Where did 50 Cent go wrong?

winb83

52 Years Young
Supporter
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
47,240
Reputation
4,051
Daps
71,422
Reppin
Michigan
At one time he owned the rap game and legit went diamond+ and today he's LL Cool J status where kids today probably know him more for his acting career than as a rapper. Breh ended Ja Rule's career then turned around and put out tracks like Candy Shop that was a borderline Ja thug in love track.

It's going on 8 years without a proper album. The last one Animal Ambition had to be considered a commercial failure for someone that went diamond at one point.

Was it the fact that Dre didn't work with him more? His label status seems to suggest he should be able to release more music. I think at this point Nelly making hip hop country songs has a more viable rap career. Maybe he was a Chamillionaire type that found success elsewhere and said eff it?
 

winb83

52 Years Young
Supporter
Joined
May 28, 2012
Messages
47,240
Reputation
4,051
Daps
71,422
Reppin
Michigan
he came out over 20 years ago

how long do you expect a rapper to last?
Rappers like Nas, Jay, Eminem who achieved the same status have managed to stay relevant even longer. You don't sell like 12 million albums and then just have your career flatline. He wasn't some one hit wonder. He was also putting out solid music.
 
  • Dap
Reactions: jeh

jilla82

Veteran
Joined
May 17, 2012
Messages
19,919
Reputation
-1,305
Daps
62,583
Reppin
the internet
Rappers like Nas, Jay, Eminem who achieved the same status have managed to stay relevant even longer. You don't sell like 12 million albums and then just have your career flatline. He wasn't some one hit wonder. He was also putting out solid music.
those are like the only rappers that lasted (can add Kanye & Wayne)

50 found a new lane.

Even with Nas dropping respected music...its not like people in general care that much...
...his career was pretty much done till the beef with Jay.

Jay is one of my GOATs..but he benefits from a ton of marketing and gimmicks

Eminem is lukewarm

Basically what im saying is they all found a way to stay relevant that has very little to do with music

Thats the game...people like the drama and side BS more than anything else
 

H. Selassie

Black Royalty
Joined
Jan 6, 2015
Messages
8,406
Reputation
3,054
Daps
48,231
His commercial peak run was standard for an artist of his magnitude (03-07). Check out some his contemporaries

DMX (98-03)
Eminem (99-02)
Nelly (00-04)
Ja (99-02)
T.I. (04-08)
Jeezy (05-08)
Wayne (08-11)
Kanye (04-07)

even guys with way more longevity like Nas in Jay only had 3 to 4 year windows where their sales/popularity was at its highest. They just chose to continue putting out music while 50 ventured into film/television full time.
 

SunZoo

The Legendary Super Sapien.
Supporter
Joined
May 2, 2012
Messages
35,519
Reputation
12,987
Daps
135,847
Reppin
T.L.C.
Rap was always a way out, a means to an end for him, not necessarily a burning passion. He's talented at it, but not driven by it.

Expecting him to be interested in being an 'artist' as in pushing the envelope, in his prime let alone 15-20 years after the fact when he has found a more lucrative hustle is a lost cause lol. Sitting down and writing an album wouldn't be fun, it would be work, work that wouldn't be rewarded by the rap game with sales or acclaim even if it was fish grease because he's a fukking dinosaur.

Power-verse > Rap game.

Though I do think he'll use the show as a vehicle to release another project at some point and it'll be decent/good if you ever liked 50. Thing about his music is that even after he fell off, there was no huge dip in quality or dramatic shift in approach, just no growth. People are about as interested in his music as he is lol
 
Last edited:
Top