Before I Self Destruct [PA]

Performer: 50 Cent
Artist: Eminem; Ne-Yo; R. Kelly
Engineer: Mauricio "Veto" Iragorri; Mike Strange; Robert Reyes; Ky Miller; Ramon Rivas; Ruben Rivera; Lew Savage
Distributor: Universal Distribution

Notes: Audio Mixers: Dr. Dre; Ky Miller; Steve Baughman; Fabian Marasciullo. Recording information: Effigy Studios, Detroit, MI; Encore Studios, Burbank, CA; Music Factory Studios, West Hempstead, Long Island, NY; Pacifique Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Record One, Sherman Oaks, CA; Record Plant Studios, Los Angeles, CA; Studio @ The Palms, Las Vegas, NV; The Big House, Farmington, CT; The Frat House, Queens, NY. Photographers: Shareif Ziyadat; The Brothers Strauss. Released without the usual flurry of hype, Before I Self Destruct fulfills 50 Cent's contractual obligation to the Interscope label. It also doubles as a throwback album, returning the rapper to the hunger and hatred of his early mixtapes while skillfully recasting him as a wannabe upstart. That is, for the most part. The four radio-friendly bedroom numbers that conclude the album are out of place but fairly good to dime-piece beautiful, with the best being the Ne-Yo showcase "Baby by Me" ("Have a baby by me, baby/Be a millionaire"). As pleasing as these final numbers are, if you leave the room after the macho bruiser "I Got Swag" ("I'm infinitely special/Girl the Lord is gonna bless you/If you do what I tell you to do"), you'll return to a confusingly different album, one that's as glamorous but less vital. The monstrous run of tracks that leads up to this flash and polish can be summed up by 50's "This ain't Tha Carter/It's Sparta!," a witty, deceptive, and brutish line barked over a prime Dr. Dre beat during the great "Death to My Enemies." On the cut, the producer sounds like he's been digging on RZA, but the tension and dark-night feel he has created for "Psycho" is easily identifiable as Dre. Add an especially rapid 50 trading horror-show rhymes with Eminem and the G-Unit soldiers will testify that the Shady/Aftermath dream is still alive. While "So Disrespectful" is the perfect title for a song that shocks, stuns, and brings reminders of the gritty G-Unit Radio mixtape series at its best, the Rick Rock-produced "Stretch" is an even craftier balance of amoral and humorous as it references Plastic Man and Mr. Fantastic before explaining the profitable benefits of cutting cocaine. There are only three guest vocalists, and save a production credit for Havoc, the G-Unit posse is absent, and yet 50 is able to carry the album alone, sounding as inspired as he did on his Interscope debut. That album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', beats this one thanks to its proper balance and structure, but Before I Self Destruct is still a fantastic juggernaut of a 50 album if you exit early, and a very good one even if you don't. ~ David Jeffries

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.

Click Here for Shipping Options and Policies

Shipping or Dimension weight in pounds: 0.5