Nothing will make you feel older than 50 Cent‘s The Massacre turning 20 years old.
Every Hip Hop fan of a certain age knows where they were when the album dropped because it was literally impossible to avoid. The most highly-anticipated rap release since his mentor Eminem‘s The Eminem Show, The Massacre was the Hip Hop equivalent of a blockbuster movie.
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Following the success of his 2003 debut Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 had the aura of a world champion boxer, the charisma of a Hollywood star and the menacing wit of a 1930s gangster. Aided by myth-building tales including him spending hundreds of thousands of dollars bulletproofing his fleet of luxury vehicles and being as sober as a nun, Curtis Jackson was the most beguiling figure in all of music — funny, a ladies’ man, ruthlessly ambitious and never anything less than compelling.
Released on March 3, 2005, The Massacre did not quite live up to the hype (what could?), but it still represented the zenith of 50 Cent’s iron grip on Hip Hop. When the album dropped, he was king of the world. Over the last 20 years, that is the great abiding memory of it: a monster of an album, deliciously fun, often frustrating but emblematic of both 50’s pop culture dominance and unparalleled ability to craft a song that can have both the hood and housewives jumping.
Below, HipHopDX looks back on the highs and lows of The Massacre, 20 years later.
What Could Have Been
It’s no secret that The Game significantly impacted the making of The Massacre. After he was parachuted into G-Unit by Interscope boss Jimmy Iovine, 50 Cent was tasked with turning the hardheaded Compton rapper into a star, and that meant lending him his pen and gifting him some songs.
The Game’s own album, The Documentary, released two months earlier, turned out to be a classic, while The Massacre did not live up to the insurmountable thrill of Get Rich or Die Tryin’. But imagine The Massacre, which already sold a staggering 1.15 million copies in its first week, with songs such as “How We Do” and the original “Hate It or Love It,” as well as the handful of others 50 played a significant hand in constructing for The Game.
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The Game, of course, has an alternative take on how some of these records were made, but the fact remains: he has yet to eclipse his work with his former G-Unit general.
50 has been open about the fact that losing certain songs changed the aesthetic of The Massacre into something softer and more radio-friendly — elements of the album fans have always been less keen on. 20 years on, The Massacre remains one of Hip Hop’s greatest what ifs.
New York, New York
When he wasn’t making hit records, 50 Cent was busy beefing with virtually every rapper in New York. Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Nas and Jadakiss were just some of his contemporaries to catch shots on “Piggy Bank,” the most controversial song on The Massacre. 50’s feud with Ja is certainly well-documented, but his hatred for the Murder Inc. star was so intense that it also brought him into conflict with Kiss and Joe after they collaborated with him on 2004’s “New York.”
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While almost everybody has made up in the years since, 50 saved some of his best barbs on “Piggy Bank” for Joey Crack, rapping: “That fat n-gga thought ‘Lean Back’ was ‘In Da Club’ / My shit sold 11 mill, his shit was a dud.”Shyne also found himself in Fif’s crosshairs for getting friendly with Ja Rule. As a result, 50 threatened to have him stabbed in jail.
All this time later and 50 is still wreaking havoc on his enemies, though Instagram is now his battleground of choice.
Poppin’ Them Thangs
With Get Rich or Die Tryin’, 50 achieved unprecedented success without feeling like he was aping for it (its 872,000 first-week sales is still the most ever for a debut Hip Hop album). For example, “In Da Club” sat nicely next to “Many Men (Wish Death).” On The Massacre, however, there is a stronger dichotomy between the singles and album cuts, mainly because tracks such as “Ski Mask Way” and “I’m Supposed to Die Tonight” don’t possess the same level of hooks as “What’s Up Gangsta” and “Patiently Waiting.” But also, because the singles are really pop.
“Candy Shop” and “Just a Lil Bit,” both produced by Scott Storch and heavily influenced by Indian music, build on “Magic Stick,” 50’s collaboration with Lil Kim that dropped two years earlier (and was actually intended for Get Rich…). They’re straight babymakers compared to the narrative-driven “21 Questions” or the wickedly charismatic “P.I.M.P.,” and sound like they’re ticking a box marked “made for radio” — although this is more down to 50’s clichéd rhymes than the experimental production.
“Outta Control” and “Disco Inferno,” meanwhile, are similarly interchangeable club-ready tracks that, despite initial commercial success, have not gone on to become staples in 50’s catalog.
All Things to All People
50 Cent in 2005 had quickly ascended to become one of the most famous and popular people on planet earth. He was the hottest thing in rap, a pop phenomenon, a commercial juggernaut, a soon-to-be movie star and a chiseled sex symbol. This must have impacted how he made The Massacre.
This approach was not uncommon among Aftermath/Shady albums, but it’s clear that 50 sought to cater to every possible demographic with The Massacre. There are street anthems, radio bangers, love songs and gangsta rap staples all contained within its 22 tracks. The end result is an album that sparks at times, deflates at others and makes for a somewhat schizophrenic listen.
50’s follow-up album, 2007’s Curtis, would be plagued by similar issues — a trap many rappers have fallen victim to as their careers have progressed but they lack the pen or the confidence to rap about other topics from an authentic place.
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Year of the 50
Hip Hop has not seen anything like it since, but in the early to mid ’00s, Aftermath/Shady/G-Unit was an all-conquering empire. By 2005, 50 had ascended to the top of that tree in almost surreal fashion. There were insanely lucrative endorsement deals with Reebok and Glaceau, a semi-autobiographical movie in which he played himself, a platinum-selling video game in the vein of Grand Theft Auto and the highest-selling album of the year. All in the space of 12 months.
The Massacre represented the pinnacle of all that could be achieved in Hip Hop. Five years earlier, Curtis Jackson was lying face down on the harsh streets of Jamaica, Queens, his body ripped apart by nine gunshots. He should have been dead. But he rebuilt — quite literally in the case of having to learn to walk again — and decided the world was his.
Despite its flaws, The Massacre was a toast to 50 Cent’s survival and success.
