In the second part of SXSW’s candid interview series with 50 Cent, the Jamaica, Queens lyricist touched on evolution in Hip Hop and spoke on the genre recycling itself every few years or so.
Fifty referenced one song in particular as he spoke on the evolution of Hip Hop and how various elements of the genre can be used in different ways. The song he used to prove his point was Nas’ heavily metaphorical, It Was Written record “I Gave You Power.”
“I think music recycles itself like fashion,” 50 Cent revealed. “So, a lot of the content, the things that we’re utilizing has been done in a different fashion. I’ll try and give an example. I think it was It Was Written, Nas’ second album, he had a song where he was the gun. And it was one of those things that had a strong impression on Hip Hop culture at that point because it was a song that was like ‘wow.’ It had good metaphors, it was strong, and it gave you a visual. And he’s one of the great storytellers within Hip Hop music culture.”
The G-Unit rapper even brought up a personal favorite, The Massacre’s “The Baltimore Love Thing,” when speaking on the use of metaphors in Hip Hop and how the technique is a heavily recycled one.
“My favorite song on the record was ‘The Baltimore Love Thing.’ And it was a metaphor and an actual song where I used a relationship between an addict, a female addict and the drug heroine…Because she keeps listening to people saying ‘You should change your life’ or ‘Get yourself together,’ it drags her deeper into addiction. And it’s one of my favorite records because of the depth to the story itself,” said 50 Cent.
The full interview with 50 Cent can be found below.
RELATED: 50 Cent Admits That He’ll “Never Sell 13 Million Records Again”
Jay-Z doesn’t want it with any MC Queens.
I Know > A Baltimore Love Thing
HEY! you might wanna invest in knee guards with that sucking you doing !
50 sure likes the sound of his own voice. You don’t hear Rick Ross talking about Nas. He’d rather run Miami, and dominate the charts with his soulful melodies.
Soulful music hahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahahahahhahahaha getting money isn’t soulful, and thats all he raps about bullshit….saying ugh after every line master p wanna bee fat faggot…
that cause no one wants to interview ross anymore because everything he says is lies.
trap music is soulful? hahaha dumb fuck
Ross sure ain’t running Miami and he’s not dominating any charts and he has no soulful music of any kind.
another classic interview
after you’ve watched this go on youtube and watch any rick ross interview and you will see a big difference real person cartoon character
50 aint lyrical ! he’s fuckin overrated. he has a few hits here and there but as far as consistency goes he is WACK as fuck
yeah he fell of heavily after GRODT, the soundtrack and a few tracks on massacre..
dude just doesnt have the hunger.. listen to GRODT then anything else after and you’ll hear the difference in his voice
Don’t get it twisted, 50 can spit when he want to. Check any of his last 5 mixtapes for evidence. He just tries to dumb down his flow to go mainstream and it can come off wack at times.
^
50 bust in me pls!
Stop beefing with Nas then, Curtis. Put on for Queens, fuck boy
LMAO I’ll be forever laughing at you and your family
a 50 and nas collabo would be hot.. but i think 50 burned 2 many bridges tryna bully ppl in rap now hes not as hot and noone wanna fuck whim bec he seems 2faced
they already got songs together
check out 50 cent – who u rep with ft. Nas & Bravehearts
Those two songs they did are mad old, that was from the Nastradamus era. Sad really
I hate both these niggas with an undying passion
You saying that in a comfort of your own home, you wouldnt say that around here in Q.U.. You would get your ass tear out the fucking frame pussy!
50 just live in the ear of nas- YOU MIGHT LEARN SOMETHING U BITCH ASS INFORMANT
The concept of i gave you power was already done by Organized Konfusion and also by MC Shan. So fuck NAS and Fuck 50 for not giving credit to the orginators
u a clown
@ lucky
if you know nothing about hiphop then said the fuck up. do your homework.
So did Organized shout out Shan?Did Pac shout out any of them?Stop it.So 50 gives Nas props for the song and it’s fuck both of them for not saying it was the first one?Small shit homie…
Actually Rakim did it on ” Know the ledge’ (Juice OST & Don’t sweat the technique) ‘ Imma put it on a bullet, put it in your brain, Rip the block like a buckshot Who cares where it goes, just keep the casket close’- Nas took it to another level and the others followed.
nigga im gay
I DESPISE RAP NERDS…
WHAT?! The East Coast ain’t got no love dr. dre and snoop dogg, and death row?? Y’all don’t love us
well let it be known then !
i just seen that video again yesterday..classic
lol. .
yeah baltimore love thing was prob one of the best on that cd.
Word. For me it was even one of his strongest songs overall.
I had heard “I Gave You Power” plenty of times… though I sort of skipped “The Massacre” mostly except for the singles because I never really felt 50 like that… Looked up “A Baltimore Love Thing” and I am honestly impressed…
P.S. – HipHopDX why do you allow all of these people to pigeon hole the comment section like this? It is one of the reasons I don’t comment often here anymore. Is it really that hard to moderate? If you go hard with moderation for a couple of weeks then it will probably stop.
best comment on here. all of these trolls are killing the comment section
Co-Sign
HHDX tried that a few months ago then everyone got tight they could only leave 1 comment every 10 mins n switched it back up
i think HHDX should make you log in to a user name so fags cant troll heavy
HHDX became an ad whore for Complex Media. The puzzling part is the rest of Complex’ hoes all have moderation and are more respected than HHDX.
Yeah we need MODERATION in the comment’s sections.
These trolls have killed the site.
Its funny every1 who beefs with Nas ends up paying homage to Nas..I wonder why!
hahaha! you are 100% correct! And thats why he’s the best ever!
Let’s not get carried away here. He cited Nas. He wasn’t calling him the GOAT or anything.
Actually a few weeks ago on Larry King I think it was, 50 named Nas in his top 5 Rappers with Krs-One, Rakim, Biggie and 2Pac
Nas is the best who has content, but when it comes to beef?!?!?! no one is seeing Nas……NONE!!
“I Gave You Power” is one of the best street hop songs ever, face it. The beat by Premo, the lyrical structure, metaphors and the hook perfectly balanced. A Hip Hop Classic!
wtf is with his hand movements looks like a faggot
What happened to 50 cent? His last comments are good.
Ross’s last album debuted at #1. That’s dominating the charts, hate boy.
its not hard to debut at #1 when no one hot puts out an album that week
Da he hatin for dat whack ass album might went #1 but dat shit went GOLD and dats his first #1 album 50 first and second album went #1 and platinum so do yo research and ross wit da pigs
on the hip pop, charts yea
Hustlin > Any song off GRODT
yeah right
SIKE
he sold more from one album then all of nas albums sales combine smh nas stay losing
Who gives a fuck, it’s fucktards like you that pay more attention to quantity than quality… Go kill yourself fuck ass bitch.
Actually Nas has sold over 20 million to date. 50 may has sold slightly more career wise, but his highest selling album did about 13 M so that’s inaccurate. And when you really think about it, it’s better to sell over 20M over the course of 10 albums and 20 years than to sell 10M twice. It shows longevity and relevancy. No disrespect to 50, but just saying. Nobody really cares about his music right now, whereas Nas just had a number 1 album last year, and 5 Grammy nominations this year
and if 50 didnt have GRODT under his belt when he dies he wouldnt even be remember 20 years from now like nas will.. atleast 50 got that classic that rappers try so hard 2 chase
Nas has sold more globally than 50 cent.
Wasn’t I Gave You Power. a recycle of Organized Konfusion’s Stray Bullet?
ja rule aint fuckin with gya nigguz like mister cee and prodigy. ja rulee keepin it straight, 100 son!!!
thats not what i heard. that nicca was taking more dick in jail than a prostitute
Favorable release dates are the whole idea.
Seymo-
Take the pipe out your mouth. Port Of Miami, Trilla, and Deeper than Rap all debuted at #1. They didn’t sell millions, but nothing wrong with going gold on all three.
to this date none of rick ross’s album hit a million he’s a gold artist who insists he’s platinum i cosign seymo
Why is it only rap fans pay attention to album sales, the only genre, I dont give a shit if an album sells 20k or 750k if its hot its hot
Thank youuuuuu
I think we can all agree that Nas is amazing. Every rapper in the game is influenced by him and his contribution to hip-hop
I think we can all agree you need serious help.
You idiots slay me. Who goes platinum nowadays besides Eminem, or Jay? Ross isn’t breaking records with his sales, but in an age where so called fans steal everything anyway, he’s quietly remained consistent. That may not be flashy, but he’s obviously doing something right or else he would have been dropped years ago.
Hop off his dick.
Street Disciple>>>>>>>Illmatic
name ONE song 50 has dropped in the last 9 yrs that can beat Life’s On The Line (his best song)
Just goes to show how much he has fallen off
“I can’t go commercial, they love me in the streets” – 50
Fif been beat up, stabbed, shot up, sold out Prime and snitched on Chris and Irv. He has yet to have done anything to anybody outside of make diss tracks but he his the realist nigga out… sorry but I can’t buy that. I respect his hustle but the path he chose to get where he is deserves no respect. Yea he has a gazillion dollars and gained enough power to shut people out of the music industry. People should at least admit he got smashed on the streets. Again… who has he shot or stabbed??
50 is a lot of things to a lot of people. But he damn sure doesn’t have any daddy issues, self inflicted gun shot wounds, or picture evidence of him kissing other grown ass men unlike your idols Lil Wang and 65 year old world’s oldest/fakest gangbanger Baby aka Turdman.
you want him to admit to crimes he has committed LOL
I’ll stab you in the poophole with my massive Hebe-rod.Quit acting like you know us hoe!!YMCMB would never support you,you are what we call a “booty groupie” dudes that lick our asses when are on tour.Go get a real life you pre-op shemale.
50’s career is OVER! He’s a bitch. My nigga Game destroyed this faggot and he’s still tryin to come back! Nigga don’t nobody wants to hear ur wack ass music so fall the fuck back 50! Ur career is officially over, you fucking faggot! You bitch ass nigga! FUCK YOU!! GGGGGGG-UNOT!!!
its 2013 and its all about the lyrics now
new era of authentic rap is coming
fuck that lil wayne auto tune sound
fuck waka flocka type beats
real rap revolution
http://www.no-buzz.net/2013/05/13/jon-connor-feat-talib-kweli-rise-up/
Jon connor feat. Talib Kweli – Rise up
STEP UR BARS UP
I agree Fif’
That was the best song on The Massacre, Position of Power was close with that classy sound.
GREAT SONG
trends come from current artists and producers. right now its mike will producing all the singles. next year it will be someone else
50-Cent is garbage but white people seem to worship him, it must be the Emenim connection.
No rapper has fell off as hard as this clown from a musical standpoint except maybe Shyne who can’t even make a mixtape song.
Well at least Dr Dre, Emenim, & Jimmy Iovine got rich off of their monkey.
Emenim.. Eminem’s cousin?
shut up boy,come on over here and shine my shoes monkey,rap is ran by whites,you jugle bunnies ruin everything you put your monkey paws on.go fuck a 400 lb whitegirl and make kids with her so you live off of her while she works and you play xbox all day with Leroy and Tyrone,because none of you have an education or a job,you watermelon eating monkey motherfuckers.
Only in hip hop are there fans who mock the success of people who accomplished things they would give their left nut to experience a fraction of.
Whether it’s 50 Cent or lesser known rappers who managed to carve out a source of income for themselves in the rap game, hip hop fans ask yourself, who would pay money to see you?
nas & 50!
Since when have gorillas been allowed to make music?My daddy told me that 50 Cent has less money than him so it makes him not a real man.My daddy kisses me and buys me jewelery….my daddy taught me to skate.My daddy popped my butt cherry and my daddy has 300 million dollars.My daddy is a better rapper than Nas because he has more money.My daddy knows talent,my daddy my daddy!!! Smooches!!!!
Your weird son ..I feel troubled after reading that rant
Ouch daddy stop it!!! Oh you’ll give me 5 mill to kiss you?Heeeeey daddy spank me!!!
Next week imma drop some new fire on y’all a surprise mixtape!!!
Imma bout to shoot a video for”Shake that azz like a seizure” featuring Tevin Campbell,Drake,Adam Lambert,and Mystikal…..fire!!!Produced by Rupaul&Elton John…..fire YMCMB BABAAAAY!!!!
nas wa alwayas better than you 50
u finished in the hiphop game u lil bitch
jumping on collabs with bigger n better rappers trying to get bk in the game,
50 is just mad that he can’t rap like Nas. All 50 ever does on wax these days is just talk about how much money he has, how he’s able to kill you, and how great he is at sex. BORING! He’s still talking about GRODT like it’s some classic record (it’s not). This idiot just needs to move on and leave rap alone.
Why do you think Jimmy won’t release his new album? It’s gonna be just like his last 4; same old dated topics, same old dated beats, same old dated flow and delivery.
Ironically, Nas said it best. He gets rich but dies rhyming.
“GRODT” not Classic? Okay. Regroup, please.
flop since 2005 i’ve said it a thousand time
If only 50 worked with the greats like Nas,Kanye,Jada,etc. and challenged his rhymin skills. How relevant he’d be in the game today .Its sad how he compliments dudes he dissed. Stick to your guns “f*** the world” man.
true needs to work with nas again
When niggas hate on anotha nigga that made it out and continues to be successful. Ya’ll niggas need a new job!
I’m that cat by the bar toasting to the good life
You that fagot ass nigga trying to pull me back right?
-50Cent
50 a snitch nigga!!
show me the paperwork dawg. yall been screaming snitch for years but no one got any evidence
fuck evidence the person he snitched on never came forward if somebody snitched on me I wouldn’t be quiet about it
what is nas net worth? after all these years in the game and 50 far richer then he is its a wrap nas go join the bitter old ass rappers club
You should join the retards who counts another man’s money while not knowing shit club.
You think Curtis still has nightmares about getting stabbed by Irv and his crew? Or maybe he just has nightmares about people seeing that restraining order?
that was a scratch. like 3 stitches he didnt even go to the hospital for 3 days and that was cause his baby momma thought it was gonna get infected
He made a song about it, so I’d say he was scared shitless.
50 a bitch, everyone knows maybach 4 lyfe its bawse