Monday, July 21, 2008


Here is some interesting video of 50 Cent reflecting on various things
going on in his life. The video is rather compelling as 50 Cent talks
about his grandparents, not being able to see his son, and the recent
sales disappointment of G-Unit's "Terminate On Site" album. With so
many heartfelt things going on in 50 Cent's life good or bad, it
appears that he has yet to figure out that in order to become a truly
legendary artist he must grow. Near the end of the video 50 Cent is
still talking about sales & appears to very disappointed. The answers
to 50 Cent's perceived creative slump is right in front of his eyes &
yet he's still talking about sales instead of subject matter. 50
needs to tap more into his life experiences & create more songs
dealing with his son, family, and other aspirations. (Could he
possibly longing to eventually getting married? Check the video!)

The parallels are similar with a few mega hip hop artists that have
made money, but yet are afraid to re-invent themselves
& bleed, sweat, & cry in their music. Many people criticized
Jay-Z's "Kingdom Come" album saying it was a failure, but
we beg to differ. When Kingdom Come was released, Jay-Z was
a 40 year old emcee who was unmarried and childless.
Although he was financially successful, the album did a
great job in tapping into what Shawn Carter was feeling on a
personal level. Jay-Z was merely the persona or action
movie character that Shawn Carter had carried throughout
his career the same with what Curtis Jackson has done
with 50 Cent. Rattled by all the negative reviews about the
Kingdom Come project, Jay-Z came back with the half
assed "American Gangster" album which pretty much rehashed the
same subject matter on many of Jay's previous albums.
Quite frankly Jay-Z got scared & didn't understand that in
order to be a great artist, you have to take risks that many
would find to be unpopular especially if it's within your heart.

Marvin Gaye, Ray Charles, Bob Marley, & many legendary artists took
risks & spoke on things that were personal & didn't bend to the
pressure. In most of the cases, the rewards were greater for these
legendary artists. We're not saying 50 Cent should do a complete 180
& turn around rapping about saving the animals & the planet, but he
needs to tone down the "Arnold Swarzennegger"
& try getting his "Tom Hanks" on.Tom Hanks went from being
just a comic to becoming a greater artist simply by
reinventing himself & talking on projects that matter to him.

After looking at this video, we can't help but think that 50 Cent
really wants to be with his son, wants to eventually be married like
his grandparents, & ultimately wants to be considered one of the
greatest hip hop artists of all time. With the disappointing sales
of the recent G-Unit album, maybe he will discover the obstacles that
many of us already see that's keeping him from being a greater artist.

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