50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin recently reached its 20th anniversary. The album transformed Fif from a buzzing street rapper from Queens, NY to a bonafide star with the backing of Eminem and Dr. Dre. Besides the production itself, Fif created infectious records through a rap-sing delivery on records without having to compromise his bars. One song that captured this method at its best is “21 Questions.” The Nate Dogg-assisted banger showcased another side to 50 Cent beyond his rugged gangster rap persona.
The funny thing about the song is that Fif had to fight to have it on his debut album. He previously explained that Dr. Dre didn’t want to include it on Get Rich Or Die Tryin. Dre seemingly hoped Fif would follow the blueprint set by N.W.A. “He said, ‘I don’t know why you want it?’ Why I wanted the record,” he explained to Big Boy. “I’m like, ‘Damn, man, I gotta do all these muthafuckin’ push-ups… I want the girls to like me.”
50 Cent On “21 Questions”: “This Is Gonna Be Good For My Love Life!”
50 Cent recently sat down with Ari Melber where he further discussed his decision to include “21 Questions” on his debut album. Similar to what he said to Big Boy, he wasn’t trying to pursue the path that Dr. Dre hoped he would head on. “... I wanted ladies to feel like maybe they could fix me, and I had done so many push-ups,” Fif told Melber with a grin. “So I felt like, ‘This is gonna be good for my love life!’ I’m dead serious.”
It seems that it helped him out, considering that he ended up dating Vivica A. Fox and allegedly had a fling with Meagan Good in the years that followed. “I thought that they would see some way that they could possibly fix me or understand me in a different way,” he continued. “And their favorite line on the song was, ‘I love you like a fat kid loves cake.’ When I wrote it, I was thinking, I love you, but too much of you is no good for me. Like a fat kid loves cake.” Check the interview above.
