Article 50 Cent: Evolution (Good Read)

J-Banks · 12-01-2008, 06:53 PM

He was already battle scarred when he arrived on the scene. But, last year, for the first time in half a decade, 50 Cent was truly tested. As he adjusts to a seat somewhere other than the top of the game, is the biggest, baddest, dude in rap singing another tune?

It’s said that men are defined by adversity. And no one knows adversity like Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The Southside Jamaica, Queens, native lost his mother to murder at the tender age of eight, spent his teens dealing crack and was a convicted felon by the age of 20. After a promising start at a rap career in the late 1990s, his first album was shelved by Columbia Records. He was shot nine times in May 2000, hospitalized for 13 days (he would be in recovery for nearly five months), only to rise up through New York’s street mixtape scene, crushing a raft of naysayers and rivals, and explode into 2003 as hip-hop’s biggest star.
Building his crew and record label, G-Unit, into an industry powerhouse, expanding his business into sneakers, clothing, video games and, most lucratively, beverages, 50 reigned supreme for years, amassing a fortune estimated to be in the $400-million range. September 2007, though, marked a sea change. When 50 lost a heavily hyped first-week-sales showdown to Kanye West, critics seized the moment to declare the end of an era. Though his album Curtis opened at No. 2, with a strong 700,000 sold, and went on to sell well over a million copies in a depressed music market, the numbers paled in comparison to the massive, multiplatinum successes of his previous two efforts. Things got worse this summer. After going back to their street roots with the modern-day mixtape classic Return of the Body Snatchers, and going at enemies like Fat Joe on the follow-up, Elephant in the Sand, G-Unit’s sophomore album, T.O.S., sold a measly 228,000 copies, 2.4 million fewer than its 2003 predecessor. As he preps his fourth solo shot, Before I Self Destruct, 50, for the first time in five years, is looking to make a comeback.

There have been other disturbances in the empire. On June 16, a YouTube video surfaced of G-Unit member Young Buck performing a solo show in Tampa, Florida. In the clip, Buck, who’d been defying crew doctrine by publicly squashing beef with adversaries like The Game and Jadakiss, emphatically yells out “Fuck G-Unit” from the stage, and goes on a rant about missing royalties and 50’s lack of street credibility. The response came quickly, but it was not via diss-track or mixtape mockery, as 50 had done in the past. Rather, a previously recorded phone conversation between 50 and Buck went up on the Web site missinfo.tv. During the call, Buck apologizes for prior transgressions and acknowledges a debt he owes the G-Unit general, before breaking down into tears and admitting that he often gets “confused” and that he was “out of line.” Listeners were shocked. And Buck’s been largely quiet since. But while the 50 of old might’ve further capitalized off of the controversy, using the turmoil as a selling point for the T.O.S. album, the new 50 opted to leave the matter alone.

Then, in July, Nas threw a jab on a song from his untitled album, “Queens Get the Money.” (“My assignment since he said retirement,” said the Q-Borough elder statesman, referencing 50’s proclamation that he’d retire if he lost the SoundScan battle with Kanye, “hiding behind 8 Mile and The Chronic/Gets rich, but dies rhymin’/This is high science.”) 50 didn’t even flinch. Most recently, when 50 teased Kanye, mocking his Auto-Tuned R&B hit “Love Lockdown” at a performance in Albany, NY, this past September, the barb came off as playful banter, rather than the kill-or-be-killed venom his fans were once accustomed to. (Days later, Kanye responded in kind, writing, “I guarantee this will be 50’s favorite album of mine,” on his personal blog, kanyeuniversity.com.)

Has rap’s self-proclaimed “bad guy” grown weary of beef? Or is this just a new strategic direction for the genre’s grand-champion chess player? Maybe there’s just too much at stake this time out. The new album is 50’s last studio requirement with Interscope Records—a company he called to task last year for its continued sponsorship of The Game’s career. (The last disc in his five-album deal is a greatest-hits option.) And, aside from music, he’s been maneuvering into movies and television lately. Following his 2005 big-screen debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, and his recent role opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the cop thriller Righteous Kill, he’s directing, producing and starring in a feature-length companion piece to his new album. The DVD, also called Before I Self Destruct, will be packaged with all copies sold of the CD. (A second DVD, a documentary about 50’s late musical mentor, Jam Master Jay, called Two Turntables and a Microphone, will be included in a limited-edition deluxe version.) And 50’s reality show, The Money and the Power, premiered on MTV in November.

With big things on his mind, and little time for bullshit, the brolic MC sat with XXL at Industria Superstudio in Manhattan’s West Village for a discussion of issues past, present and future. Adversity defines the man. You are witnessing the evolution of 50 Cent.

Your new album, Before I Self Destruct, has an interesting title. What’s the concept?

For me, it’s conveying dysfunctional behavior in the environment I grew up in. It’s a body of work that people can appreciate. It’s being articulated in a way that they can enjoy it. It’s probably something that you shouldn’t enjoy. You probably I.D. with it immediately, but you wouldn’t want to tell nobody that you went through it, too… Portions of the actual writing is not traditional for rapping. It’s more Clark Kent than Superman.

