A Hustler’s Ambition: 50 Cent’s albums ranked

Curtis James Jackson III, aka 50 Cent, came into the rap game with little regard for paying respect to his Hip Hop elders. On his street single “How To Rob” featuring Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie aka The Madd Rapper, the New York native literally detailed how he would stick up artists. Even though 50 Cent pissed off the who’s who of veteran MCs — JAY-Z, Wu-Tang Clan and Sticky Fingaz — no one, besides his opps, was expecting him to get shot nine times as he sat in front of his grandmother’s house in South Jamaica, Queens.

The tragedy resulted in his in-progress Columbia Records debut album getting shelved, but the triumph was that he returned with a dogged focus. He willed himself through beats, rhymes and ego into becoming New York City’s hottest rapper in the streets. By 2002, Eminem got wind of the rising star’s talents, had him signed to Interscope Records, and with a turbo boost from Dr. Dre, he set off on the path to rap superstardom. There are some details missing in that synopsis — such as flooding the streets with his mixtapes, forming his own G-Unit crew and being a thorn in the side of Ja Rule — but the gist is that 50 Cent rapidly catapulted to A-list rapper status.

His discography is loaded with songs that touched the streets, clubs and even the bedroom. With an outsized personality to match, along with a constant social media presence, the Hip Hop MC remains at the forefront even when he doesn’t have any records in rotation.

Check out REVOLT’s ranking of the G-Unit frontman’s five solo studio albums below.

Released over 10 years after his debut, 50 Cent’s last official album had some strong moments. However, by the time of its 2014 release, the brash freshness of the usually dependable Hip Hop hitmaker from Queens didn’t feel as innovative. The LP played more like a compilation of singles, especially since all the tracks had been released prior to its debut. Moreover, it was dropped independently on G-Unit Records to little fanfare. But considering Starz’s drama series “Power” dropped the same year, it seemed like the rapper-turned-actor was already onto greener television pastures.

50 Cent was seemingly going through the motions when he released Before I Self-Destruct just two years after 2007’s Curtis. The album’s lead single, “Baby By Me,” felt like a rehash of “I Get Money” with producer Polow Da Don even flipping a sample from the latter. It was still a hit, but the album’s list of guests — Eminem, Ne-Yo and R. Kelly — and production by Dr. Dre, DJ Khalil and Rick Rock just didn’t resonate as much with his audience.

A mere four years after his debut, the East Coast rapper was still a formidable MC in an increasingly crowded field of lyricists. The Curtis album’s centerpiece was the Audio Two sampling in “I Get Money,” which earned the MC yet another smash hit. Perhaps more infamously, the LP is known for coming in second — which was a first for a 50 Cent album — to Kanye West’s Graduation after his announcement that if he didn’t outsell the Chicago talent in the first week, he would quit music. Overall, critics weren’t too keen on the project, labeling it inconsistent despite big-name collaborations from the likes of Justin Timberlake and Timbaland on “Ayo Technology” as well as Akon on “I’ll Still Kill.”

Following up a game-changing album like Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is no easy feat. But the award-winning rapper did an admirable job of sidestepping any talk of a sophomore jinx by a wide margin. While The Massacre didn’t reach the stratospheric heights of its predecessor, the LP still spawned its own batch of classic hits like “Disco Inferno,” “Candy Shop,” “Just A Lil Bit” and “Outta Control” featuring Mobb Deep. And, of course, there was “Piggy Bank,” which saw Fif boldly aiming his bars at Ja Rule, Fat Joe and Jadakiss.

Thanks to his mixtape exploits, 50 Cent already had the streets in a vice grip before his first official album release. Add an Eminem co-sign and a Dr. Dre stamp of approval to the mix, and the hype only grew. To say that his proper debut was “highly anticipated” is the highest key of understatements. The rapper’s official introduction hit all the notes of a classic debut, whether it was verbally trashing his foes in “Back Down,” serenading the ladies in “21 Questions” — which featured the late Nate Dogg — or having the nightspots shaking with “In Da Club.” The album was a critical and commercial success, putting the former music industry outcast at the top of the Hip Hop heap.

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