S. Samuel
Rapper 50 Cent and undefeated boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr. recently analyzed the current state of hip-hop and why consumers have been lied to by artists.
50 believes hip-hop, as of late, has taken a turn for the worse.
“It’ll just make room for you to impact when [the hardcore] comes back,” 50 assessed. “No one told the world to enjoy that [softer] music temporarily. I think a big portion of why people didn’t want to hear the aggressive content is because the people conveying them were lying.” (MTV)
Mayweather, who has announced a joint music project with 50, believes some artists undergo image-changing moves to gain fame.
“You got rappers in today’s time, they get a small advance from their record label, get a bunch of tattoos, a few piercings on their face, go to jail for 10 or 20 days, [then] they killers,” Mayweather weighed in. “Next time out, they rock stars. I think rap is crazy, but it’s still very creative.” (MTV)
Recently, 50 publicly bashed Diddy for his Last Train to Paris records.
“His music sucks,” 50 said in an interview referring to Puff. “It’s bad. He’s not an artist anyway, so it doesn’t really matter. When you think about it, is he a rapper? Because he says he doesn’t write rhymes, he writes checks. Like the same things that I would say are wrong with a Rick Ross project, it’s not authenticity to what he’s doing. Now he’s a singer? I think that’s Kanye West‘s part. Kanye’s an artist, if he’s making those artistic choices — it’s different. Puff is just buying a record and singing. Nobody’s buying [Last Train to Paris.] He even said it himself that he doesn’t expect it to sell, he doesn’t care about the sales, he’s just using it as a promotional tool and standing next to these fools is a promotional tool too. Why does Rick Ross remind him of Biggie? Any Biggie fan objects to that. So how can he say that?” (Jam N 94.5)
Aside from analyzing the rap game, 50 is currently putting together his upcoming Black Magic album.
He calls the album a whole new sound for him, and describes it as “more soulful” and “more mature” than his past work. For inspiration, he says he’s listening to a mix he made of some of his favorite artists’ best songs, including 2Pac and the Notorious B.I.G. “I listen to those records to create expectations,” says 50, who turns 35 in July. “It creates a level to me, within myself, of how good the record has to be before I’m ready to launch it.” (Detroit Free Press)
Check out a recent 50 Cent interview below:
