50 Cent Gives Us 2
| By MattSinger - Nov 2nd, 2005 at 5:38 pm EST |
| Also listed in: Campus Progress Blog |
50 Cent has apparently split with Kanye West on the George Bush doesn't like black people front. He has also said Hurricane Katrina was an act of God, saying it was meant to happen. The humble singer has also taken credit for Kanye's success, arguing that people were "looking for something non-confrontational" after 50 Cent showed up.
That must explain why they picked up College Dropout, the album that started with a song whose chorus, sung by children, was:
That must explain why they picked up College Dropout, the album that started with a song whose chorus, sung by children, was:
And all my people thats drug dealin jus to get by stack ya money till it gets sky highAnd his more recent album Late Registration takes on blood diamonds. Granted, Kanye doesn't talk a lot about his desire to kill people, but his songs don't exactly steer clear of controversy. It's just that they sometimes deal with controversy that has a point.
We wasnt supposed to make it past 25 but the jokes on you we still alive
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2. I'm glad to hear that a musician is addressing the blood diamond issue. It's always felt to me like one of those issues that people with high profiles actually can address and draw attention to on a legitimate level. Jewelry and the entire upper-class lifestyle is synonymous with celebrities and their rejection of the blood diamond trade is critical.
Boycotts and unilateral trade restrictions don't do anything real to fix the problem of blood diamonds; they just get sold to someone else.
Actually fixing the blood diamond problem requires fixing the political situation in these countries; a hard, perhaps even nearly-impossible task that there's little political will for.
It's the same reason breast cancer research is overfunded in this country (Far more funding than prostate cancer, which kills a roughly equal number of people); politicians don't want to take hard stances on women's issues for whatever reason, so they think the quick-and-easy solution of appropriating some noncontroversial funding will be enough to get them a "pass" with that constituency.
That said.. Kanye vs. Fiddy -- who cares?
Kanye's production skills are B+ at best. Since his production isn't novel anymore, he's tried to differentiate his image; his style of dress is only novel for a rap star, and it just makes him a poor man's Farnsworth Bentley.
Fifty Cent was never a terribly talented rapper, which is probably why he never got a deal until he got shot; that was what made him marketable to the suburban teenage demographic.
A pox on both their houses. Want some really interesting hip-hop? Link, and check out the song "Atlas".
It's exactly the opposite (except for his talent). He was signed to Columbia and recorded his debut album, but was dropped after being shot. They felt he would be too controversial.
Link
I just remember being shocked he ever got a deal in the first place; he was a perennial on the mixtapes, but never with anything terribly interesting or original. His delivery was novel, but it's always worn thin quick.
Listening to his new stuff, the only difference between the 50 Cent of now and the unsigned 50 Cent of 6 years ago is better production.
Social activism has achieved a fair amount in the way of corporate reform without the intervention of governments (or as a way of spurring governments into action).
Bringing pressure to bear on diamond companies would be a great way to change things. Similar pressure brought by Montanans helped get Tiffany & Co on board to fight the building of a mine underground in a wilderness area here in Montana.
On Kanye's Remix of Diamonds are Forever, Q-Tip deserves the original credit for schooling Mr. West on the subject confilct diamonds. Link
All those years of listening to A Tribe Called Quest and you just have respect them even more.