Jan 14, 2016

I would argue that he kind of tried trend hopping by featuring neyo and justin timberlake on his singles.. but after Curtis I'd say theres was no chance for BISD to have any mainstream appeal

 

Jan 14, 2016

Irrelevant is selling 690k first week?

 

Jan 14, 2016

Eh, it was before that though. 2003-2007 is a solid run, IMO. He signed with Shady pretty close to 2003.

 

Jan 14, 2016

He went back to the gangsta style in 09 after the Curtis backlash. Unfortunately BISD leaked a month early and even though it went gold the sales weren't too great. After that 50 kinda took a break from music to focus on his business ventures. Hasn't really been able to step back in since.

 

Jan 14, 2016

I remember 2007. Curtis was like a summer blockbuster movie that nobody remembered. Great sales, he certainly wasn't irrelevant, but...it was weird, how silent those 690k fans were three weeks later.

 

Jan 14, 2016

He was buzzing af before the deal anyway. There was a bidding war for him. His run although short is still very respectable. He had so many hits.

 

Jan 14, 2016

Well compared to how big GRODT and even The Massacre was, yea. That whole Curtis/Graduation thing is pretty much when rap switched from 50 to Kanye.

 

Jan 14, 2016

Yeah and that's why 50 fell off. No other factors. It's really as simple as that.

 

Jan 14, 2016

It basically signalled the end for gangsta rap.

 

Jan 14, 2016

If I remember correctly, nobody really gave a f--- about him until he survived the shooting. His label was dropping him as he was on his deathbed.

 

Jan 14, 2016

I feel like gangster rap wasn't even huge at the time. Ringtone rap, and the pre-swag but almost swag bling rap, with guys like Wayne, and music videos always featuring nice cars, lmao. Guess things haven't changed, but it felt different.

 

Jan 14, 2016

he tried, but he clearly didn't give it his all when he's got songs like Death To My Enemies, Crime Wave, Psycho etc. on the same album

he probably would've prefered to stay in the spotlight more so than he did, but clearly wasn't willing to give up his sound/style fully for that, and he didn't really have a reason to go through with that all the way considering he's rich as f--- and can do whatever he wants

 

Jan 14, 2016

Yeah and he recovered so well. He was blackballed entirely by the time he was shot.

He promoted himself through the mixtape circuit. He was hot property and that's why they paid him a mill to sign.

 

Jan 14, 2016

Yeah, he had a little hype in New York, but I doubt we'd be talking about him if he didn't take 9 bullets.

 

Jan 14, 2016

Don't dismiss 50 as a gimmick rapper. Take those views back to mu. Sure it helped but that's not the only reason.

'A little hype in NY' is a crazy a--- statement to make.

 

Jan 14, 2016

No it isn't, lol. No hate on 50, but he didn't have the juice like that, as far as I know. He just didn't have the connections, until on his deathbed, he linked up with the right people to push his sound beyond New York.

 

Jan 14, 2016

No he didn't. He had literally no connections. The industry had completely blackballed him. This was after being shot.

Gtfo with this revisionist history.

 

Jan 14, 2016

That's exactly what I'm saying, you meatwad.



He was on peoples radar before he was almost murdered, but when he pulled through, the connections that said "maybe" all of a sudden said yes. Don't argue for the sake of arguing. Jesus.

 

Jan 14, 2016

Nope. After he got shot he got dropped from Columbia. No one wanted to work with him after that. This happened AFTER not BEFORE he got shot.

 

Jan 14, 2016

And interestingly enough, right after that, Eminem saw one of his tracks and a couple months later, picked him up.