| Product Summary | | Label: A&m/geffen/interscope | | UPC: 00606949354428 | | Release Date: 2/6/2003 | | Buy.com Sku: 60588865 | | Item#: MTQFQP | | Buy.com Sales Rank: 25050 | Format:  CD |
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(P) 2003 Shady Records/Aftermath Records/Interscope Records
(C) 2003 Shady Records/Aftermath Records/Interscope Records
| | This album features 50 Cent's "Wanksta" single from the 8 Mile soundtrack. Get Rich or Die Trying also features "In Da Club," the first Dre-produced track from the upcoming Get Rich album.
Popular on the club scene for years, the 26-year-old native of Queens is aiming for the big time with the release of his first commercial album. For many in the music industry, Get Rich or Die Trying is one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums of the year.
"Even at their most nihilistic, these 16 songs resonate melodically, like Eminem's most haunting material." Blender
"The variety and talent this album offers is enough to recommend it to almost any rap fan." Stylus Magazine
| | Album Notes and Credits |
Notes & Personnel Info |  | Personnel includes: 50 Cent, Eminem, Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Nate Dogg, Lloyd Banks. | | Producers include: Dr. Dre, Eminem, John Freeman, Red Spyda, Terence Dudley. | | 50 Cent was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' was nominated for Best Rap Album. "In The Club" was nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and for Best Rap Song. | | This Limited version includes a bonus documentary DVD disc. | | Personnel includes: 50 Cent, Eminem, Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Nate Dogg, Lloyd Banks. | | Producers include: Dr. Dre, Eminem, John Freeman, Red Spyda, Terence Dudley. | | 50 Cent was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best New Artist. GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' was nominated for Best Rap Album. "In Da Club" was nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and for Best Rap Song. | | Personnel: Tracie Spencer (vocals); Mike Elizondo (guitar, keyboards); Ron Feemster (Fender Rhodes piano); Ruben Rivera, Luis Resto, Tom Coster (keyboards). | | Audio Mixers: Eminem; Steven King. | | Recording information: 54 Sound, Detroit, MI; Chung King Studio, NY; Encore Studios, Burbank, CA; Lobo Studios, Deerpark, NY; Teamwork Studios, Long Island, NY. | | Photographer: Sacha Waldman. | | Unknown Contributor Roles: Patrick Viala; Red Spyda. | | Provocative 2003 official debut from Queens gangsta-poet, includes anthemic #1 hit "In Da Club." | | Lacking the usual G-Unit complete package polish, the soundtrack to 50 Cent's big Hollywood debut is far from perfect, but this sometimes thrilling collection of prot?g?s and slick swagger from the big hustler himself is still worth considering. Since the film is a semi-biopic, it's surprising how non-personal and G-Unit pimping the soundtrack comes off, like Volume 14.5 of 50's G-Unit Radio mixtape series -- just without the interludes that could have helped this disjointed album flow better. Like the mixtapes, the G-Unit roster all get their showcases. Yayo's lackluster "Fake Love" finds the crew's infamous member dryly reading thug lyrics right off the page, while Olivia, Young Buck, and Lloyd Banks fare better with tracks that are hooky but ultimately filler. They fall victim to 50's tendency to throw his executive producer enthusiasm behind the new recruits, who are actually veterans of the game this time out. Mobb Deep have been eased into the G-Unit world with remixes and on mixtapes, but their tracks here are the best yet to come out of the relationship. The rickety beat behind "You a Shooter" suggests 50 is willing to take risks with these Queensbridge legends, while "Have a Party" is the tightest club track yet from the duo, with a perfect Nate Dogg appearance to boot. M.O.P. also get proper handling as 50 provides the hook, then steps aside to let the high-energy crew fly off the handle. As far as the tracks from 50 Cent himself, "Window Shopper" will sit nicely next to "In da Club" and "Candy Shop" on the next greatest-hits compilation, while "Hustlers Ambition" and "What If" are clever numbers that recall the looser moments of his debut, although the latter's AZ diss is a head scratcher and probably a big favor for the under-talked-about rapper. The curveball track that really makes the set interesting is the cold-to-the-bone "I Don't Know Officer" with 50, Banks, Prodigy, Mobb Deep, and surprisingly, Mase all delivering a stark hood tale of no snitching. That the album doesn't even seem aware it's attached to a film is fine, and the "one or two tracks too long" problem is almost a given by now, but this all-over-the-place soundtrack contains enough heat to make it worthwhile for the man's huge fan base. ~ David Jeffries | | Probably the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade, most likely since Snoop's Doggystyle (1993) or perhaps Nas' Illmatic (1994), 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin' certainly arrived amid massive expectations. In fact, the expectations were so massive that they overshadowed the music itself -- 50 becoming more of a phenomenon than simply a rapper -- so massive that you had to be skeptical, particularly given the marketing-savvy nature of the rap world. Even so, Get Rich is indeed an impressive debut, not quite on the level of such landmark debuts as the aforementioned ones by Snoop or Nas -- or those by Biggie, Wu-Tang, or DMX either -- but impressive nonetheless, definitely ushering in 50 as one of the truly eminent rappers of his era. The thing, though, is that 50 isn't exactly a rookie, and it's debatable as to whether