Without being released a proper single, the song has sold 410,000 copies to date.Īs 50’s biggest hit, “In Da Club” married his propensity for unshakeable hooks with strong wordplay. He even name-checks Charles “Chaz” Williams on the song, suggesting that he had something to do with his intended assassination after they had formed a strong alliance. Hosting one of the catchiest hooks on “GRODT,” “Many Men” reenacts the attempt to put him down in vivid detail, emphasizing his perseverance and hustler’s spirit. Soon, the twinkly, brooding instrumental kicks in and the rapper’s sung chorus brings the track to life. Reenacting his brush with death, 50 sets off album standout “Many Men (Wish Death)” with a brief skit where he’s assaulted with gunfire. “Ni**as shouldn’t throw stones if you live in a glass house / And if you got a glass jaw, you should watch your mouth,” he growls. Between boasts, Fif cracks open the door to his personal life, rapping, “I grew up without my pops, should that make me bitter? / I caught cases I copped out, does that make me a quitter?” A singsong chorus from the Shady Records honcho, who also produced the track, seals the deal, while one-off couplets prove 50’s knack for quote-worthy rhymes. Where 50 used “What Up Gangsta” to cement his fearlessness, he gets slightly personal on the album’s first collaboration, a lyrical onslaught delivered with ease.
One of two songs on the LP to feature Eminem, “Patiently Waiting” showed that the partnership between Slim Shady and Curtis Jackson wasn’t just on paper. “The rap critics say I can rhyme / The fiends say my dope is a nine / Every chick I fuck with is a dime,” he brags. Entering the mainstream arena in the wake of the ’90s’s gang wars, 50 appeals to both Crips and Bloods with his airtight, simple chorus, using verses to flaunt his invincibility. The tone feeds into the money-on-my-mind approach set in stone by the Jiggy era, while gesturing to the aggressive establishment of street credibility that pervades the album.Ī casual flow offsets the devilish rhymes on the album’s first proper song “What Up Gangsta,” touting a Reef-produced instrumental clipped with thick rimshots and a sliding string sample. With the clang of two quarters and the sound of a gun being loaded, 50 Cent quickly sets the tone of “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” The menacing rapper is pointed about his priorities: his intent to chase paper and cock back and squeeze if a situation escalates. He not only rewrote the hip-hop rulebook, but also showed that risking it all for glory can have a ripple effect.
A decade later, 50 parlayed word-of-mouth buzz and his hit single “In Da Club” into a titanium career marked with platinum albums, multi-million dollar deals, best-selling books and numerous chart hits.