This is not hate. I actually love Power of the Dollar and Get Rich 50. His last mixtape was dope but does he have one more good-great LP in him?

Why? Why not?

he got his little melody-hook singing down and he can spit some funny and pretty lyrical bars at times, just a matter of whats going on with him if and when he puts it out.

Yeah, I'd like to hear one more good one out of him. When motivated, he can go.

The last one was dope, I actually like it the most of all his albums. I DONT however think he has another huge success in him.

The Big 10 was mostly good to great, and that stretch he was on a while back, putting out a new song on his website every few days resulted in a lot of good shit, but dude seems obsessed with being "hot" again that I think he'll miss the mark.

Watching that SXSW performance of GRODT, even if it was weak from a live show perspective, reminded me how much great music he put out.

And for my money, the best songs on his second album are even better than the first (but it has some real clunkers, and is way too long). Curtis had a few joints (I still bump I Get Money), but that last one was a miss, IMO.

He had some of the best producers in the world (Jake One, Khalil, Scoop Deville) on his speed dial, seemingly.

I wonder if he needs someone to take an executive producer role. It seems like Dre and Em sort of leave him to his own doings, and I don't think Sha Money (who brought him some of the best beats of his career) is that involved anymore.

Of course, it doesn't seem like 50 is the type to take direction anymore. Comes off as too bullish and set in his ways. And he's rich beyond belief, so I get why he would be.

half a coin is cooked and done. 50 is spent.

He once put so much importance on sales and hits and relevance to rationalize his place and often to cop pleas for his questionable material (how often have I heard him utter the phrase "the actual general public), and now dude doesn't matter.

He once bragged about having so much clout at Interscope that he could get Styles shit pushed back (and seemed to do so), yet now they won't even release his shit despite a bunch of singles.

Mr. Interscope doesn't even have a label deal anymore (and I doubt he'll get anything noteworthy, talented or not no one gives a fuck about Kidd Kidd or Paris, and Shawty Lo is straight LOL status).

Even in jail, I bet Ja Rule has a lil chuckle.

in the lab with eminem and dr dre getting him for a million and while he was raw, green and hungry because after how to rob, dude was on a milk carton like he was Me phi me or something.

Jimmy Iovine stopped putting the mob loot on that turkey and the smartest moves 50 made was braching off with his boutique label and of course water and other business moves.

but you knew the music hustle wasn't gonna last because he had flash in the pan written all over his thing.

Olivia was the first sign that he wasn't in the long haul and then when the turkey went face to face with kayne?

50 makes coin off the water, side projects and straight to dvd reject Master P type films.

but ain't 50 ain't counted since about 06 on the real.

right about Now Ja rule and the Game bout to make a mix tape or disc called here's a Quarter and I owe ya one 50.

It seems like he gets his tour money and has a base of fans that fuck with him, but I dont see him in the discussion anymore, even though he still has some of the best beats in the world and mostly makes good shit. He's also improved as a rapper SO MUCH. His last album was very good yet it came and went.

He's latching onto the new cats (Tyler, Kendrick) hoping their buzz rubs off, and it kinda feels desperate.

In fact, a lot of the biggest dudes from that era no longer count, even tho in a lot of cases, their music is still at least pretty good. I remember when Chamillionaire was the hottest new dude, and now dude puts out fire freestyles that no one ever talks about (for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ny6Vf00dfg0 - tell me this aint hot)

The rest of the Houston cats are done, some just don't know it yet.

T.I. is getting there outside of Atlanta, but still has a chance to revive himself with the right song or affiliation. Of course, his jail stints didn't help.

Perhaps thats just the cyclical nature of rap music these days. Music is consumed so fast that it's here today, gone tomorrow. Which makes the dudes who do find a way to still matter over a long period even more impressive.

i mean he was used as a Westcoast paper boy fan boy of Dr Dre as a screen to get out some more stuff.

he always was corny, but he is Proof with the right brand and money behind you that you can move hype and some numbers.

truth is I don't think Game was anymore deeper than Murph Lee or Chingy for that matter, however he had the Loot and the right beats behind him and he got marketed the right way at the right time, etc...

chamillionaire had that follow up where he didn't swear and no sticker and the labels didn't push it. he has some skills and even Weird Al jumped on the wagon for "white and Nerdy"

but dude despite a song with Meaning, felt like a novelty anyway.