Meaning it’s less exaggerated?

Yeah, it’s more bare. A rapper creates a superhero from a ghetto perspective. Our superheroes and role models in the neighborhood were drug dealers. Those were the guys that acquired the finances to the point to buy what our imagination said were the better things in life. They had the nice cars, the jewelry, the nice clothes. They had the things that generally end up in rappers’ material… Some rappers have a fascination with it, where they write before they actually acquire it. But the art form itself says to be authentic and write something that directly applies to you.

You said a rapper creates a superhero. How do you make a superhero out of 50 Cent? How do you exaggerate that reality?

You don’t. You write your life. But it gotta be something interesting about these people. Kanye’s car crash is parallel to my shooting. You gotta write adversity on some levels. If not, those kids on the cover of your last issue [December 2008] are writing something that somebody has to I.D. with, because that’s the lifestyle that they’re portraying. We can sit and watch a film that’s far from the lifestyle that we live and enjoy it, because it’s well-done—the same with music as an art form. If you write music and it’s well-done and it feels good when it comes on, I don’t care what he talking about. I’m not from Bankhead, but when Shawty Lo said it, it feels good. “Bankhead been pulling capers.” It just feels good. It wasn’t so lyrical, like, “Ahhh, you heard what he said?” Nah. But it was the type of shit that we needed at that point. That song definitely connected. Sometimes what I think happened with New York City was that it started to become so complex, because the competition in New York is so fuckin’ crazy. The bar is raised to the point… How do you beat somebody who—uh… When you say, How do you outdo 50 Cent? Are you saying, How do you write from a street perspective?

Yes, how do you write from a street perspective and have it feel real and bring you close to the street without having to actually go through the dangers of it?

What you realize when you really think about it is, the cycle in the actual neighborhood is supposed to dispose of, destroy 50 Cent. It’s a really special case and a really special situation to make it to the position that I’m in.

Do you think hip-hop has become desensitized to the dangers?

If you take it from the beginning to where it is now—I mean, the storm always looks different from the eye, from the middle of everything that’s going on. And I’m the actual source of it, so I don’t understand that. I’m only being what I was then, after acquiring new information and being inspired to go in different spaces and orchestrate deals with an entrepreneur’s spirit… Everybody’s assumption is their individual truth. So if they assume that I’m that dangerous, that’s my life—period. I don’t even know anything different from what you’re talking about.

So what’s 50 Cent’s individual truth? Is it what we hear on the records?

Well, you know, that’s not completely me. On the record, that’s me being an artist and trying to convey a portion of the emotions that I feel. It’s not all of ’em. That’s why I find interest in film projects. Hip-hop is so competitive that it doesn’t allow you to be vulnerable. You have to be in a space where you’re willing to take on the next person. My neighborhood conditioned me to be the same, so I don’t have a problem with it. You can do that or you can learn to watch people disrespect you and dust it off like it don’t matter.

Like Jay-Z?

Absolutely. Jay-Z is Gandhi.

And 50 Cent is not?

Nah. People can interpret our responses differently. He’ll bear the disrespect for what? For working to be in a great position. So for creating the comfort that he desires for his life, he has to bear the disrespect. Because they’d like to be where he is. That’s an interesting concept, because Jay rather just let ’em go. My take on it is, Yeah, I’ma say something back, and he gonna wish he never said what he said. He gonna wish he never came around here sniffing around me.

There’s often been a confrontation between you and another rapper around the time of your album releases. Not this time. Why?

I didn’t set it up. I didn’t set it up none of those times. You think I asked for the disrespect from Fat Joe on Rap City? That’s what restarted everything. And, later on, I think he acknowledged it. Later on, he said, “Yo, they threw some shit at me that he said a while back.” And he responded aggressively. And me, I’m like, “Where the fuck is this coming from? I’m not even thinking about him right now.”

Nas threw a shot on “Queens Get the Money,” and you didn’t respond. You getting all Gandhi on us?

Man, Nas is cold as ice. Nas is the block of ice that sunk the Titanic… I didn’t even hear his record. I didn’t even hear what you talking about… I really don’t want to talk about Nas. I think he’s at one of those points to where his career’s finished, to be honest. He’s had some great moments and made good music in the past, but he no longer has the interest of the general public or myself.

So if it’s not beef, what keeps you inspired this go-round?

Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to maintain the general interest creatively. I’ve been inspired and made material that people can actually enjoy. If that wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t even care what I’m saying… The artists that have different boundaries, they can do different things. For instance, if I released “Love Lockdown,” they would not buy a 50 Cent record. They would say, “What the fuck is going on? This shit is wack.”

Do you feel trapped because you’re regarded as rap’s bad guy, and you can’t be as experimental?

It’s not trapped, it’s just different standards. And you have to acknowledge what your boundaries are within the actual art form.

