50 Cent talks about the changes in the industry since his debut album, and Eminem's special ability to be both a great battle rapper, and a songwriter.
50 Cent celebrated the 10th anniversary of his debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin' a few months back. The album made a huge impact on the charts, elling over 13 Million copies, making it one of the best selling records of the decade. As the music industry has slowed since then, 50 has yet to come close to his initial sales, and in a recent interview spoke about his acceptance that he will never sell such a large amount of albums again.
âNewsflash, Iâll never sell 13 million records again,â 50 admitted. âIâll never sell 10 million records again. I donât think anybodyâs gonna do it. Itâs a different business. Itâs a different thing and Iâm cool with that. Iâm making music because I love it and itâs why Iâm here. Thereâs nothing that can actually compare when itâs right. What it feels like when itâs right. When the music is just dead right and itâs like âwooâ that energy thatâs thereâ¦thatâs some special kind of high that you get addicted to and youâll chase it for the rest of your actual career.â
Fif then went on to speak about Eminem's ability to be both a great battle rapper, and a competent songwriter, and how his presence has contributed to rap becoming pop music. âI think the best rappers are like battling each other. They come up with the wittiest linesâ[the] coolest ways to insult a person you ever heard in your life,â he explained. âBut they canât write a song to save they lifeâ¦Em is one of the guys from that platform that made it to that point. [Heâs] that strong of a writer. He means more to music culture than people give him credit for. Because Hip Hop culture is a black art form, itâs a black music. When they have a figure or you have someone thatâs from a different ethnicity come in and he does it as well, if not better than everybody in itâit loses its color. And thatâs why Hip Hop music is now Pop musicâ¦You gotta be careful or youâll get your ass handed to you on a track man. Heâll get to you.â
50's Street King Immortal is due out later this year. Check out the full interview below.