Although he had released a couple of underground ones prior to this, "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" is often seen as the debut album by the New York-raised rapper 50 Cent. The album went straight to number one after lots of big singles raised the awareness of the artist to many reaches of the population. 50 is backed by Dr. Dre and Eminem amongst others for this album, and it is why it is so highly-rated.
1. "Intro"
2. "What Up Gangsta?"
This is quite simply the best way to get this album started as it gets him bursting through with hardcore rhymes in order to show what he represents and which sub-genre to Hip Hop he is a part of. Here he aligns himself with the Gangsta Rap side of things, and it is clear through the way he comes through with this bassy opener with raps which centre on links to all gangs in his area.
From a banger to kick the album off, I felt as though he completely drops his standards for this one as he collaborates with Em', and I simply do don't like the artist, so having him both produce and rap on this put me right off the thing, and I thought that it had little to offer, when you compare it to other tunes which you find on this release.
**One Star**
4. "Many Men"
Although not a single from the album, this is seen to be one of the big singles from the album and it received lots of attention regardless of not being amongst the four singles to come off the release. It has him take a step back and simply look on the world
(as he sees it) from a different perspective as he does an overview of the situations in the impoverish areas, and how the gang lifestyle's infrastructure works.
**Four Stars**
5. "In Da Club"
For a debut single, you can't get much bigger than this one as this tne did exactly as it aimed to do by tearing up the clubs and putting all attention to the then-newcomer with a banger of a recording where he gets everyone moving as he raps about just having fun whilst in the club and doing what he does when he gets there. You can't really complain about any aspect of this as it is just well done as a whole.
**Five Stars**
6. "High All The Time"
I thought that this was a prettyy general track of the album, and it seems to be very representative of the whole thing as much of the content semes o borrwo from elsehere on the album. it has 50 by himself on it, and he seems to be fairly confident in this position (although his rhymes are a little too commercial and bland)
**Four Stars**
7. "Heat"
This one is a straight Gangsta Rap track from the artist, and has him going hard with the lyrics whilst speaking on how he loves to roll with guns at all times and use them whenever he feels is necessary. It seemed rather generic, and pretty false at times (especially when he fabricates things such as him killing peoples mothers as a form of torture, instead of getting them directly). It's not the type of thing that I would usually listen to, but he did alright with it.
Had this one not been released as a single, I expect that it would have been an unmemorable one. This is because it is rather generic, and even though Dr. Dre is on the production to it, his sounds were being heard all over at the time, and so it may have fitted right in with the music of the time, but it certainly did not stand out. 50 shows that he still has love for the old school with line from Run-D.M.C.'s "Peter Piper", but displays that he is mainly here to advance things for Hip Hop.
**Four Stars**
9. "Blood Hound" (feat. Young Buck)
Here is a track which has the rapper perform relentlessly as he raps alongside his outhern G-Unit man (at the time) Young Buck, and together they come with a grimey track, composed by Sean Blaze, and it all leads to him creating a suitable atmosphere for this kind of hardcore work, which all adds to the diversity of the music in this first commercially-available album from him.
**Four Stars**
10. "Back Down"
This one is a straight diss track directly towards the likes of artists such as Ja Rule, Irv Gotti, Cadillac Tah and the whole Murder Inc. family. I felt that it was pretty good at fulfilling its aim, however unless you are already up opn the situation, you won't have a clue what any of this is about (especially since he was pretty much unknown prior to this album).
**Two Stars**
11. "P.I.M.P."
The remix to this was a single from the album, and you must compare this original recording to the G-Unit remix, which featured not only the then-G-Unit soldiers Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, but also Snoop Dogg. I have to say that that one is much improved with the collaboration, however this is still a good one as Kon Artis gives 50 an icy beat to rap about his role of a pimp when it comes to the girls.
**Four Stars**
12. "Like My Style" (feat. Tony Yayo)
Life-long friend to the rapper, Tony Yayo raps alongside him on this one, and altough I beleive that the featured rapper is one of the most overrated on his G-Unit roster, this one manages to maintain a high stadard, and stick as one of the top tuns from the album. Rockwilder is on the beats, and the East Coast5 legend knows exactly what is needed to give him the correct stuff to get noticed on this record.
**Four Stars**
13. "Poor Lil' Rich"
Sha Money XL is one the beats, and the whole thing is dominated by heavy synth, and this marks a strong element to thie thing which allows it to truely advance the track. There's a lot going on in it as the rapper speaks on his vaired influences (altohugh all within the Hip Hop genre) as hge speaks on the regional differences to it.
**Four Stars**
14. "21 Questions" (feat. Nate Dogg)
This was one of the better tracks from the release, and it has 50 working alongside the biggest hook man of the nineties as he sings for the chorus whilst 50 brings down the energy levels in order to address his girl and find out whether he has found a girl who is down for him at any cost. It is a good one to display how diverse the artist is, and his confidence in doing this without thinking it may harm his 'Gangsta' reputation.
**Four Stars**
15. "Don't Push Me" (feat. Lloyd Banks and Eminem)
Here's another whihc has Eminem takign on the big roles within the tune, and although I thought that I could get into this one a lot easier (as the beats seemed to be less directly connected to Eminem), However I found that once he actually beagn the raps, I couldn't stand it. 50 seems to adopt a 'pac-esuqe delivery of rhymes for this one, and it really helps him, but doesn't aid once it is spolied.
**Two Stars**
16. "Gotta Make It To Heaven"
I though that this was a very good way to end things as it leaves you on a high. Before listening to it, you would think that it isn't going to be as fun as it actually is as you get surprisingly strong production from Megahertz, who forces you to pay attention, even while we end the release off. He speaks of how the struggle must be leading to a paradise life later on as it has been so hard for him up to this point.
**Four Stars**
I can understand why so many like this album so much. However, I personally felt that it was a very commerical release, and had him look to take the same fans that the likes of Emiem had before as his work is very straight-forwrd and doesn't do anything but give the audience the same old typical Gangsta Rap that had all been heard before. The prodcution is where all the quality lies, and it often distorts the weak lyrics
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Intro (skit) What Up Gangsta Patiently Waiting - feat. Eminem Many Men (Wish Death) In Da ... more
Club High All The Time Heat If I Can't Blood Hound - feat. Young Buck of G Unit Back Down P.I.M.P Like My Style Poor Lil Rich 21 Questions - feat. Nate Dogg Don't...
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Jan 23rd, 2009
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