50 Cent loves to flex on his haters online, even when it isn't in the one-on-one context his beefs usually exist in. Earlier this week, he took a more general stance against his naysayers by refuting a common hip-hop culture criticism against him: Get Rich Or Die Tryin' is his only good album.
Many 50 fans disagree, including the man himself. On Thursday (February 12), he took to Instagram to share the achievement that his 2007 album Curtis recently cinched. It surpassed one billion streams on Spotify, which is a big win in the G-Unit mogul's eyes. More than that, it's an indicator that this "one good album" criticism may be less rooted in "objective" truth than some fans would suggest.
"I thought I only had one good album," he captioned his post. "which one of your albums got a billion streams that ain’t good? because l know you got bars. LOL."
Of course, no one's denying the superior classic status of GRODT in the Fif studio discography. But many fans are also really into his earlier mixtapes, so it's not always an undisputed conversation.
When Did 50 Cent's Curtis Come Out?
For those unaware, this LP came out on September 11 of 2007. This date is significant because of 50 Cent's Curtis competing with another hip-hop giant. On that same day, Kanye West released his album Graduation.
They actually played into the sales war between them, with 50 promising (and later retracting pre-release) that he wouldn't release solo studio albums if Ye came out on top. The Chicago artist did emerge victorious, with 957K in first week sales beating Fif's 691K. It was an amazing day for hip-hop and a historically significant indicator of hip-hop culture's shifting royalty.
These days, 50 Cent's aversion to making new music has nothing to do with sales, quality, or a lack of passion. He's just busy focusing on other entertainment endeavors that speak more closely to his status, his ability to generate new interest, and his evolution as a mogul.
Do fans agree with this assessment about the "one good album" debate? Clearly, not all of them do, as this inspired renewed conversations around this catalog.
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