50 Cent – The Massacre Review
Posted by Michael Melchor on 03.04.2005
50 owes quite a bit to his producers.
Recapping even a brief history here is as useless as tits on a boar because anyone with even a casual interest in music knows who the man is. Real-life gangster-turned-rapper, shot 9 times, released a record-shattering debut, guest-starred on every one else’s albums, disses anything that moves...yeah, him.
Here lately, 50’s made more news for calling out everyone and their mother rather than for his actual music. But now the time has come to put his money where his mouth is with The Massacre. What’s going to frustrate his detractors is, for the most part, 50’s music can back up his boasts. At the same time, those detractors can take heart in the fact that he doesn’t do it alone – and I’m not talking about the many and varied guest stars on the album.
Throwaway “intro” aside, The Massacre starts off with a stoically dominant “In My Hood”. The territory isn’t too deep or philosophical as 50 starts out the album boasting about how ultra-fuckin’-bad he and continues the trend with “This Is 50”. Both moves can be forgiven as this is standard rap procedure, but then 50 turns completely around with the near-poignant cautionary tale “I’m Supposed To Die Tonight”.
After that, it’s right back to the MC-baiting rant “Piggy Bank”, aimed at several of his contemporaries, including most notably Fat Joe (a shame his own album was delayed until late April; a same-day counterpoint would have been interesting). After calling out others (as usual), 50 quickly goes for backup as mentor Eminem pops up on “Gatman And Robbin”.
As a whole, the album sounds like everything 50 wanted to say about himself and everyone else crammed into 77 1/2 minutes. The problem with the strategy is that it seems 50 didn’t know what order to put it all in, as the album has very little natural flow at all. Going from tough to tender is one thing, but going on one tangent for several songs and then going back is almost frustrating.
The reason I have to say “almost” is because the beats here more than make up for 50’s schizophrenia. Dre and Eminem obviously know how to construct a beat to shake your head and ass to – and they know how to fit it to 50’s swagger and charisma. They’re not the only ones that can construct a beat, though; others such as Cue Beats (“A Baltimore Love Thing”), C Styles & Bang Out (“In My Hood”, “Disco Inferno”), and Needlz (“”Piggy Bank”, “God Gave Me Style”) also work 50’s style into guaranteed Jeep-bumpers.
While the music can be great, it sits on 50’s shoulders to deliver the flow and skill to sustain them. 50 can be mean and deadly when he needs to be; the gangster background obviously explains that. But when 50 goes gentle (“A Baltimore Love Thing”) or decides to go for the laid back approach (“Ryder Music”), it also comes across natural and almost effortless. 50’s rhymes sometimes come out of nowhere to make you laugh, lower your head, or just shake it in incredulousness. 50 has the raw skill; now if he could only figure out how to tie it all into a perfect package...
The 411: The Massacre has all the components of a capable follow-up to 50’s blockbuster Get Rich Or Die Trying. The beats are beyond excellent and 50’s style is smooth as silk. Loyal fans will be able to ignore the fact that it feels more like a mixtape than a proper follow-up album, but for the rest of – who pay attention to details like this – we’ll be waiting to see if 50 Cent can quit starting fights long enough to craft a true classic.
