24th of November. That was the original release date of Fiddy's 4th album until the whole thing was leaked on 27th October. 'Before I Self Destruct' sees 50 focussing on his gangster personality again rather than reeling out 7 radio hits off the same album.
50 gets straight into the gun talk on the grimy 'The Invitation'. Some of the very first bars, he looks back to his well documented 9-bullet-shooting-incident: "I got popped up, cried til my eyes turned red/told myself in the mirror n***a you ain't dead". The hook re-affirms the gangster is back: "You want some?!/come get some/n***a it's murder 1 when I toss my gun". Ty Fyffe's wavy beat goes almost unnoticed as you find yourself drawn into the lyrics as 50 raps as if in conversation - using "you" a lot, particular in the second verse.
However, the album then takes a step down with 'Then Days Went By'. The beat makes it sound like a rip off of Rick Ross' 'Mafia Music' as well as conforming to the usual "n***a's get hit... n***a's get rich" which is usually associated with rappers like 50.
Relatively soon after however, the album does pick up for a few minutes at least. 'So Disrespectful' is probably my favourite song on the album, mainly because 50 does what he does bst; lays into other rappers and just being plain ol' disrespectful. Over a Dr. Dre-esque hard hitting piano by Tha Bizness Fiddy starts off with Jay-Z: 'Jay's a big man, he's too big to respond/i'm a big dick, you know, the one everybody on", followed shortly after by The Game: "Come on Game, you will never be my equal/your homies shoot doors, my n***a's shoot people" and then the threatening hook accompanied by gun shots, comes in. Next up in the firing line, Young Buck: "His CD's didn't sell like his CD's, man that n***a blew all his chips on them breezies.mad cause the world won't treat him like Weezy". For hardcore 50 Cent fans, I would imagine this would be up there with their favourites too due to him going at his enemies... To be honest though, it wouldn't be a 50 Cent album without a diss track on it, would it?
In 'Psycho', Fiddy is accompanied by Eminem and the two just describe how 'razy' and 'psychotic' they are over screachy Dr. Dre production. A bit same-ol' same-ol' to be frank.
Moving on to the albums expected 5th single 'Get It Hot'. I'm sorry, this is just cheating. It just sounds like a remix of 'I Get Money'. A very similar synthy leadline accompanied with what sounds like the exact same drum pattern with a verysimple and generic Jadakiss sample, literally just saying "I get it hot hot hot hot, I get it get it get it hot hot hot hot hot". Seriously poor, talk about a lack of originality! It's about as original as a Plies song!
However, on he bright side, the albums 4th single 'Baby By Me' featuring R&B superstar Ne-Yo, I can really vibe to. The production from Polow Da Don helps make it a really catchy song and one for the ladies with bell jingles plus a constant drum pattern with a lot of wooden taps in there. It may be an obvious attempt to get radio play, but it will definitely work especially with the smooth hook laid down by Ne-Yo added to the highly infectious line - "Have a baby by me baby, be a mi'ionaire" - sampled from 50's own 'I Get Money'. Definitely has the potential to be a big record, and likely to be a track you hear about 1000 times on the radio on the same night.
From one positive to another, from one radio track to another. I wouldn't usually really like the radio cuts, but for some reason, on this album, I feel they are the tracks that work the best. 'Do You Think About Me' is a heartfelt but also angry (in a calm way) track where 50 speaks on his son and his son's mother, their relationship and asking the - one would assume - rhetorical question 'Do you think about me?" whilst also dissing her by claiming she only wants the money: "She don't care about me/she just want some cash/I'm thinkin' damn, girl we used to be friends/how this shit become all about ends?"
I couldn't personally make my mind up about 'Ok, You're Right' until I thought about it in a technical way. The production is typical Dr. Dre - hard hitting piano, but uncharacteristic for the D.R.E., it has a very generic feel to it and is constant almost the whole way through. On the flipside though, if you have this banging out your headphones when walking down the street, you feel a certain swagger overtakes you and you feel like Goliath compared to all the David's on the block. There is something about the hook that I do like, the fact that it has a flow to it that akes you want to sing/rap along, although what does annoy me in parts (particularly the hook), 50 sounds like he is trying to do a Shawty Lo impression! NOT GOOD! Slurring words in the hook and adding a slight whisper, as if to impersonate rappers from the ATL.
On the whole, I wasn't very impressed with the album. I feel it's messy and 50 doesn't know where his priorities lie in his music plus unstereotypically sloppy production from Dr. Dre & Mark Batson in places. The pars of the album I like, I really like and could listen to allday, but the idea of a full album is to be able to listen to the whole thing without having to skip a track. A disappointment for sure!
HIGHLIGHTS:
'Do You Think About Me'
'Baby By Me'
'Gangsta's Delight'
'So Disrespectful'
'The Invitation'
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