280. 50 Cent, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'"

 


This is a solid rap album.  It was the biggest-selling album of 2003, sold over 9 million copies, and probably still sells today.  It's not hard to see why; 50 has a drawling, syrupy flow that's immediately appealing and the lyrics have a lot of prototypical gangsta shit.  Maybe  - maybe - it's a Top 500 album.  It is not a number 280 album, though.

Like I said, there's a lot to like about this album.  The first song, "What Up Gangsta" has this great lyrical callback to Patti LaBelle and the Temptations:

The rap critics say I can rhyme, the fiends say my dope is a nine
Every chick I fuck with is a dime
I'm like Patty LaBelle, homie, I'm on my own
Where I lay my hat is my home, I'm a rolling stone

I also liked the steel drums and the overall Caribbean feel of "P.I.M.P."  And Eminem, one of the co-producers of this album, drops a very Eminem-sounding verse on "Patiently Waiting."  There are not one but two 9/11 references on this song, which must have seemed a lot more transgressive in 2002 when this was released.  And of course there's "In da Club," the immediately recognizable megahit that I'm sure we will be hearing for years.

So it's good!  It's fine.  It's maybe not my favorite style.  It's not taking any crazy risks or breaking a ton of new ground.  Just solid rap, some good choruses, some good rhymes, a few really memorable moments.  Solid, yeah.  280?  Nah.

Does this album deserve to be in the Top 500? Check back in about 10 years.

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