50 Cent’s Reviews: Exploring 50 Cent’s Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Discography

    50 Cent made headlines with an announcement regarding his departure from Shady/Aftermath/Interscope today (February 20). HipHopDX has revisited the full-length studio albums that 50 Cent released under the Shady/Aftermath/Interscope umbrella, 2003’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, 2005’s The Massacre, 2007’s Curtis and 2009’s Before I Self Destruct

    50 Cent – Get Rich Or Die Tryin’

    HipHopDX reviewed Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ February 10, 2003 and awarded the album a 4 out of 5 X rating. “Some don’t feel 50’s marble-mouthed delivery and it can get particularly tiresome on the hooks,” HipHopDX said at the time. “That aside, he does pay a lot of attention to song structure and even though not everything clicks, nothing sounds thrown together as filler material. While 50 lacks the lyrical prowess and mic presence of a Jay-Z or Nas, he has wedged himself into New York’s upper class by keeping it in the gutter.” HipHopDX’s user-rating for Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ was 4.69 out of 5. To view the full Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ review, click here.  

    50 Cent – The Massacre

    Two years after releasing his debut album, 50 Cent released The Massacre. The album was reviewed February 25, 2005 and it earned a 3.5 out of 5. “Unfortunately, this album won’t be judged by most on its merits,” HipHopDX said at the time. “It will be judged by who made it. Either people despise 50, usually because they don’t think he deserves his popularity or because they just think he’s an obnoxious asshole. Or people ride his dick and claim he is the greatest thing since sliced bread. So this album is either a piece of shit or another classic. So another dope album from 50 will never be held in the regard it should be, instead it’s marred in some form controversy. But then again, maybe 50 wouldn’t have it any other way.” HipHopDX’s user rating for the album was a 3.98. To read the full The Massacre review, click here

    50 Cent – Curtis 

    50 Cent waited two years before releasing his Curtis album, a project that was reviewed by HipHopDX September 10, 2007. In its review, 50 Cent was given his lowest mark on the site, a 2.5 out of 5 X rating. “Fan reaction will be the same as it ever was; blind nuthuggers calling it a classic and sworn haters calling it the worst thing since cancer,” HipHopDX said at the time. “Really, it is just a very average album from an artist we know is capable of more but rarely interested in giving 100 percent. 50 Cent may be a superstar, but Curtis is pedestrian.” HipHopDX users were more favorable in reviewing this album, as they awarded this collection a 3.23 rating. To read the full Curtis review, click here

    50 Cent – Before I Self Destruct 

    In 2009, 50 Cent released Before I Self Destruct, his fourth full-length studio album under Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records’ umbrella. On November 9 2009, HipHopDX reviewed the album, which earned a 3.5 out of 5 X rating. “While 50’s sense of humor bleeds through the entire work, it’s more arrogance than anything else. That’s 50 Cent though, and that’s what we’ve come to expect from him. However, for a multi-millionaire like Curtis Jackson, it wouldn’t have hurt to end his four-album stint on Interscope with some grown ass man Rap. Instead we’re given a collection of songs that are more b-sides than hits, with the exception of an obvious few like ‘So Disrespectful’ his usual ‘shit list’ track, the hard-hitting ‘Crime Wave,’ the Eminem-owned ‘Psycho,’ and the super-Poppy ‘Baby By Me’ featuring Ne-Yo.” To read the full Before I Self Destruct review, click here

    Which 50 Cent Album is Your Favorite?

    RELATED: HipHopDX Album Reviews 

    93 thoughts on “50 Cent’s Reviews: Exploring 50 Cent’s Shady/Aftermath/Interscope Discography

    1. Holy shit you would think this nigga died today with all these 50 articles. LOL

      I bet he planned this all right before Mastermind comes out.

    2. Curtis was back when you guys had the balls to give an album 2.5/5, now most 2.5’s get 3-3.5 and 3.5’s get 4 out of 5.

      1. funny how Game the former stripper is haning out with a Kardashian trying to get on his kanye shit and being on keeping up with the kardashians to keep his dead career alive.

    3. I( think now that he has more creative control he’s gonna crush a lot of these wack dudes out. everyone on here talks about the quality of music and that ny sound. who better to bring that hardcore ny shit back?

    4. GGGGGGGGG-UNIT, the kid put the game on lock down, Beg for Mercy,Buck the world, Documentary ….Rotten Apple…Classics

      1. Na blood,wat do you expect? Classics every time…name an artist who has put out a classic every time Kayne?Say no more, Jay-Z? No, Nas? Hell No, Eminem? I only LIKED his first 3 albums….That why GRODT & Massacre are classics
        GGGG-UNIT

      1. i downloaded a torrent of all the g-unit radio mixtapes and theres like 30 of em, its no wonder he ran out of shit to say, he put out more free material than most rappers will record in their lives

      2. They INVENTED the modern mixtape. No one had redone other artist’s songs as their own for entire tapes before they did. G-Unit Radio Vols 1-26 are sick too for the most part.