What are 50 Cent’s boundaries?

Well, I gotta give you something that has an energy to it that I gotta feel myself. I go through my own music, and go through available production, until I find things that jump out at me. I can’t just make up records based on what I wanna make, and say what I wanna say and what feels exactly the way I feel. No, it has to be strategically designed for the climate of what’s going on.

A record like Kanye’s “Love Lockdown” isn’t exactly your lane, but does that mean it isn’t good?

I enjoyed his other records since then. He impressed me. “Heartless” and “Coldest Winter.” And he might actually be right, this might be the album that I really like from him. When he said it, he was probably being a little humorous, but he got some balls, man. He’s willing to go ahead and make an R&B album. That’s a lot. He could not recover from this… I think that’s cool, if your fans will permit you to be creative in that way. From a business perspective, you gotta offer what performs. The public will tell me that Curtis is a failure. And I sold 700,000 copies the first week. So what do I gotta do? Reach a million, at a minimum?!

That’s the bar you set. You’re the SoundScan Killer, remember?

Right, but if we’re gonna call that a failure, then somebody identify what a win is for me. All I need to know is what it is, and then I’ll go ’head and go. Musically, from my perspective, Curtis was exactly what I aimed for it to be. Or I wouldn’t have presented it to the public. I listen to my music before I put it out. I’m listening to it, and I’m hearing it, and I’m like, Yeah, this is what I wanna do now.

For more of the Evolution Interview make sure to pick up XXL’s Jan/Feb issue on newsstands nationwide December 5th.

Source: XXLMAG

jg213 · 12-01-2008, 07:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Banks

There’s often been a confrontation between you and another rapper around the time of your album releases. Not this time. Why?

I didn’t set it up. I didn’t set it up none of those times. You think I asked for the disrespect from Fat Joe on Rap City? That’s what restarted everything. And, later on, I think he acknowledged it. Later on, he said, “Yo, they threw some shit at me that he said a while back.” And he responded aggressively. And me, I’m like, “Where the fuck is this coming from? I’m not even thinking about him right now.”

Whats 50 talking about? Is he talking about the Curtis Album? because he talking about fat joe restarting the beef and we know damm well WHO started that beef when he brang Massacre out and it wasnt Fat Joe.

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Banks

Nas threw a shot on “Queens Get the Money,” and you didn’t respond. You getting all Gandhi on us?

Man, Nas is cold as ice. Nas is the block of ice that sunk the Titanic… I didn’t even hear his record. I didn’t even hear what you talking about… I really don’t want to talk about Nas. I think he’s at one of those points to where his career’s finished, to be honest. He’s had some great moments and made good music in the past, but he no longer has the interest of the general public or myself.

50 Wishes he could be put in the same boat as Nas, it’s a shame he has to talk shit because he aint got no lyrical ability to compete with N.A.S. lol at 50 ignoring disses these days he went from not to be fucked with to everybody punking him on records and all he ever does is TALLLLKKKKKK nigga please STFU ‘logic this, logic that’ dammmm hommmie what type of gangster is y..y..youuuuuu lol fucking jew unit ass nigga aint got no fight left in him

ColdRhymeZ · 12-01-2008, 07:31 PM

why add GOOD READ to the title? is it cause its a 50 cent thread....shit if stuff aint a good read then dont bother postin stuff up.

propz anyway..

jg213 · 12-01-2008, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by J-Banks

That’s the bar you set. You’re the SoundScan Killer, remember?

Right, but if we’re gonna call that a failure, then somebody identify what a win is for me. All I need to know is what it is, and then I’ll go ’head and go. Musically, from my perspective, Curtis was exactly what I aimed for it to be. Or I wouldn’t have presented it to the public. I listen to my music before I put it out. I’m listening to it, and I’m hearing it, and I’m like, Yeah, this is what I wanna do now.

Wasnt he the one who called Curtis a dud???? The stans didnt say this until AFTER 50 told them he thought it was a dud lmao

snoopeastwood · 12-01-2008, 08:14 PM

smh @ jg213. why are you tryin so hard to hate on 50? seems like u got nothing else to do with your life

Mastur Cheef · 12-01-2008, 10:52 PM

FUCK THAT SHIT

wai 2 lng

emu12 · 12-01-2008, 11:02 PM

shit is way too long to read

Mr Wavez · 12-01-2008, 11:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jg213

Whats 50 talking about? Is he talking about the Curtis Album? because he talking about fat joe restarting the beef and we know damm well WHO started that beef when he brang Massacre out and it wasnt Fat Joe.

