TheSource.com continues it’s in depth conversation with 50 Cent in part 2 of our sit-down. This time around we cover his relationship with Eminem & Dr. Dre, writer’s block and the blogs before 50 flips the interview on us.
– Sean Lynch (@Kiddfuture)
In your opinion, where do The Lost Tapes fall in comparison to the rest of your projects?
50: I never wouldve released a record if I didn’t think it was good. I’ve met the cycle of success. I havent had writers block to the point where I couldnt make something work.
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Where do we stand with Interscope and the album now?
50: About done with it, I think im going to release it to myself as a birthday present. The politics and cycle of how things work when you’re at the tail end, theres a lot of confusion, you go through your whole career, trying to figure out where you have to go. I’ve been sitting on this, I’ll prob put it out July 3rd.
What’s your take on the blogs and the perception they give?
50: It’s interesting because you represent The Source, there was a point as an artist that all you would want is to see five mics on your body of work. That standard has shifted because now the bloggers represent themselves as experts. So they’re pointing out saying this isn’t going to work. That shithead doesnt know what works or doesnt work. The DJ would have an ear for music, the perfect A&R person, hes the guy who plays and knows the response and what you’ll play it after. Like how is this going to come on in the club, tempo-wise. This is cool but we need a joint to get the spot rocking.
As a writer I’ve went through a period that they missed it because I didnt give them the records, but everything was slow. I wrote like 14-15 records and I go back to my computer, I got a whole lot of shit. Sometimes I be doing like 30 or 40 songs in preparation and only put out like 13. When i go through it, I’ll be like damn this shit is slow, when I did ‘It Rains It Pours” that was one of the slowest records I actually touched. I almost didn’t put “Many Men” on Get Rich Or Die Trying.
Word?
50: Yeah, you lookin at me like you’re fucking crazy. Banks [Lloyd Banks] was like ‘you buggin’ you got to put that on because the tempo. I wanted the record to keep you up.
When was the last time you remember having writers block?
50: I remember not having production, which was inspiring. There’s nothing infront of me that’s making me feel like “yo I got to get it done.”
Which project?
50: Curtis…. the Curtis album, I had issues during that time period. Get Rich Or Die Trying is everything in a nut-shell, all dysfunctional behaviors from the environment. The Massacre after the success of that project, if you asked me to make a wish in 2003, I wish my music to be a success thats it. 2005 the first song written for The Massacre was “God Give Me Style God Give Me Grace” thats how I felt following the success of that project.
The best possible advice I could find from my grandmother because when I told her I wanted to do something different I wrote a song like this and she was like “ok, just dont forget why they like you.” Then I started writing things like 187 and other pieces on that album. The Curtis album, was an artist album, it was me finally opening up, creatively, to work with other artists. Me and Justin [Justin Timberlake] number 1 record, “Ayo Technology”, and “I Get Money.” That project I felt like I had hit records, it was mishandled. The Robin Thicke record/video leaked, it didnt feel like they treated that record accordingly.
You seem to be standing on your own two legs from a business perspective. As well as a music aspect, not that you ever weren’t, but you kind of seemed to drift away from Em [Eminem] and Dre [Dr. Dre]. What’s the relationship like?
50: I never really got any help. I got the love Em gave. Em is the guy that does no wrong, hes like right next to my grandmother. Like if he did something to me to make me uncomfortable and felt it was wrong in my head I would be like he didnt mean to do that, thats just not him. Before, instinctively, I go into attack mode if someone does something that makes me uncomfortable, but him, I go ‘ he aint mean that’ cause I just know a lot of times hes not actually paying attention to this other shit. I bring him up to speed on the shit of whats going on. As far as Dre is concerned, I worked with Em for two days on GRODT, recorded 4 songs, kept 2 (“Don’t Push Me” and “Patiently Waiting”) I worked with Dre, we recorded 8, I kept 5 (“In Da Club” “P.I.M.P.” “If I cant” “Back Down” and one other) and was like we done. I did enough work, I was already conditioned, there was no point where I was like can you help me write this or could I get you to do this.
But the relationship is still solid between the 3 of you guys?
50: Yeah, they have huge personalities/differences, we both have a passion for music, me and Em have more similarities than me and Dre. It’s crazy, Hailey is Marquise, Kim is Shaniqua, there are a lot of comparisons.
50: What you think about Hip-Hop culture now is the biggest thing that changed? I think now you got more blind leading blind because of the ability to make the public statements through social networking
Sean of The Source: Biggest thing to change for me, I honestly believe that they need to go back to listening to the streets and what the streets want, like you said people listen to the blogs too much.
50: Anybody who’s experienced and been around can tell you that any song off a mixtape at maximun must spin 500 times no matter how big the artist is. Once you get past that point, theres a marketing budget behind the record.
True
50: When an artist is like they have the greatest mixtape ever, it was really an album and the record company chose to spend the marketing dollars to position you as this really good artist off that mixtape. But even when you did that, you was making your album.
In case you missed it here is part 1.
