not even talking about the Thicke and Timberlake songs, which I admittedly enjoyed; I mean the bangers like Man Down, Curtis 187, I’ll Still Kill, Guns Come Out, and above all, I Get Money. The beat on here is obviously the highlight, probably one of the most memorable hip-hop instrumentals of the last decade. 50 wasn’t really trying at all on here, from a lyrical standpoint; and that kinda adds an extra dimension to the song. I think it’s been pointed out many times before that 50 Cent is, and will always be, a great rapper when he wants to be. He doesn’t always want to be though, and although that can get frustrating, it’s merely part of the allure here.
50’s got that post-Ross Boss swagger down so pat on this song, that it’s ridiculous. The video helps to add to the song’s mythos, with bundles of money stacked inside of Wonderbread bags and an all-green setting and wardrobe that’s just a feast for the eyes. 50 is cheesing through the entire video, that smarmy expression just asking for you to be pissed off at him he raps the clumbsily sly bling like blaow, you like my style; haha, I’m running to the back right now.
Sadly, this was the last genuine hit Curtis has ever scored. Before I Self Destruct is as underrated as an album comes, but it lacked anything as fondly memorable as I Get Money. 50 doesn’t do much musically nowadays, as he’s too worried about keeping his homies secure and being funny on Twitter, which is more than respectable. At the same time, I miss those syrup-slurred sing-song verses more and more everyday. The rap game needs 50 Cent to be relevant again.
Pusha, Rae, 50, Kanye, Em, and Styles P features <3
November 23rd!
G-Unit - I Smell Pussy (G-Unit/Interscope, 2003)
G-Unit borrowing the melody from R. Kelly’s TP-2.com jump-off, The Greatest Sex, made for one of the most overlooked for-the-ladies joints in The Unit’s catalogue, which also surprisingly doubled as a diss towards Murder Inc thanks to 50’s clever intro. 50’s chorus is as hypnotizing as it’s ever been (take me to ecstacy without taking extacy) and the original trio of Banks, Yayo and 5th all deliver great verses, although Banks’ flawless double-time flow is the most notable. I can’t say I love you, I don’t know what that means.
Revisiting all this G-Unit is making me terribly reminiscent. G-Unit’s music made up the majority of my teenage years, and I can’t believe I’ve avoided revisiting it for so long.
"A lot of times, earlier in my career, I was competing with artists because that was what I loved about hip-hop; The idea that battling someone was necessary to defend your spot and you had to take on all challengers — so I did that constantly. No one thinks that way now and everyone looks at me like I’m the Broad Street Bully. The younger kids coming up missed that time frame, and even the conscious rap is gone too. The stuff that Common Sense and Talib Kweli and Mos Def were rhyming about. What was socially conscious and responsible about the music has been replaced by hipster kids in skinny jeans and mohawks. Of course, that’s always been around, but it was usually confined to the Village. Artists have always had the opportunity to influence the culture, but now it’s the other way around: They’re trying to look like their audience to attract their audience. Now you can’t tell the difference between a Led Zeppelin fan and a hip-hop fan."
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50 Cent
http://1hiphopucit.com/tag/rick-ross-brings-his-beef-with-50-cent-to-a-halt/