50 Wishes he could be put in the same boat as Nas, it’s a shame he has to talk shit because he aint got no lyrical ability to compete with N.A.S. lol at 50 ignoring disses these days he went from not to be fucked with to everybody punking him on records and all he ever does is TALLLLKKKKKK nigga please STFU ‘logic this, logic that’ dammmm hommmie what type of gangster is y..y..youuuuuu lol fucking jew unit ass nigga aint got no fight left in him

You really aint have to type all that...but i do agree with you on some points in bold

ns_diplomat · 12-01-2008, 11:45 PM

why did u make other thread with this article....????

shade4tee5 · 12-02-2008, 12:51 AM

i like how all the ppl hatin on 50 in here have game, buck, or bws sumwhere in their sig or pic

yungkilla727 · 12-02-2008, 01:02 AM

i just realised i dont even like this fool anymore, this mofucka is the biggest shit talker out, the amount of excuses he keeps coming with is lame

keepitgangsta · 12-02-2008, 01:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopeastwood

smh @ jg213. why are you tryin so hard to hate on 50? seems like u got nothing else to do with your life

cause he destroyed buck career without any effort, and he has to rely on mixtapes to hear new music from buck

its funny actually looooll

jg213 · 12-02-2008, 05:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by snoopeastwood

smh @ jg213. why are you tryin so hard to hate on 50? seems like u got nothing else to do with your life

I aint tryin' hard , all Im doing is reading the article and guess what? Theres loads of Inconsistencies. You Stans may not care or re-program yourself to believe his new version of events, Im just pointing them out..... dont get mad

MalitiaMan · 12-02-2008, 07:20 AM

i read it already but its a nice read

GAME0VER · 12-02-2008, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jg213

Whats 50 talking about? Is he talking about the Curtis Album? because he talking about fat joe restarting the beef and we know damm well WHO started that beef when he brang Massacre out and it wasnt Fat Joe.

50 Wishes he could be put in the same boat as Nas, it’s a shame he has to talk shit because he aint got no lyrical ability to compete with N.A.S. lol at 50 ignoring disses these days he went from not to be fucked with to everybody punking him on records and all he ever does is TALLLLKKKKKK nigga please STFU ‘logic this, logic that’ dammmm hommmie what type of gangster is y..y..youuuuuu lol fucking jew unit ass nigga aint got no fight left in him

50 is way beyond nas. fuck nas. he old washed up nigga. tha nigga lucky 50 letting him breathe becacuse if 50 heared nas diss him he would have crushed his pathetic career like he did to ja

Flipperacci · 12-02-2008, 10:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jg213

Whats 50 talking about? Is he talking about the Curtis Album? because he talking about fat joe restarting the beef and we know damm well WHO started that beef when he brang Massacre out and it wasnt Fat Joe.

50 started the beef. Thats true. But Fat Joe took it to an whole other level. He said he was gonna FUCK 50 up but he is nowhere to be seen when 50 is around. And 50 went back after him when Joe said he wanna knock 50's new teeth out. I mean think about if. Joe saying he can't find 50 nowhere but I'm from Amsterdam and I saw 50 two times in 2007. What tha fuck is Joe talking about he can't find 50? When was the last time Joe saw 50?

Quote:

50 Wishes he could be put in the same boat as Nas, it’s a shame he has to talk shit because he aint got no lyrical ability to compete with N.A.S. lol at 50 ignoring disses these days he went from not to be fucked with to everybody punking him on records and all he ever does is TALLLLKKKKKK nigga please STFU ‘logic this, logic that’ dammmm hommmie what type of gangster is y..y..youuuuuu lol fucking jew unit ass nigga aint got no fight left in him

I never liked Nas. He's Illmatic album was good and he put out some good records but FUCK NAS. And I'm not saying that cuz he beefs with 50 but after I listened to Pac's Against All Odds I realized what kind of a bitch Nas really is. You don't have to mention Mobb Deep becuz of Nas, Pac used to diss them. And I lost all my respect for Nas when he squashed beef with Jay-Z just to sign with Def Jam. If Jay-Z wasn't the president of Def Jam I wonder Nas would've squashed the beef cuz you can't beef with your boss right? I mean back in the days I would agree with you that 50 and Nas aren't in tha same boat but nowadays Nas don't mean shit anymore.

Quote:

Wasnt he the one who called Curtis a dud???? The stans didnt say this until AFTER 50 told them he thought it was a dud lmao

Compared to GRODT and The Massacre Curtis is a dud. But compared to other albums from other rappers or if you just look at the album Curtis isn't a dud.
I mean it sold more then 5 million worldwide and it have some great tracks on it. I still listen to that album.

Stay Fly · 12-02-2008, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flipperacci

50 started the beef. Thats true. But Fat Joe took it to an whole other level. He said he was gonna FUCK 50 up but he is nowhere to be seen when 50 is around. And 50 went back after him when Joe said he wanna knock 50's new teeth out. I mean think about if. Joe saying he can't find 50 nowhere but I'm from Amsterdam and I saw 50 two times in 2007. What tha fuck is Joe talking about he can't find 50? When was the last time Joe saw 50?

I never liked Nas. He's Illmatic album was good and he put out some good records but FUCK NAS. And I'm not saying that cuz he beefs with 50 but after I listened to Pac's Against All Odds I realized what kind of a bitch Nas really is. You don't have to mention Mobb Deep becuz of Nas, Pac used to diss them. And I lost all my respect for Nas when he squashed beef with Jay-Z just to sign with Def Jam. If Jay-Z wasn't the president of Def Jam I wonder Nas would've squashed the beef cuz you can't beef with your boss right? I mean back in the days I would agree with you that 50 and Nas aren't in tha same boat but nowadays Nas don't mean shit anymore.

Compared to GRODT and The Massacre Curtis is a dud. But compared to other albums from other rappers or if you just look at the album Curtis isn't a dud.
I mean it sold more then 5 million worldwide and it have some great tracks on it. I still listen to that album.

very good points you got...totally agree with ya...nice mayne.

26shotz · 12-02-2008, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GAME0VER

50 is way beyond nas. fuck nas. he old washed up nigga. tha nigga lucky 50 letting him breathe becacuse if 50 heared nas diss him he would have crushed his pathetic career like he did to ja

Yea Nas wishes he could make songs like Get Up and I Get Money. Believe me he heard Nas's diss and didn't do shit. 50 will never be what Nas is. Clothing line, money, soda, etc whatever never be on his level.

GodToYouKids22 · 12-02-2008, 01:49 PM

lmfaooooo the dickriding thats goin on in this thread is ridiculous

if u honestly believe 50 is better than Nas, then

8JOKER8 · 12-02-2008, 03:52 PM

Yall niggaz know yall love 50, why else come read about what he's doing an comment,lol

an for the record fat joe started the beef when he said lean back is better then in the club. AN that if it was on his album instead of T.S.'s it would have sold more.

Unless one of yall got somthing else on it that dates back before that, besides the that pun line in how to rob.

shade4tee5 · 12-02-2008, 04:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by YoungKingNas22

lmfaooooo the dickriding thats goin on in this thread is ridiculous

if u honestly believe 50 is better than Nas, then

lmfao i laughed out loud when i saw ur name after i read ur comment..
nas is deep in ur throat..

Firefly5 · 12-02-2008, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jg213

I aint tryin' hard , all Im doing is reading the article and guess what? Theres loads of Inconsistencies. You Stans may not care or re-program yourself to believe his new version of events, Im just pointing them out..... dont get mad

You need to do the same then in every 50 Thread

Mastur Cheef · 12-02-2008, 04:47 PM

LMFAOOOOOOOOOO @ ppl tinking 50 cunt is bttr thn nass

Lyrikcha · 12-02-2008, 06:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 26shotz

Yea Nas wishes he could make songs like Get Up and I Get Money. Believe me he heard Nas's diss and didn't do shit. 50 will never be what Nas is. Clothing line, money, soda, etc whatever never be on his level.

I get money actually did really well...get up is still doin its thing...what Nas record are u hearin that people lovin right now and talkin about other than reminising the Illmatic days...Nas bores me, hes lyrical but his ass is borin so it dont matter if he raps the solution for New Car fuel fuck that shit man...

*50*CENT*WIFE* · 12-02-2008, 08:28 PM

Good interview but its longer this this tho...
JP wow lol...
and Flipper I have to agree esp about Fat Joe and 50 1st and 2nd album...
Anyway Im a fan of both (50 n Nas)...

