Playahata

Guest Reviewer / Hadji Williams of hustleknockin
50 Cent is the Sylvester Stallone of rap. He’s that (older) dude who, once you hear his interviews and see how insightful and articulate he is about the process, the industry, and his personal interests and perspective about how to connect with audiences, you can’t help but wonder why the art he makes isn’t exponentially better.

Hey, I liked Rambo and Rocky but I didn’t need 19 of ‘em, with each worse than the first. I loved Power Of A Dollar and GRODT. But Curtis has been chasing that high since 1999 it seems. Which brings me to his latest joint:

Before I Self Destruct is the street album you wanted to hear right after Massacre and probably instead of the 5 mixtapes and albums he’s dropped since.

Obviously Fif’s never been the most nimble lyricist or the most floetic. But as BISD reminds, 50’s charisma is rooted in his bluntness. Fif doesn’t mince words; no fancy metaphors or symbolic allegories. He just muscles up and lays it out with aggression and indifference to feelings. And when the beat’s on point (as is the case with most of BISD), the results will make you more than a little nervous and fans excitable on principle—or possibility, if nothing else.

And that’s exactly what BISD does.

For 17 tracks, Curtis slings a flatbed’s worth of big cannon talk and big bully stomp over some of the most menacing sonic haze he’s been laced with in years. Lyrically, 50 remains the-survivor-turned-predator in a zero-sum ethos—take or get took. Hence every bar sounds like he’s picking a fight—industry execs, other artists (Game, Buck, Jigga…), bloggers, random haters, the streets… Fif’s at his best when he’s swinging.

Jay was probably right—no one’s afraid of 50 these days; but there’s still something problematic about a guy who recalls being molested in his youth with “My nanna said she raped me/I just smiled ear to ear saying “take me, baby!” That’s a guy who, $300 million in the bank or not, just might be serious when he tells you he’s pulling the guns out again, just for fun.

But 50 remains an observant fellow. Consider the Oran Juice Jones-esque tale of failed love, Do You Think About Me Ferrari laments: “It’s like Paul McCartney stuck in my head—he fell in love with a bitch/she walked away on one leg… She should have what she want/just not from me!”

As for the rest of BISD, expect to hear Get It Hot and Psyco (feat Em) all winter. (Em sounds like he’s warming up for another run.) Other BISD standouts include: So Disrespectful, Then Day Went By, Gangasta’s Delight, Crime Wave, Do You Think About Me, and Ok, You’re Right.

Overall Before I Self Destruct isn’t the end of 50—far from it. But it’s not his rebirth, either. It’s not the change of heart or even change of pace others hoped for. It’s Fif being Fif—ugly, blunt, street , hungry and swinging till he gets knocked out. Throughout, Fif maintains just enough charisma and talent to keep us coming back. Not in the numbers of his past successes, but BISD won’t crash—not without scorching a little more earth, first.