Curtis

As solid as a rock

Curtis Jackson, better known as 50 Cent, has absolutely unique talent to hold media attention. He can treat information like nobody else and always turns the power of mass media to his advantage. Whichever way you may look at it, two albums, even extra strong ones, are not that much to become a living legend of Hip Hop. But 50 Cent managed to become it. His debut disc Get Rich Or Die Tryin' killed everything moving in 2003 leaving the rest of genre's representatives with pathetic remains left on devastated Hip Hop market. Indeed, Get Rich Or Die Tryin' is an excellent album but the media stir created about it was more than just serious too. All Music Guide observed it at once: "probably the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade". But these were only first steps of 50 Cent. The success of his second album Massacre surpassed even the boldest expectations. It sold 1,14 million copies in the first four days and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for six weeks. 50 Cent was simply everywhere: radio, television, magazines, advertisement and event movie industry. In the end, the circumstances became such that it doesn't really matter how often 50 Cent releases records, it can hardly affect his career, today his status of a Hip-Hop star is as solid as a rock and he can easily allow himself a long-lasting vacation. But 50 Cent is not that kind of a person. His new album Cutis is already assaulting charts and most likely will become biggest selling rap album of the current year again.

A strategically considered record

The main difference between super star and any other performer lies in that fact that super star simply cannot record a filler album, at least when the matter concerns official discography. Therefore all doubts about Curtis's quality must be rejected at once. Just like 50 Cent's any previous album Curtis is a strategically considered record. It appeals to the masses but at the same time manages to sidestep a whole bunch of mainstream traps. Everything starts with a sampled dialogue from a British gangsta movie, which stets a gloomy, criminal tone for the album's first tracks. Evident from the song titles My Gun, Man Down and I'll Still Kill 50 Cent tries to reproduce the atmosphere of Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. He raps steadily, confidently and at times aggressively against dark arrangements and unhurried beat. Everything looks more than just convincing. In particular, My Gun is not only one of the best songs of the album but in 50 Cent's entire discography. And Akon's collaboration on I'll Still Kill turned out to be his most successful attempt since Konvicted.

A mixture of power and tunefulness

However, 50 Cent has to be mainstream too. Therefore the album features a whole set of more pop oriented songs like Amusement Park, Ayo Technology with Justin Timberlake or follow My Lead with Robin Thicke. These are mostly love or hate songs. It is hard to tell how they will fit in with this or that listener but they still have good potential. Peep Show is probably the most exemplifying track in this category. It sounds more head nodding than extra soft Follow My Lead for instance but not as hard as the songs from the first half of the album. If it will strike you than it's going to keep on striking for a long time but if not than don't try to find something special in it. Finally, 50 Cent gets back to his natural style by the end of the album. He finds a right balance between Hip Hop power and tunefulness on All Of Me – a track, which was perfectly performed with Mary J. Blige. The conclusion about 50 Cent's new album may be as follows: Curtis is definitely a solid record. It probably has some not quite typical for 50 Cent moments but overall his fans will be pleased. Besides, diehard fans are not the only ones who may appreciate this album; those who never had some special liking for 50 Cent may look at him from another viewpoint. Curtis can be hardly called a classic Hip-Hop album but it is just that type of records, which may linger in your media player for more time than you could expect.