12-01-2008, 06:53 PM	#1
J-Banks Super Moderator Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Providence, RI Posts: 21,015 Repped: 5,294 Repped 53,425 Times in 7,839 Posts Blog Entries: 1 Neg Reps: 53 Neg Repped at 93 Times in 86 Posts	50 Cent: Evolution (Good Read) 50 Cent: Evolution (Good Read) He was already battle scarred when he arrived on the scene. But, last year, for the first time in half a decade, 50 Cent was truly tested. As he adjusts to a seat somewhere other than the top of the game, is the biggest, baddest, dude in rap singing another tune? It’s said that men are defined by adversity. And no one knows adversity like Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. The Southside Jamaica, Queens, native lost his mother to murder at the tender age of eight, spent his teens dealing crack and was a convicted felon by the age of 20. After a promising start at a rap career in the late 1990s, his first album was shelved by Columbia Records. He was shot nine times in May 2000, hospitalized for 13 days (he would be in recovery for nearly five months), only to rise up through New York’s street mixtape scene, crushing a raft of naysayers and rivals, and explode into 2003 as hip-hop’s biggest star. Building his crew and record label, G-Unit, into an industry powerhouse, expanding his business into sneakers, clothing, video games and, most lucratively, beverages, 50 reigned supreme for years, amassing a fortune estimated to be in the $400-million range. September 2007, though, marked a sea change. When 50 lost a heavily hyped first-week-sales showdown to Kanye West, critics seized the moment to declare the end of an era. Though his album Curtis opened at No. 2, with a strong 700,000 sold, and went on to sell well over a million copies in a depressed music market, the numbers paled in comparison to the massive, multiplatinum successes of his previous two efforts. Things got worse this summer. After going back to their street roots with the modern-day mixtape classic Return of the Body Snatchers, and going at enemies like Fat Joe on the follow-up, Elephant in the Sand, G-Unit’s sophomore album, T.O.S., sold a measly 228,000 copies, 2.4 million fewer than its 2003 predecessor. As he preps his fourth solo shot, Before I Self Destruct, 50, for the first time in five years, is looking to make a comeback. There have been other disturbances in the empire. On June 16, a YouTube video surfaced of G-Unit member Young Buck performing a solo show in Tampa, Florida. In the clip, Buck, who’d been defying crew doctrine by publicly squashing beef with adversaries like The Game and Jadakiss, emphatically yells out “Fuck G-Unit” from the stage, and goes on a rant about missing royalties and 50’s lack of street credibility. The response came quickly, but it was not via diss-track or mixtape mockery, as 50 had done in the past. Rather, a previously recorded phone conversation between 50 and Buck went up on the Web site missinfo.tv. During the call, Buck apologizes for prior transgressions and acknowledges a debt he owes the G-Unit general, before breaking down into tears and admitting that he often gets “confused” and that he was “out of line.” Listeners were shocked. And Buck’s been largely quiet since. But while the 50 of old might’ve further capitalized off of the controversy, using the turmoil as a selling point for the T.O.S. album, the new 50 opted to leave the matter alone. Then, in July, Nas threw a jab on a song from his untitled album, “Queens Get the Money.” (“My assignment since he said retirement,” said the Q-Borough elder statesman, referencing 50’s proclamation that he’d retire if he lost the SoundScan battle with Kanye, “hiding behind 8 Mile and The Chronic/Gets rich, but dies rhymin’/This is high science.”) 50 didn’t even flinch. Most recently, when 50 teased Kanye, mocking his Auto-Tuned R&B hit “Love Lockdown” at a performance in Albany, NY, this past September, the barb came off as playful banter, rather than the kill-or-be-killed venom his fans were once accustomed to. (Days later, Kanye responded in kind, writing, “I guarantee this will be 50’s favorite album of mine,” on his personal blog, kanyeuniversity.com.) Has rap’s self-proclaimed “bad guy” grown weary of beef? Or is this just a new strategic direction for the genre’s grand-champion chess player? Maybe there’s just too much at stake this time out. The new album is 50’s last studio requirement with Interscope Records—a company he called to task last year for its continued sponsorship of The Game’s career. (The last disc in his five-album deal is a greatest-hits option.) And, aside from music, he’s been maneuvering into movies and television lately. Following his 2005 big-screen debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, and his recent role opposite Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in the cop thriller Righteous Kill, he’s directing, producing and starring in a feature-length companion piece to his new album. The DVD, also called Before I Self Destruct, will be packaged with all copies sold of the CD. (A second DVD, a documentary about 50’s late musical mentor, Jam Master Jay, called Two Turntables and a Microphone, will be included in a limited-edition deluxe version.) And 50’s reality show, The Money and the Power, premiered on MTV in November. With big things on his mind, and little time for bullshit, the brolic MC sat with XXL at Industria Superstudio in Manhattan’s West Village for a discussion of issues past, present and future. Adversity defines the man. You are witnessing the evolution of 50 Cent. Your new album, Before I Self Destruct, has an interesting title. What’s the concept? For me, it’s conveying dysfunctional behavior in the environment I grew up in. It’s a body of work that people can appreciate. It’s being articulated in a way that they can enjoy it. It’s probably something that you shouldn’t enjoy. You probably I.D. with it immediately, but you wouldn’t want to tell nobody that you went through it, too… Portions of the actual writing is not traditional for rapping. It’s more Clark Kent than Superman. Meaning it’s less exaggerated? Yeah, it’s more bare. A rapper creates a superhero from a ghetto perspective. Our superheroes and role models in the neighborhood were drug dealers. Those were the guys that acquired the finances to the point to buy what our imagination said were the better things in life. They had the nice cars, the jewelry, the nice clothes. They had the things that generally end up in rappers’ material… Some rappers have a fascination with it, where they write before they actually acquire it. But the art form itself says to be authentic and write something that directly applies to you. You said a rapper creates a superhero. How do you make a superhero out of 50 Cent? How do you exaggerate that reality? You don’t. You write your life. But it