S. Samuel
G-Unit leader 50 Cent is considering shelving his upcoming Black Magic album and considering a new direction for his next solo project.
50 said a majority of Black Magic was recorded while touring overseas earlier this year.
“I’ve written the album, Black Magic, but I’m not sure if it’ll be my next album,” 50 said in an interview. “Since I’ve made it back to America, after recording in the UK and different territories while I was on the road, I started writing material that don’t quite fit that concept, that album. Black Magic had a specific vibe to it, a different style of music and I was playing with different song structures, music from different genres like rock music — since I got back, I’ve been writing some things that don’t quite fit that because so many producers were accumulating material to send me more ideas so when I got back, I was kinda bombarded with a whole lot of production. To give you an example, Eminem‘s Recovery album. He had Relapse and Relapse 2 and I recorded for him on part two but because I was on tour with him during Recovery, we didn’t get a chance to work together on that album but he re-wrote the album.” (Rolling Stone Brasil)
Last month, 50 said R&B artists Marvin Gaye and Curtis Mayfield inspired Black Magic.
“It’s still got a soulful vibe to it and that’s why I called it Black Magic. I had some Marvin Gaye-inspired stuff, some things that content-wise would feel like something Curtis Mayfield would do from my perspective, and just the choices of how the cadences on the records were like performance music that they did in the past. It feels brand new. If I didn’t tell you it was inspired by that, you wouldn’t know that I got it from that. I didn’t say the same things that they said; it’s just my perspective on what they offered.” (Rap-Up)
Recently, 50 revealed he was going to take a more mature approach to Black Magic.
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)
In March, 50 said he would apply rap lyrics to music outside of his “safety zone” with the new record.
“My Black Magic album, I’ve been listening to a lot of different kinds of music. I just want to create something that’s outta the box,” 50 told radio host Tim Westwood. “It ain’t the same style, same kinda music. I’m using different song formats. I’ll write a rap song in a sequence of a different kind of record…To write it in a different format, instead of writing it the way the traditional rap record is written, it’s to experiment with different things. It’s still hip-hop music, still 50 Cent content, it’s just written in a different way…” (“Tim Westwood TV”)
Check out 50 Cent’s interview down below:
