Today marks the 10 year anniversary of the Southside Jamaica Queens own, 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. 10 years ago when the Jiggaman announced his “retirement,” there was a vacant seat ready to be taken for not only the King Of New York, but Hip-Hop in general. With the city getting staler by second (outside of the Dipset boys from Uptown and the Y.O. underground street collective known as D-Block), the South kept bringing hit after hit and Fiddy was ready to take over the streets and the mainstream.
No other crew in rap ran the STREETS like the Guerrilla-Unit did in 2002, as the click was set to end all bubble gum rap on the radio. Setting the tone for his campaign with the Mixtape King, DJ Whoo Kid, 50 Cent released his first official compilation independent album, “Guess Who’s Back?” which found its way to the hands of Eminem.
OS REWIND: 50 Cent – Major Distribution (feat. Snoop Dogg & Young Jeezy) [Music Video]
Intrigued by the mixtape, Eminem would soon introduce him Dr. Dre, as we would soon see Kurt Loder pop up on MTV news on that eventful Thursday morning to make the big announcement about the $1MM dollar deal with Eminem & Dr. Dre. I would soon visit their “.com” site to read Shaheem Reid’s article and knew instantly this would be the last “friendly” summer radio play for R&B/Rap records.
The Wanksta campaign would instantly begin pushing any so-called gangsta rappers in the game off the cliff, to make way for a new wave. Releasing his first official commercial friendly single, “In da Club” starting off 2003, the buzz he generated over the Dr. Dre produced track hadn’t been seen since likes of Frank White; and would coincidentally last until the “good kid,” for a NEW artist coming into the game.
It was the first time since the DMX era that we would witness some aggressive music for the masses, and we’re not sure if the world was ready to give up female R&B choruses with their favorite rappers. His album even got bootlegged by the Jamaican’s on Canal Street, and hit the web nearly three weeks before its release, but 50 still managed to sell nearly 900,000 his first week.
Today we pay homage to the kid’s contributions to this thing we all live and enjoy, called hip-hop, as well as that aggressive street music for all the G’s out there. Take a trip down memory lane with our dedication to Get Rich or Die Tryin’.