gotta be something interesting about these people. Kanye’s car crash is parallel to my shooting. You gotta write adversity on some levels. If not, those kids on the cover of your last issue [December 2008] are writing something that somebody has to I.D. with, because that’s the lifestyle that they’re portraying. We can sit and watch a film that’s far from the lifestyle that we live and enjoy it, because it’s well-done—the same with music as an art form. If you write music and it’s well-done and it feels good when it comes on, I don’t care what he talking about. I’m not from Bankhead, but when Shawty Lo said it, it feels good. “Bankhead been pulling capers.” It just feels good. It wasn’t so lyrical, like, “Ahhh, you heard what he said?” Nah. But it was the type of shit that we needed at that point. That song definitely connected. Sometimes what I think happened with New York City was that it started to become so complex, because the competition in New York is so fuckin’ crazy. The bar is raised to the point… How do you beat somebody who—uh… When you say, How do you outdo 50 Cent? Are you saying, How do you write from a street perspective? Yes, how do you write from a street perspective and have it feel real and bring you close to the street without having to actually go through the dangers of it? What you realize when you really think about it is, the cycle in the actual neighborhood is supposed to dispose of, destroy 50 Cent. It’s a really special case and a really special situation to make it to the position that I’m in. Do you think hip-hop has become desensitized to the dangers? If you take it from the beginning to where it is now—I mean, the storm always looks different from the eye, from the middle of everything that’s going on. And I’m the actual source of it, so I don’t understand that. I’m only being what I was then, after acquiring new information and being inspired to go in different spaces and orchestrate deals with an entrepreneur’s spirit… Everybody’s assumption is their individual truth. So if they assume that I’m that dangerous, that’s my life—period. I don’t even know anything different from what you’re talking about. So what’s 50 Cent’s individual truth? Is it what we hear on the records? Well, you know, that’s not completely me. On the record, that’s me being an artist and trying to convey a portion of the emotions that I feel. It’s not all of ’em. That’s why I find interest in film projects. Hip-hop is so competitive that it doesn’t allow you to be vulnerable. You have to be in a space where you’re willing to take on the next person. My neighborhood conditioned me to be the same, so I don’t have a problem with it. You can do that or you can learn to watch people disrespect you and dust it off like it don’t matter. Like Jay-Z? Absolutely. Jay-Z is Gandhi. And 50 Cent is not? Nah. People can interpret our responses differently. He’ll bear the disrespect for what? For working to be in a great position. So for creating the comfort that he desires for his life, he has to bear the disrespect. Because they’d like to be where he is. That’s an interesting concept, because Jay rather just let ’em go. My take on it is, Yeah, I’ma say something back, and he gonna wish he never said what he said. He gonna wish he never came around here sniffing around me. There’s often been a confrontation between you and another rapper around the time of your album releases. Not this time. Why? I didn’t set it up. I didn’t set it up none of those times. You think I asked for the disrespect from Fat Joe on Rap City? That’s what restarted everything. And, later on, I think he acknowledged it. Later on, he said, “Yo, they threw some shit at me that he said a while back.” And he responded aggressively. And me, I’m like, “Where the fuck is this coming from? I’m not even thinking about him right now.” Nas threw a shot on “Queens Get the Money,” and you didn’t respond. You getting all Gandhi on us? Man, Nas is cold as ice. Nas is the block of ice that sunk the Titanic… I didn’t even hear his record. I didn’t even hear what you talking about… I really don’t want to talk about Nas. I think he’s at one of those points to where his career’s finished, to be honest. He’s had some great moments and made good music in the past, but he no longer has the interest of the general public or myself. So if it’s not beef, what keeps you inspired this go-round? Fortunately for me, I’ve been able to maintain the general interest creatively. I’ve been inspired and made material that people can actually enjoy. If that wasn’t the case, they wouldn’t even care what I’m saying… The artists that have different boundaries, they can do different things. For instance, if I released “Love Lockdown,” they would not buy a 50 Cent record. They would say, “What the fuck is going on? This shit is wack.” Do you feel trapped because you’re regarded as rap’s bad guy, and you can’t be as experimental? It’s not trapped, it’s just different standards. And you have to acknowledge what your boundaries are within the actual art form. What are 50 Cent’s boundaries? Well, I gotta give you something that has an energy to it that I gotta feel myself. I go through my own music, and go through available production, until I find things that jump out at me. I can’t just make up records based on what I wanna make, and say what I wanna say and what feels exactly the way I feel. No, it has to be strategically designed for the climate of what’s going on. A record like Kanye’s “Love Lockdown” isn’t exactly your lane, but does that mean it isn’t good? I enjoyed his other records since then. He impressed me. “Heartless” and “Coldest Winter.” And he might actually be right, this might be the album that I really like from him. When he said it, he was probably being a little humorous, but he got some balls, man. He’s willing to go ahead and make an R&B album. That’s a lot. He could not recover from this… I think that’s cool, if your fans will permit you to be creative in that way. From a business perspective, you gotta offer what performs. The public will tell me that Curtis is a failure. And I sold 700,000 copies the first week. So what do I gotta do? Reach a million, at a minimum?! That’s the bar you set. You’re the SoundScan Killer, remember? Right, but if we’re gonna call that a failure, then somebody identify what a win is for me. All I need to know is what it is, and then I’ll go ’head and go. Musically, from my perspective, Curtis was exactly what I aimed for it to be. Or I wouldn’t have presented it to the public. I listen to my music before I put it out. I’m listening to it, and I’m hearing it, and I’m like, Yeah, this is what I wanna do now. For more of the Evolution Interview make sure to pick up XXL’s Jan/Feb issue on newsstands nationwide December 5th. Source: XXLMAG __________________ JBanksblog.com - check it out __________________