or not Get Rich can be considered a true debut (see the unreleased Power of the Dollar [1999] and the Guess Who's Back? compilation [2002]). That debate aside, however, Get Rich plays like a blueprint rap debut should: there's a tense, suspenseful intro ("What Up Gangsta"), an ethos-establishing tag-team spar with Eminem ("Patiently Waiting"), a street-cred appeal ("Many Men [Wish Death]"), a tailor-made mass-market good-time single ("In da Club"), a multifaceted tread through somber ghetto drama (from "High All the Time" to "Gotta Make It to Heaven"), and finally three bonus tracks that reprise 50's previously released hits ("Wanksta," "U Not Like Me," "Life's on the Line") -- in that precise order. In sum, Get Rich is an incredibly calculated album, albeit an amazing one. After all, when co-executive producer Eminem raps, "Take some Big and some Pac/And you mix them up in a pot/Sprinkle a little Big L on top/What the f*ck do you got?" you know the answer. Give Em (who produces two tracks) and Dr. Dre (who does four) credit for laying out the red carpet here, and also give 50 credit for reveling brilliantly in his much-documented mystique -- from his gun fetish to his witty swagger, 50 has the makings of a street legend, and it's no secret. And though he very well could be the rightful successor to the Biggie-Jigga-Nas triptych, Get Rich isn't quite the masterpiece 50 seems capable of, impressive or not. But until he drops that truly jaw-dropping album -- or falls victim to his own hubris -- this will certainly do. ~ Jason Birchmeier | | With its inclusion on the mega-successful 8 MILE soundtrack, 50 Cent's "Wanksta" blew up in late 2002, calling out the hypocrisies of wannabe gangstas who boast of criminal exploits that exist only in their imaginations. If anyone has the right to speak it's 50 Cent; he made his mark in the streets (not to mention newspapers) long before Eminem inked the Queens rapper to his Shady Records. In between the occasional single and album, 50 Cent has been involved in many notorious hip-hop confrontations. The too-aptly titled GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' (which includes "Wanksta") introduces his brash, talk-it-like-he-walks-it rap style to the world at large. | | 50 Cent blithely cites the Bible in "Many Men (Wish Death)" while crowing about the rival who famously shot him in 2000 only to be shot himself ("cuz he got hit like I got hit and he ain't...breathin'"). From that slice of ultra-reality, he shifts to the dance-pop anthem "In Da Club." Throughout GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN', 50 Cent presents a strikingly original, raw worldview, even by the well-traveled genre's bleak and violent standards. | | Though critics may disagree about the success of superstar rapper 50 Cent's foray into acting, few would question his skills when it comes to supplying the accompanying soundtrack. GET RICH OR DIE TRYING is packed with the lyrical honesty, gritty immediacy, and plain-spoken realism that originally endeared 50 and G-Unit to their legion of fans. The film in question is a semi-autobiographical story of a drug dealer turned MC, and most of the tracks here are of a piece, addressing either the desperate struggle for ghetto survival ("Hustler's Ambition," Young Buck's "Don't Need No Help") or the cultural difficulties that can accompany a quick rise from dire poverty to fame and fortune ("Talk About Me," Tony Yayo's "Fake Love"). Musically, many of the songs are influenced by classic 1970's and '80's R&B, whether it's the go-go-style synthesizers of "We Both Think Alike" or c |
Engineer: Carlisle Young; Justin Bendo; Sean Blaze; Ted Wohlsen; Tom Rounds; Sha Money XL |
Musical Guests | | Eminem | | Nate Dogg | | Young Buck | | Tony Yayo | | Lloyd Banks |
| | Artist Overview | | Hailing from Queens, New York, rapper 50 Cent had already garnered a grass-roots reputation as one of the hottest MCs around when he was tapped in the early 2000s by hip-hop golden boy Eminem for inclusion on the soundtrack to his film 8 MILE and a place of his own on the Detroit rapper's Shady label. The combination of 50 Cent's hard-edged rhyming skills, infamy due to high-profile trouble with the law, and Eminem's sponsorship gave 50 Cent all the exposure a rapper could ask for, resulting in a huge single ("Wanksta") in 2002 and a Number One album the following year. |
| | Associated Artists and Works |
| | Technical Info | | Release Date : 02/04/2003 | | Original Release Date : 2003 | | Catalog ID : 493544 | | Label : Aftermath | | Number of Discs : 1 | | Studio/Live : Studio | | Mono/Stereo : Stereo | | SPAR Code : n/a | | UPC : 00606949354428 |
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| | Professional Reviews | | Rolling Stone (No. 988, p.118)
- 3.5 out of 5 stars - "...[A]nother state-of-the-art installment of the Fiddy story....The tracks are his creamiest..."Rolling Stone (12/25/03, p.104)
- Included in Rolling Stone's "50 Best Albums of 2003" Rolling Stone (3/6/03, p.68)
- 4 stars out of 5 - "...A great record....Dark synth grooves, buzzy keyboards and a persistently funky bounce..." Entertainment Weekly (12/26/03, p.145)
- "In Da Club" ranked #14 in Entertainment Weekly's 2003 "Records of the Year" Entertainment Weekly (2/21/03, pp.148-9)
- "...50 Cent may end up the Goliath he wants to be..." - Rating: B Q (01/01/04, p.83)
- Ranked #6 in Q's "The 50 Best Albums of 2003" - "[H]ip hop's man of the year, no contest." Uncut (01/04, pp.84-7)
- Ranked #35 in Uncut's "Albums Of The Year 2003" Uncut (5/03, p.109)
- 3 stars out of 5 - "...[An] unapologetic throwback to straight-assed songs about guns, girls and drugs..." |
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