      3. FOR ALL OF THE DUMBASSES ARGUMENTING WITH GRODT AND ITS SALES AND THAT IT WAS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THE MMG RELEASES COMBINED TOGETHER, FUCK YOU. CAN YOU EVER LEARN THAT GRODT WAS RELEASED ALMOST 10 YEARS AGO WHEN PEOPLE ACTUALLY USED TO BUY RECORDS? IF GRODT WAS RELEASED LAST YEAR, IT WOULD BARELY EVER HIT A GOLD AND IT WILL NEVER OUTSELL LAST ROSS’ ALBUM. NOT MENTIONING THAT MOST OF 50’S AUDIENCE WAS BRAINWASHED YOUNG KIDS WHO KNEW ONLY 2 RAPPERS – EMINEM AND 50 CENT. EVEN THOUGH HE IS MORE OF A POP SINGER SUPPORTING WACK ASS RAPPERS LIKE SLUTHOUSE, EMINEM IS STILL GOOD WITH HIS SALES, JUST TAKE IT AS A FACT THAT 50 CENT AND HIS PLATINUM PLAQUES FROM 2003 ARE NOT RELEVANT, BEFORE I SELF-DESTRUCT TOOK LONG TIME TO ONLY GO GOLD, IT NEVER WENT PLATINUM AND TEFLON DON AND GOD FORGIVES, I DON’T BOTH SOLD MORE THAN BEFORE I SELF-DESTRUCT.

        NONE OF THE G-UNIT ARTISTS HAD ANY HYPE RECENTLY, NOBODY GIVES A FUCK ABOUT YAYO, KIDD KIDD OR BITCH ASS FRAUD WANNABECRIP 40 GLOCC. LAST BANKS ALBUM FLOPPED AND SOLD 40K IN ITS FIRST WEEK, TONY YAYO CAN’T EVEN RELEASE ANY ALBUM RIGHT NOW BECAUSE IT WOULD FLOPPED TOO HARD.

        MEEK MILL HAD ALMOST THE SAME OPENING NUMBERS AS LAST 50 CENT ALBUM HAD.

        WALE WENT GOLD AND HE IS BETTER THAN ANY OF G-UNIT RAPPERS WHEN IT COMES TO LYRICS.

        EVERY ROSS ALBUM WENT GOLD EXCEPT DEEPER THAN RAP BUT LAST TIME I CHECKED IT, IT HAS SOLD MORE THAN 470K SO BY NOW IT MIGHT HIT THE 500K.

        BOTH MMG COMPILATIONS SOLD OVER 300K AND IN THIS CLIMATE IT IS MORE THAN SUCCESS WHEN NOBODY MAKES A RELEVANT COMPILATION ALBUM (MAYBE GOOD MUSIC).

        RICH FOREVER MIXTAPE SHITS ON ALL OF G-UNIT MIXTAPES EVER RELEASED, JUST LISTEN TO THAT BEATS AND THE WAY HOW ROSS DELIVERS HIS SHIT.

        TL;DR?

    5. the only real shit album he had was Curtis that was trash. Power of the Dollar is also a classic and his mixtape run is only matched by dipset n D-Block dope discography when u get into it

    6. How ANYONE in their right minds could pick “Before I Self Destruct” as their favorite 50 Cent album is completely baffling…

    7. Been listening to the Massacre a lot lately, it’s a hood classic, def deserves a 4/5. All his work after that is pedestrian.

      1. real talk, i was just saying the same thing. at the time it got attention for controversy, but its arguably better than grodt

    8. 50 has one good album and he made it off of dissing Ja Rule who was on top the game. Then he copied Ja Rule’s style couldn’t do it like him and fell off. Real talk, “I thought ja was commercial i heard you” . Nah that’s 50 now what a hypocrite, glad it didn’t work out for him as much as the vitiation water lol.

    9. One of the reasons I like him is because he did it his own way and not on the backs of other people.. He doesnt feel he has to be friends with people that he doesnt really like and i admire that about him .. So many people in rap fake like they’re friends for the sake of makin money i hate that shit ..Everybody rides each other’s jockstrap so much its sickening .. He was like Fuck that even if it wont benefit me much financially or career wise imma do my own thing and keep it 100.

    10. Though I’m a fan of GRDT, my favorite from 50 is The Massacre. Something about the production on that album. I would call myself a casual fan of 50 now..but I do respect how he keeps it raw and gutter. You rarely hear polished tunes from this guy and i like that.

