Music Review: Get Rich or Die Tryin'
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What Parents Should Know
As famous for his Kevlar vest as for his acid tongue, 50
Cent isn't going from the top dog slot any time soon.
Containment is the issue. His music is available in edited form
-- it's a bit like listening to the Osbournes -- but know that
kids get what he's talking about. They'll tell you they don't
agree with and aren't influenced by 50 Cent's misogynistic,
brutal lyrics and just like the beat. Don't count on it. Find a
way to surface what they like and then discuss it with them so
you at least get your 2 cents' worth.
Common Sense Media Review
GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN' begins with the sound of a 50-cent
piece spinning on a table. That's the last sound some parents
will feel comfortable with in this raw and energetic album
produced by rap icons Dr. Dre and Eminem. It's a one-stop shop
of crude references to genitalia, drugs, violence, obscenity of
the four, ten, and twelve letter variety and, in its explicit
version, the N and F words. Parents be warned: This CD should
be reserved for mature teens, and may offend all but the most
rap-hardened parents.
But teens are downloading this #1 best-selling CD and
its individual songs like crazy. They like the way 50 Cent
scornfully observes the world of the street. Drug users,
prostitutes, label-obsessed consumers, and religious converts
-- everyone gets skewered, sometimes all in one track. In
"Heat," the rat-a-tat of automatic weapons and the squealing
tires of a car chase are set to hymn-like chords, a "dis" to
gangstas who find themselves seeking God only after bullets
penetrate their vital organs. "P.I.M.P." has lines that are
grim and misogynistic, but crudely humorous: "I holla at a hoe
'til I got a bitch confused/ She got on Payless, me I got on
gator shoes." "Don't Push Me" sizzles: "Pistol in hand homie,
I'm down to get it popping/ Once I squeeze the first shot/ No I
ain't stopping till my clip is empty." Thus, much of the album
lives up to its pre-release buzz, thanks to 50 Cent's clever
lyrics and the swagger born of surviving the hood, multiple
stabbings, nine bullets, and time in the joint -- or, as he
drawls in "In Da Club," "Been hit wit' a few shells but I don't
walk wit' a limp."
Common Sense Media is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing information to help parents make media and entertainment choices for their families.
