In Defense of Fifty Cent

Aiyoo, you think about shittin' on 50... save it

My songs belong in the Bible with King David

Curtis Jackson, better known as Fifty Cent, started selling crack at the young age of twelve when his parents thought he was at after school programs. 50 Cent once said that he would have voted for Bush in 2004 if his felonies didn't prevent him from doing so. He took in about $100 million dollars when he sold his share of Vitamin Water. The infamous G-Unit soldier has also been in a few Hollywood movies. A few years after he got shot nine times from point blank range -- and easily survived after only two weeks in the hospital -- he sold about twenty-one million records.

And yet for some reason, most music elitists dismiss Fifty Cent as the "love you like a fat kid love cake" or "we're going to party like it's your birthday" guy. Fuck that.

That's like saying Obama is "that half-black president," as if nothing else defined his existence.

It's easy to insult Fifty Cent by quoting two of his most commercially successful songs. It is difficult to insult his musical talent after listening to two of his albums.

So here's the challenge: go download Get Rich or Die Tryin' and Power of the Dollar and listen to each album in its entirety. It might help to skip "In Da Club" and "21 Questions." Afterwards ask yourself why you don't like 50 Cent.

What you'll discover is this: the heavy synth beats that make up Get Rich or Die Tryin' are uniquely suited for 50's soothing voice. The biblical references in his work make any Sunday School vet feel nostalgic. It is actually possible to have a gun-shot in every song, sometimes as the actual beat. 50 Cent raps about more than getting shot 9 times or drinking bub.

Any song is a roller-coaster ride. Take for example "Patiently Waiting," off Get Rich: "In this White Man's world, I'm similar to a squirrel / lookin' for a slut with a nice butt to get a nut," coming a few lines after, "God's a seamstress that tailor-fitted my pain / I got scriptures in my brain I could spit at your dame."

You'll be pleasantly surprised. The depth, complexity, and fun go well beyond Da Club.

- Adam T. O'Neal