50 Cents :
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

Release Date: 17 February 2003

Reviewed By: Spyce

1. intro

2. What Up Gangsta

3. Patiently Waiting (feat. Eminem)

4. Many Men

5. In Da Club

6. High All The Time

7. Heat

8. If I Can't

9. Blood Hound (feat. Young Buck of G Unit)

10. Back Down

11. P.I.M.P

12. Like My Style(feat. Tony Yayo of G Unit)

13. Poor Lil Rich

14. 21 Questions (feat, Nate Dogg)

15. Don't Push Me (feat. Lloyd Banks of G Unit, Eminem)

16. Gotta Make It To Heaven

Bonus Tracks

17. Wanksta

18. U Not Like Me

19. Life's On The Line

50 Cents - Get Rich Or Die Tryin'

From the moment the 50 cent coin rolls on the table in the intro of the album, we know “50 cent” has arrived. Can hype sell an album? Probably…but hype cannot sell 600 000 thousand copies in days….The hype surrounding “50 Cent” was and still is astounding. I was a bit shocked after hearing the song “Wangsta” from the 8-Mile soundtrack. There is not that much to say about “50 Cent” that has not been said already. The album “Get Rich or Die Tryin”, the true debut form “50” and cohorts Dr. Dre and Eminem working on the album in the background he was bound to come out of the studio with a hot album.

The release of the explosive track “In Da Club”, the song was a show-stopper and sounds good booming in any cars factory speakers. Then I saw the video and “50 Cent” did not seem quite as dangerous and unapproachable as he came across in the "Wangsta" video, girls began to say he actually looked nice working out in the gym.

In the album “50” has penned a lot about his life into his songs which does relate to shooting, fighting, women, and drugs but this what he knows and all gangsta rap knows. The song, “Many Men” is memorable, where 50 raps about people wishing death on him and he recounts being shot. “Like My Style” an upbeat track which a sure contender for his next single will also be a club hit. Eminem pops up on with unmistakable style on a few tracks, but as usual steals the show on “Don’t Push Me”. His hilarious dislike to Ja Rule is evident with comedic take where an alleged boyfriend of Ja’s is heard trying to protect Ja Rule.

The likenesses to Tupac have already begun to emerge, as you have Dre producing, and enough tattoos on his body to start his own shop, and having been shot more times than Tupac and the ladies are beginning to love “50” just like they loved “Tupac”. Hopefully his life does not end in the same tragic way as Tupac’s.

Dr. Dre said that “50 Cent” album "might be a classic." Was he right? Only time will tell, but for the moment the album is riding high and rightly so, the World is currently pumping to a real live gangsters and the likes of Ja Rule and Nelly might have a run for the money as it seems real Hip Hop sells.

50’s gangster edge, versatility and creative writing style together with his limited cameos from Eminem and his G Unit partners is doing more than enough to keep him in the limelight, which is a tremendous triumph for him, Dre and Eminem. “50 Cents” album has sold over 1.6 million copies in its first 2 weeks of release. Currently, 50’s song “In Da Club” is firmly in the Top Ten, and his album “Get Rich Or Die Tryin” is number eleven in the Album chart after 6 weeks of release.

Rating: 4 out of 5

Favourite three tracks:
5. In DA Club
11. P.I.M.P.
12. Like My Style

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