50 Is Hip-Hop

I hope these rap motherfuckers are taking notes. Now you can say what you want about Curtis, but not only is Sabrina’s baby boy a mastermind when it comes to beef, the G-Unit general is also HIP-HOP AS FUCK!

Yes we all know 50 perfected the art of war last week when he released Young Buck’s sobering phone call (was it just me or was that shit more shocking than Lil Wayne selling A Milli?). But for all of his non-musical exploits, 50’s Sincerely Yours, Southside mixtape is arguably one of the best of 2008. For those of you stuck under a rock, last week Fif took the airwaves with Hot 97’s Mister Cee and debuted 12 new tracks with him rhyming over old school hip-hop breaks. And then as soon as the hour-long radio show ended, 50 offered the tape as a free download on Thisis50.com.

Now the haters will hate, but this shit is just proof that there is still shit in hip-hop that just hasn’t been done yet. And you can’t say that Fif isn’t a true hip-hop head. Not only did his favorite rapper sing “ch-check out my melody,” but dude rhymed over seminal classics like “Heartbeat,” “Keep Rising to the Top,” and “Ring My Bell.” In addition to Curtis dropping verses at the top of each song, he also hosts the entire tape, hyping up each track in a Brucie B. type fashion (all while paying homage to Queens DJ legend Grandmaster Vic). And maybe this shit won’t mean a damn thing on the West Coast or in the South, but if ya’ll wanna know what NY’s streets were really like in the 80’s and 90’s, check “This is For You.” This is how Hov’s American Gangster was supposed to sound, musically it just depicts the time so much more accurately. 50 raps over Shalamar’s “This is For the Lover In You” and drops lines like “I move the rock like Odom in I.S. 8/I never had a jumpshot, just crack on a plate” (that’s the LA Laker’s Lamar Odom for ya’ll smart, dumb heads). On “I’m Rising to the Top,” Fifty claims the unthinkable when he blurts out that NYC will be changing the name of Queens’ Baisley Park to Curtis Jackson Park this September. Now for those who don’t know Baisley is where famed hustler Kenneth “Supreme” McGriff made his bones, McGriff is widely believed to the one who put the infamous hit out on 50, resulting in the rapper taking 9 shots. So if 50 is actually buying up parts of Preme’s hood, well that’s just flagrant as fuck. But of course all of this has to be verified.

With G-Unit’s T.O.S dropping July 1st, Fif does what he does with every release. He sent a few shots T.I.’s way and attempted to destroy Buck’s career. Still when it comes to making dope ass music, 50 doesn’t get nearly enough credit. Oh yeah that T.O.S. album… INSANE!--Rob the music editor