    11. you got the massacre wrong. I copped that shit about a month back, clear classic. I was a hater at the time cause he went at nas, but its a dope album.

    12. I think Massacre is 50 at his best, weaving street tales over banging production and smooth music like ryder music and sky mask way for vibing out to

    13. FOR ALL THE DICK RYDERS! 50 CENT SNITCH ON SUPREME AND FILED A RESTRAINING ORDER ON BLACK! DUDE IS A RAT NOT A RAT. U DICK RYDERS THINK GAME A STRIPPER CUZ 50 SAY SO? BAAAAAAAHAHAHAHA WHERES THE PROOF? BESIDES PHOTOSHOPED PICTURES??? LOLOL I CAN FIND 1000 OF VIDS OF 50 BEING A SNITCH BUT NOT ONE OF GAME BEING A STRIPPER??? WANNA KNOW WHY? BECAUSE HE NEVER WAS! GAME MAKES GUNIT LOOK SNITCHES NOW! EVEN MORE PROOF 40 GLOCC SUEING HIM FOR BEATIN HIS ASS! BAAAHAHAHA GUNIT IS DEAD STFU DICK RYDERS!

      1. Games manager was a federal informant bruh. They got paperwork on him sending niggas to jail to get lesser charges in the 90’s.

      2. I DISOWN THAT FAKE FAN. HE IS A DICKRYDER I DO NOT CONDOME HIS OPINIONS. HE IS REALLING CONFUSED. DONT BLAME ME FOR HIS IDIOCACY.

    14. 1.GRODT… Huge, huge cd… One of the few albums I can listen to completely from front to back.
      The rest of his albums fail in comparison.
      2.Massacre – Meh… I still bump Somebody’s Gonna Die Tonight.. and In My Hood… That’s it!!
      3.Curtis… Gun Go Off… That’s it!!
      4.Before I Self Destruct… Death To My Enemies…..

    15. The label move is a big power move, one that he should have made a long time ago. However it is not wise to make this move without Banks and Buck..

      I knew something was up, when Interscope did a deal with Gay Cole and he released a blatant 50 diss track :
      Revenge of the Dreamers
      I’m in the zone this year, it’s all fire nigga check my attire
      Your worst fear is confirmed, your reign at the top expires this year
      No application, I’m hired this year
      And ye’ ain’t real as you seem, and we can tell, nigga

      Gay Cole sold his sole to Gay Z, but will never achieve the same success as 50 Cent

    16. 50 sold 40 million records in 6 years (2003-2009), counting G-Unit albums and his movie soundtrack. What other rapper has done so much in so little time? He had back-to-back albums with 10+ million sales worldwide. Who else did THAT? Who else took niggas out the hood and made them millionaires? Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo & Young Buck, hell, you can even make a case for The Game, as 50 wrote him classics on The Documentary. These niggas were selling CRACK before 50. Beg for Mercy MULTI-PLATINUM, Hunger for More PLATINUM, Straight Outta Cashville PLATINUM, The Documentary MULTI-PLATINUM, Thoughts of a Predicate Felon GOLD (Perhaps sold a MIL worldwide by now). Sold 4 MILLION G-Unit sneakers (made $80 mil of that, he said it in an interview). Everybody rocking G-Unit shirts, too. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ Soundtrack was PLATINUM, as well. I mean, he did SO MUCH early on, what else can he do? Curtis was a DECENT album at best. Before I Self Destruct was DECENT at best. Both albums had bangers on there but wasn’t good all the way through. 50 came on the scene, literally pushed every rapper out of the way, ending careers while he was at it, sold millions upon millions and then went into business because he murdered everyone in the rap game and there was nothing left to accomplish there.

      1. Ending careers? Who? Ja-Rule? Everybody already hated Ja-Rule in 2003. Fuck off fuckboy

        He murdered everybody in the rapgame? Really? this average rapper with his boring flow, voice and lyrics.

        Who cares if he made millionaires from banks or yayo or that he sold millions of albums. Its about SKILLZ you fucking moron

    17. why they leave of the real album power of the dollar it was recorded on a major label that’s his first classic had destiny child,nore,UGK

    18. 50 is one of the last gangster rappers from the nearly 2 decades when it was at the forefront of rap music. It’s not that he killed the genre, there just wasn’t enough other rappers like him at the time to keep it going.

    19. Every rapper that has gone platinum through a major label , needs to follow raekwons footsteps and go independant, once you have a household name in hip hop you do not need a major label at all. All they doing at that point is taking they cut until your buzz is dead.
      Every rapper still looking for the majors should sign 1 or 2 album deals, use them for they connections booking , international distribution , co marketing with other label mates etc, and then take that lil fame and sell it your self.

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