bran9413

50 Cent first appeared conquerable back in September, when he released “Curtis,” his third album, the same day Kanye West released “Graduation,” his third, and Mr. West outsold him by more than 250,000 copies. 50 Cent had long been hip-hop’s terrorizer, a combination of bully and hall monitor, but in the wake of this defeat, he became something he hadn’t been in quite some time: an underdog.

And he kicks when he’s down. In recent months he has been as truculent as ever: baiting, to no avail, Lil Wayne, who has usurped him as rap’s leading commercial kingpin, and seemingly aiming lyrics on “T.O.S.: Terminate on Sight” (G-Unit/Interscope), the new album from 50 Cent and his crew, G-Unit, at T. I. (50 Cent has also been engaged in public disagreements with the mother of his son.)

In April, Young Buck, a member of G-Unit, was booted from the group for insubordination. Last month, after Young Buck began discussing the situation publicly, 50 Cent released a recording of a phone conversation between them in which Young Buck was contrite, despondent and tearful.

Given all that, G-Unit’s show at the Nokia Theater on Tuesday night figured to be full of tumult; the 50 Cent of old would have had a field day. But instead he and the remaining members of G-Unit, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, were on their best behavior. Like “T.O.S.,” the first third of this show, which mostly featured songs from the new album, was lean and forceful, a blow against what has come to feel like complacency on 50 Cent’s part, especially in his recent solo material.

“Casualties of War” and “You So Tough” were aggressive, and on “Straight Outta Southside,” an insistent update of N.W.A.’s “Straight Outta Compton,” L L Cool J joined the group onstage to show off a newly surly attitude in keeping with the company. 50 Cent also excels at thug seduction. He grinned broadly on the needling, scratchy “I Like the Way She Do It,” and on a hilariously raunchy remake of The-Dream’s “I Luv Your Girl.”

But when he dived into a run of songs from “Curtis” and its underwhelming predecessor, “The Massacre,” audience interest seemed to wax and wane: low on “Come & Go” and “I’ll Still Kill,” high on “What Up Gangsta” and “I Get Money,” perhaps the scrappiest song ever about wealth accumulation.

In the best way, “T.O.S.” sounds cheap. It’s a decidedly unflashy album, all but completely forgoing 50 Cent’s poppier ambitions. And the reduced-size group has a natural chemistry: 50 Cent is the gravitational center, and Mr. Banks (the clinician) and Mr. Yayo (the jester), who both grew up with him in Queens, orbit around him with ease. (Young Buck, from Nashville, always stood out more than the others, for better and worse.)

Young Buck appears on a handful of tracks on the new album, but here the group studiously worked around them (and avoided the first G-Unit album, “Beg for Mercy,” altogether), barely addressing him at all save for a couple of throwaway comments: “Shorty wanna cry with me?” 50 Cent asked, referring to Young Buck’s biggest hit, “Shorty Wanna Ride.”

Even the remaining crew members weren’t immune from ribbing. During an abbreviated version of the megahit “In da Club,” someone threw a bra on stage, which 50 Cent held up to his own chest, amused. He then turned to Mr. Banks and Mr. Yayo, and said: “ No bras? No panties? No nothing?”

One of the few bright spots in the later part of the show was the belligerent 2002 single with the unprintable title about fake gangsters that saved 50 Cent from becoming just a mixtape-slinging obscurity. It’s the song that “T.O.S.” takes its snarling cues from, the purest distillation of 50 Cent’s use of taunt as a means of guaranteeing his own primacy.

A few minutes before the show’s close he pointed out an audience member, a woman named Rasha, and told the crowd, “We learned how to rap in her basement.” Given the amount of success that he has had in the years since that song, it’s tough to remember him as an artist with something to prove. But things have changed. He has shed some of the muscle mass that had previously added to his menace. And on Tuesday he was happiest when hungriest, ready to be a troublemaker again.

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Bitches that use 2 diss me they feelin me now sayin i rap the old snoop goin doggystyle-The Game

dipset123

t.o.s is garbageee

bran9413

itz ight i heard better (nas-untitled) and i heard worse (fat joe- elephant in the room)

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Bitches that use 2 diss me they feelin me now sayin i rap the old snoop goin doggystyle-The Game

Farai4

sex with yo mom was garbageee^^^^^

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bran9413

^^^^^

lol ur stupid

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Bitches that use 2 diss me they feelin me now sayin i rap the old snoop goin doggystyle-The Game

iamhiphop

lmao shutup 300 brolic >> t.o.s

bran9413

lol No Days Off>> Elephant In The Room

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Bitches that use 2 diss me they feelin me now sayin i rap the old snoop goin doggystyle-The Game

BornIntoThis

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em50achilles

hey faggot u got dipset on ur avatr hoe..when the fuck did dipset come out with a ggood group album..oh nevermind they aint got a good fuckin album cuz they sorry as fuck and so are u

jskillz60

that was a real good read...

jg213

tos was okay at best, aint no classic, cheaply made

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FoShizzlE

longbeachfinest aka BDUB5...we kno wu a fat joe fan...but u talkin shit out ur ass ,simply jus hatin

bk 42

your an idiot.......................................you have wayne your avatar you lost

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areyouinthatmoodyet.com
Joe Budden - The Great Escape COMING SOON

waissseman

the mixtapes wer better that t.o.s

BornIntoThis

ohhhhhhhh so thats BDUBs new account

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Hakaroodi

T.O.S is hot.. ain't Beg For Mercy material though..