12-01-2008, 07:31 PM	#3
ColdRhymeZ Marketing Affiliate Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Where The Money Is. Posts: 581 Repped: 83 Repped 257 Times in 66 Posts Neg Reps: 21 Neg Repped at 18 Times in 12 Posts	why add GOOD READ to the title? is it cause its a 50 cent thread....shit if stuff aint a good read then dont bother postin stuff up. propz anyway.. __________________ http://twitter.com/ColdRhymeZ << FOLLOW!!!

12-01-2008, 11:45 PM	#9
ns_diplomat Reppin' 514 Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: 514 - MTL - 514 Posts: 14,899 Repped: 658 Repped 1,298 Times in 526 Posts Neg Reps: 42 Neg Repped at 73 Times in 59 Posts	why did u make other thread with this article....???? __________________ G-Unit/Shady/Aftermath!! "Shout out to all the people in Montreal - Montreal is real hood. Real gangsta out there." - Juelz Santana

12-02-2008, 12:51 AM	#10
shade4tee5 The Hype Is Real! Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 1,242 Repped: 301 Repped 99 Times in 38 Posts Neg Reps: 277 Neg Repped at 30 Times in 25 Posts	i like how all the ppl hatin on 50 in here have game, buck, or bws sumwhere in their sig or pic __________________ Y'all forgot who helped 50 Cent pop? I ain't spent my own money since Eminem dropped. - Dr. Dre "yeah i am gay and i like Two men doing 69" - Raskae

12-02-2008, 01:49 PM	#19
GodToYouKids22 -Ŧħę Fяëşħ Pŕιиєê- Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Jerz Where We Tuck Heat And Love Shanks -Buddens Posts: 7,895 Repped: 1,179 Repped 1,934 Times in 657 Posts Neg Reps: 608 Neg Repped at 433 Times in 301 Posts	lmfaooooo the dickriding thats goin on in this thread is ridiculous if u honestly believe 50 is better than Nas, then __________________ [06:29PM] LAKERS_520 sbrecords the type of nigga to take a picture of HHB's homepage and put it in his wallet

12-01-2008, 08:14 PM	#5
snoopeastwood Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 499 Repped: 97 Repped 112 Times in 34 Posts Neg Reps: 69 Neg Repped at 28 Times in 12 Posts	smh @ jg213. why are you tryin so hard to hate on 50? seems like u got nothing else to do with your life

12-01-2008, 10:52 PM	#6
Mastur Cheef Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: halo 3 Posts: 52 Repped: 0 Repped 0 Times in 0 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	FUCK THAT SHIT wai 2 lng

12-01-2008, 11:02 PM	#7
emu12 my success to ya Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: las cruces new mexico Posts: 337 Repped: 197 Repped 4 Times in 2 Posts Neg Reps: 8 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	shit is way too long to read

12-02-2008, 01:02 AM	#11
yungkilla727 Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: fl Posts: 4 Repped: 0 Repped 0 Times in 0 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	i just realised i dont even like this fool anymore, this mofucka is the biggest shit talker out, the amount of excuses he keeps coming with is lame

12-02-2008, 07:20 AM	#14
MalitiaMan Banned Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Florida Posts: 309 Repped: 27 Repped 150 Times in 35 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 4 Times in 4 Posts	i read it already but its a nice read

12-02-2008, 03:52 PM	#20
8JOKER8 Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Liberty City IV,Miami Posts: 486 Repped: 73 Repped 107 Times in 53 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 7 Times in 7 Posts	Yall niggaz know yall love 50, why else come read about what he's doing an comment,lol an for the record fat joe started the beef when he said lean back is better then in the club. AN that if it was on his album instead of T.S.'s it would have sold more. Unless one of yall got somthing else on it that dates back before that, besides the that pun line in how to rob. __________________ Yeah, I need you. I need you to hate me. So I can use you for your energy - 50 Cent 4373 to -221805 All from onr person, did sombody take the qutoe to serious,lol By the way, FUCK "GodToYouKids22" LOL

12-02-2008, 04:47 PM	#23
Mastur Cheef Banned Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: halo 3 Posts: 52 Repped: 0 Repped 0 Times in 0 Posts Neg Reps: 0 Neg Repped at 0 Times in 0 Posts	LMFAOOOOOOOOOO @ ppl tinking 50 cunt is bttr thn nass

12-02-2008, 08:28 PM	#25
50CENTWIFE R.I.P MIKE :( Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: THE EAST COAST Posts: 15,953 Repped: 2,494 Repped 726 Times in 137 Posts Neg Reps: 6 Neg Repped at 11 Times in 11 Posts	Good interview but its longer this this tho... JP wow lol... and Flipper I have to agree esp about Fat Joe and 50 1st and 2nd album... Anyway Im a fan of both (50 n Nas)... __________________ .....MKJ.....B.I.S.D-NOV,16,09..... Last edited by 50CENTWIFE; 12-02-2008 at 08:55 PM.

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