Published: Tuesday - September 23, 2008
Words by Carl Lamarre
September 11th. The date itself speaks volumes. The date echoes through deaf eyes simply because of the story behind it. I already embarked on the traumatic effects of 9/11 in a recent editorial, but I only revealed half the story. You see on September 11th, 2007, the man -- notorious for sporting his Teflon and proving to be immortal -- encountered a dose of death. The vile taste of losing, and inferiority has seeped through the cracks and into the skin of Curtis "Interscope" Jackson. For once, everybody deemed 50 as a loser. A dude whose mascot looks like an animal graham cracker, duct taped the pompous bully's mouth into submission. The Score: Kanye 957,000 records sold, and 50 Cent 691,000 records sold. Kanye's Graduation had on an oblivious 50 Cent mumbling to Interscope.
Now here we are again. New Year, New Day. We find ourselves in familiar territory. Only this time, the stakes are even higher. On December 9th, 50 Cent will release his fourth and rumored final album on Interscope, Before I Self-Destruct, while on December 16th, Kanye West will be dropping 808s And Heartbreak. We've seen these two spar, and Kanye's material proved to be the deciding blow. As these two prep for round 2, something is telling me 5-0 will be walking away victorious.
Let's be objective. Let's please take a second to remove all the hatred we have against 50. Forget about the singing, and him gyrating on "Candy Shop." Forget about him bantering his opponents with childish taunts. Let's remember who provided us with that undeniable bop that had us leaning when we were ready to parallel park. Let's remember who provided us with "What Up Gangsta," and the thugs ode "Many Men." Let's also remember the man who had the Tri-State area on smash with "I Get Money." I love how people are quick to throw salt, when their playlists is dedicated to the man who yells "G-Unit" in their headphones. What I'm saying is 50 has, is, and will always provide you with the constant hits. Amid all the controversy surrounding the Unit, 50 is the crew's well-rounded leader. For my people who are literate, do me a favor, and read back the title to yourselves; Before I Self-Destruct. Damn, even the title is giving me with goosebumps. What I'm saying is, 50 is going to come harder than Ray J did on Kim.
I love Kanye. I love all of his albums with a passion. As much as I'm repping 50 in this piece, I'll still stand up and rep 'Ye when my boys badger me about "The Massacre being a better album than College Dropout." Truth of the matter is, Kanye has been bullsh**ting. Let's cut off all the BS, and get into the meat and potatoes. Kanye's verse on "Swagger Like Us" was horrendous. You'd think 'Ye would come harder, especially with who was being featured on the record. I'll admit, Kanye's best verse came from "Put On." I personally think his sixteen deserves an honorable mention for best verse in '08. Otherwise, 'Ye has been abusing the voice vocoder to the ninth power. Tracks like "Go Hard," "Swagger Like Us," and "Lollipop (Remix)" finds Kanye crooning to the T-Pain like device horribly. Now, I will not completely get at Kanye for the voice vocoder because even 50 dabbled with it a couple times. The main difference was 50 merked those records he actually used the device on. "Rider Pt 2" was the anthem for crews of all creeds, and race. Even his T-Pain rendition on "Can't Believe It" showcased his witty, and playful side.
What I'm saying is, I find it hard to believe that 50 will falter on his album. Rumors have swirled up about a possible collab with Jadakiss, and this could only up the ante for the battle. After a devastating turnout for his crew's album Terminate On Sight, Fif has said it's about time to "reinvent the wheel" as he suggests that his time to shine is now. The flow that f***ed up Jeffery's career, will be back and in rare form. Kanye, with all due respect kid, eat your heart out, because Curtis will be bringing heat this Christmas.
This editorial is not necessarily the views of BallerStatus.com or staff. It's an opinion piece by one of our staff.
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