H town been more about the chop and screw records that hitting you with the music. you gotta go back to rap alot records and when Scarface and them was putting it down and thats been a many a minute now.

T.I. gonna be alright his track record keeps a hit and actual the bids he has gotten are only gonna enhance his appeal and game.

right about now T.I. can do real well and be alright because he keeps a hit and has alot of loot on his paper trail.

Maybe he's capable of having a hit still, because at one time dude had that midas touch, but when was the last one that was a true hit and not some ATL club hit shit? That last album surely didn't have one.

He's getting dangerously close to "O.G. who everyone respects and still checks for to some extent" status, while no longer being a trend setter. And that's still a nice spot to be in, 99% of rappers would kill for it, but his run feels like it could've been longer.

Again tho, he went away for a while, so I'm willing to give him a bit of a pass. However, it no longer feels, from an outsiders perspective, that hes THAT Atlanta dude anymore, but maybe someone actually there would say otherwise.

His last mixtape had some of his best work on it. Then the poor guy had Rick Ross drop his shit a few days later and steal all the hype and no one outside of a few cats here and there were talking about it, that I saw and heard anyway.

I have seen him latch onto the young ATL dudes (Future, Travis Porter, etc.)

Also, that TV show was not a good look, IMO.

he might be desperate at certain aspects and yet I can still see him hitting with something, because he has a base and i know he can easily take out Rick Ross.

wayne
birdman
ro$$
jim jones
its also the reason he can't tour because of his strong 'gang' affiliation.
snoop is superstar and tours more internationally anyway

He was floundering on Interscope until Jimmy/Dre made 50 adopt him. His willingness to shamelessly attach himself to whatever is hot at the moment to keep him (sorta) relevant. However, it comes at the price of him creating an actual concrete identity/persona.

ro$$
wayne
'the throne'

he's old formula can't work anymore

an actual commercially-released major label "event" album? No.

Dude just doesn't fit well into rap in 2012. He was never able to change production sounds the way Jay, Ye, and Weezy have been able to. Dude should transition back to being a "regional" artist again.

When everyone else that was working with each other and doing a lot of collabos, he stayed to himself and his team. That may work for Eminem, but as we've learned, dude ain't Em.

I remember he clowned Waybe for being a whore and working with whoever came calling, yet Waynes success seems to show, for him anyway, this was the right approach.

Now he's trying to work with a bunch of new dudes and R&B cats, and there has been some hits (that Jeremih shit blew up bigger than any of his own shit in years), but none of the so called "rap elite" right now seem to want to work with him.

It's like he's a product of yesteryear, and they don't want the stink of that on their shit.

And unlike someone like Nas, who no longer a mainstream big deal, he doesn't seem to command that widespread artistic respect that warrant inclusion. People seem to praise him more for his business accumen than his music, and that might be his legacy in this rap shit.

The dude who sold a crapload of records, and for a few years had anyone affiliated with him hot as shit as well, got an (alleged) billion from Coca Cola, and then never counted.

I would say the money took away his hunger, but he does sound somewhat hungry on some joints. However, maybe it's not sincere. Like a lot of cats, once they started getting those checks, the motivation disappears, whether they are even conscious of it or not.

i was about to write paragraphs about it, but i decided against it. do i like songs, yes (especially off the massacre), but albums, LOL. he was always more about personality more so than music to me

dude got famous for making fun of Ja Rule, then became Ja Rule meets MC Hammer.

many gave them favorable reviews so I guess they were "good" (to them)

IMO his records tended to have all the depth of 2 Legit 2 Quit (the albums), w/none of the backlash until after the Assacre hit big and he bragged on it. big singles, multiple singles... but he basically Ja Ruled his way to the top.

edit: I guess a better example is 2Pac, but even Pac had a more diverse body of singles that hit

He didn't get famous because he clowned Ja Rule. It was a part of it, maybe, but to say that was the reason for his rise to the top is kinda silly.

He won because people connected with his records, because he had the right affiliations, and because he was marketed incredibly well to the masses.

I really don't think the Ja Rule thing was a significant factor, and gets overstated quite a bit. Perhaps it added to his cool factor, and allowed him to play the underdog card.

He will release music and garner some interest but the product will be largely forgettable.

Unfortunately for my man fitty after GRDT he let the money get to his head. Someone let me know when he comes out with another track like U Not Like Me.

long passed him bye