50 Cent — The Massacre

It’s ironic (to say the least) how something as pitiful as the situation in ‘da hoods’ has become a fashionstatement. Under guise of ‘keepin’ it real’ rappers like The Game (with certified villain looks to compete with 50, and calling his album The Documentary to feign realism) and 50 Cent claim to play what they call ‘the game’. Let’s entertain ‘dem crackaz’ with how the black peoples in the projects are doomed to play their role in the ‘War On Drugs’ under a shiney and glorious exterior of phat rimz and booty-shakin’ hoes.

Whether that’s a good thing is arguable in itself, but the way the press is gullable for every media stunt set up by these playas, like the recent beef between The Game and 50 Cent that ‘coincidentaly’ happens at the time of the release of 50’s latest joint, is even more questionable to me. And the funny thing is that it’s all good now between the two. Yeah right. Still: it works! The album sold a million copies in the first four days and three tracks are in the top 5 of Billboard! And these were the people complaining about how their sales suffered from downloading?

The fact that nihilistic music is made is no problem to me, I love black metal for instance. You can’t say something like Khanate is very uplifting either. Gangstarap, to me, fits in the same picture, but then with a funky groove. Dark atmospheres, brooding with danger. Not exactly a documentary though, and a rapper like Paris proves that you can have the same effect with more constructive (wouldn’t say positive) lyrics although his beats aren’t as phat as the ones found here. The popularity of something as bleak and negative as the situation in the projects worries me more than the fact that it’s made, it’s something that’s always there, but that you can exploit it as profitable as it’s done now is more disgusting even. These guys gladly play Da Nigga You Love To Hate as Ice Cube once put it back in the day, when gangstarap still was 'keeping it real'. The cynical approach would be that apparently white people like to be entertained by Afro-American crooks and the black people gladly pimp their deplorable situation for personal gain. I believe that with their antics they are catering a game that is not theirs, but that of the Neo-Cons and those are not their friends, I’m afraid.

But there’s music too. I liked his debut Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, but I was sceptical about this release. We got the solo-albums by Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, the groupeffort by G-Unit and recently The Game. The quality varied and none of them were as good as 50’s debut. The Massacre gives the impression that the creativity is still an everflowing stream with its almost 80 minutes (and of course a bonus DVD). The first half of the album surprised me positively: the atmosphere on several tracks is dark and can measure up to the best material on the first album.

Of all G-Unit soldiers I still like his flow best, so that’s ‘strike 1’ in my book. Of course many producers are hired and generally I can’t complain about most of their beats. I even have to admit that Eminem comes up with some badass beats although my antipathy against the man is growing stronger every time I hear Toy Soldiers (apart from sampling a despicable track it’s hypocrisy to the max as well, given the aforementioned publicity stunt of 50 and The Game). Funny enough, the track called My Toy Soldier on this album is a great production. Later on we get more mellow and some party joints which don’t fit 50 too well, I think.

Damn, I like this album. The only negative side, apart from what I explained in the first three paragraphs, is that it’s a bit too long. I think there’s a lot happening productionwise that’s as ‘progressive’ as acknowledged ‘beardpluckers hiphop’ like Dizzee Rascal, N.E.R.D. or the Anticon-roster, if only you can look thru the whole pose (that, with the video of Candy Shop in mind, is getting more ridiculous everyday) or the horrible sleevedesign. The synthfunk sometimes has a drama of a cinematic nature which fits the gangsta-stories perfectly. As long as you keep in mind it’s not ‘real’ it’s a mighty fine album again, but one thing it shares with ‘reality’ is that lasts a bit too long (like fantasies tend to be too short).