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Get Rich or Die Tryin' is the debut studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on February 6, 2003, by Aftermath Entertainment, under a joint venture with Shady Records, and distributed by Interscope Records. Its initially planned release was pushed seven days ahead due to heavy bootlegging and Internet leakage. The album was produced by Dr. Dre and Eminem, and featured guest appearances from Eminem and G-Unit associates Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.
The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 872,000 copies in its first week. It generated four singles, including the number one hits "In da Club" and "21 Questions", and the international hit "P.I.M.P." By 2016, Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold 8.4 million copies in the United States and is certified 6× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Upon its release, the album received favorable reviews from most music critics and was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, losing to OutKast's Speakerboxxx/The Love Below at the 46th Grammy Awards. It ranked number 37 on Rolling Stone's list of best albums of the 2000s.
User Album Review
Get Rich Or Die Trying is boldly tipped to be a hip-hop classic. This 26 year old New Yorker 50 Cent aka Curtis Jackson, the biggest new hip-hop star of 2003, a ghetto celebrity, ex-crack dealer who turned to hip-hop as a way out of a gangstas fate: prison or death. He sold 2.1 million copies of his dark debut album in the first three weeks of its release (on Eminem's label) and he is already being compared to posthumous legends Tupac and the Notorious BIG.
The single "In Da Club" a spectacular party anthem produced by Dr Dre,highlights 50 Cent's ability to twist his words effortlessly. "Lifes on the Line" and "Many Men (Wish Death)" delve into the ghetto morality where life is a cheap commodity and the rule of law is drugs, gangs, guns and ultimately death. 50 Cent was famously shot 9 times and as he muses without irony, "death has to be easy as life is hard."
The surprise on the album is "21 Questions" which shows that even a gangsta has a heart. The need for emotional support results in the repetitive question "would you love me if I was down and out?" In an environment where ones fortunes could be anything from working in a burger joint, prison or worse - the need for a woman who is there is a "blessin"
Get Rich or Die Tryin is the antithesis to the pop looped chart friendly sound of mainstream hip hop and offers listeners a fresh innovative approach. This album defines the urban black experience in 2003 in the same way that Curtis Mayfield's "We People who are darker than Blue" did in the 1970s.
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