50 Cent Hasn’t Lost His Game

Original hard beats, two new verses on each record and 50 Cent talking at the end of a lot of the songs. Admit it: Sometimes hearing Fif speak at the end of records is just as entertaining as hearing him rap.

“That’s when I don’t have to be in song format,” 50 said last week from his new G-Unit Manhattan office. Yeah, he and his crew packed up from their old 34th Street digs and have a better spot. “I can say exactly what I mean, and people are entertained by that too. That’s also a sign that you’re a star.”

50 is using his star power to help accomplish his mission. We’ve been telling you for a week now what the Southside Queens native wants: a resurgence in hardcore hip-hop. That soft stuff is saturating the music right now, he said. Last week, he dropped his first of three mixtapes this summer, War Angel LP. There’s definitely some joints on there. “Redrum (Murder)” is pretty mean.

Sincerely Southside Part 2 is dropping next week, and a full G-Unit mixtape is coming in August. They’re all his “writing assignments” to keep him from overworking his September release, Before I Self Destruct. That project is in a very healthy space and just about ready to go, he said.

“The guy that’s trying to get a record deal right now, he should be writing with very strong passion,” 50 said. “Right now, he’s in competition with 50 Cent, and I’m writing like I need a record deal. It’s tough for him.”

He’s hungry.

“I can write at that pace and achieve what I want,” 50 continued. “You won’t say there’s a lack of quality in [War Angel]. That’s why I called it an LP instead of a mixtape. They need to hear that.”