50 Cent - War Angel LP

When I first heard 50 Cent's music about 10 years ago he was a witty street kid from South Jamaica Queens who was desperately trying to break into the rap game. He was a hungry, versatile and skilled MC that created a classic, Hardcore LP in "Power Of The Dollar" with the legendary production team The Trackmasters. The album being shelved and barely re-couping any monies in lew of 50 being shot 9 times no doubt stung Fif', for the effort he did put in was excellent. Despite the album's commercial failure, critically it was, and still is hailed as his best work ever and to me it even eclipsed his mega selling "Get Rich Or Die Trying" LP that still had traces of his old technique.

It's commonly known among early 50 fans that his current projects quite frequently venture into the realm of uber commercialism, materialism and every other "ism" you can think of. Trading in his hardcore roots for Tyson's old mansion in Connecticut, a string of poorly picked movie roles and a net worth that has Donald Trump appearing on his mixtapes, many of his old fans that discovered his music through songs like "Ghetto Qu'ran", "Gun Runner" and "Corner Bodega" have largely abandoned any hopes that he would ever be the same MC that created an album like "Power Of The Dollar".

Fast forward to the 16th of June 2009:

We have a brand new and free album from Curtis Jackson that proposes the Vitamin Water king is in fact returning to his edgier style of recording for a time. In recent interviews Fif' has been quoted as saying "He wants to bring Hardcore Hip-Hop back.". No doubt a slight promotion for "War Angel", his new LP that takes a much harder line than anything he's dropped in the past year or two.

I gave it a listen and I can say with much certainty, this is not one of fif's many excursions into trying to land a radio single or crossover with a club hit. "War Angel", is 13 track release that does hint of him rapidly retuning to his artistic glory days, that sadly really only lasted for about a 3 or 4 year window. Although his material here is hardcore, it still is missing that classic delivery and the whimsical street influence that he was so good at relaying in days past. I wanted to bump "War Angel" and be transported back to 2000 when 50 was still largely unknown and under the tutelage of Jammaster Jay, churning out banger after banger that easily transcended the all too orthodox crack slingin' and gun toting rap references of the day. Instead I was hit with a rash of songs that fell into the categories of either sounding rushed or lacking anything impressive in the lyrical department that would prompt me to re-vist this a day or two after running through it.

I support fif's decision to take things in a new (or old rather) direction, but there's still a lot of evidence that his time spent ridin' with the softies responsible for his GQ cover shoot replaced his old writing and song crafting regimen. The man is shaking off a serious coat of rust to try and re-connect with his one time fans who have already moved on to more consistent hardcore headliners. "War Angel" feels more like an exercise in getting back into the swing of things than a real return of a once great street poet.

-BIG D O








1. I Line Niggas
2. Talking in Codes
3. OK
4. You're Right
5. Redrum (Murder)
6. C.R.E.A.M. 2009
7. I'll Do Anything
8. London Girl
9. Better Come On Your A Game
10. Get the Message
11. Cocaine f. Robin Thicke
12. I Gotta Win
13. Mixtape (Outro)

http://www.zshare.net/download/61477457ba119990/