Get Rich or Die Tryin: A Review of 50 Cent's First Official Album

The expectations for Get Rich or Die Tryin made 50 Cent a household name half a year before its release. You know the story: he dropped out of school and started hustling; signed to Columbia Records and recorded an album Power of the Dollar; became embroiled in a beef with a pre-platinum Ja Rule and Murder Inc.; was shot nine times before his album dropped; was dropped from Columbia and his album shelved; flooded the streets with reams of excellent mixtapes, which caught the ear of Eminem and Dr. Dre...and the rest is history.

Get Rich or Die Tryin lives up to most expectations. Filled with grimy, violent lyrics barked and sung over top-shelf production from Eminem, Dr. Dre and others , 50 is in top form. So are the guests, G-Unit members Young Buck, Tony Yayo, and Lloyd Banks, as well as Eminem, who delivers a couple of show-stealing verses. There are numerous highlights, starting with the first eleven tracks, each one a winner. The latter half of the album begins to wear a bit thin, but still has enough hits to round out a well-crafted release. The beats, which 50 bullies with menacing and violent verses, are as infectious as his melodious hooks. The songs are anthemic and irresistible, even if 50 Cent doesn't quite make it to the level of elite emcee.

If there's one complaint, it's that over the course of most of the album, he simply wallows in his mystique as this sort of uber-gangster that the media and Interscope marketing had created. There's little reflection on Get Rich or Die Tryin, except on the excellent Many Men, which concerns his shooting. But given his background, and the above average lyrical stylings of early records like the infamous Ghetto Qu'ran, Gun Runners and Corner Bodega, from his shelved Columbia debut, and some excellent mixtape tracks like Problem Child, one would expect a bit more depth. But when you have odes to gunplay as catchy as Heat and What Up Gangsta, it's hard to criticize.

And he doesn't need to extend himself as a top-shelf emcee here. The massive hype made even the top-shelf production and grade-A guest verses unnecessary. It's not as raw as Power of the Dollar or Guess Who's Back, but it doesn't need to be. This is 50 running roughshod over beats, churning out hits with an ineffable charisma and a compelling flow. This is definitely one of the top albums of 2003, and one of the best gangsta rap albums of the past ten years.

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