50 Cent Lyrics

50 Cent lyrics tell the story through gangsta rap of life in the poor neighborhoods of New York City. The 50 Cent lyrics also tell of life now for the rapper as he has some money and power and his struggles with the old, poor self-image and life circumstances and newfound power and wealth and the integration of the two.

50 Cent has two multi-platinum albums to his credit so far, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and The Massacre. The gangsta image is more than just an image as 50 Cent has been shot at 9 times, hit 3 times and spent 2 months in the hospital recovering from the wounds.

As such, the 50 Cent lyrics talk about such subjects as jail, drugs, bitches and hoes, sex, love, guns, money, crimes, cops, homies, thugs, witnesses, snitches, shootings, respect, disrespect, representing, success, riches, bling, bravado and power. Like other rappers who have gone from rags to riches, 50 Cent incorporates images of life in the hood with life in Hollywood.

Some interesting lyrics can be found on 50 Cent’s best-selling albums. On the Get Rich or Die Tryin’ album, the 50 Cent lyrics in the song, “21 Questions” are about the fear of losing success, power and riches and the loss of a woman who is attracted to that. In the song, “Gotta Make It to Heaven” 50 Cent talks about the living hell in the hood is the price he’s paying for getting to heaven.

On The Massacre album, in the song, “I’m Supposed to Die Tonight”, 50 Cent blends mainstream imagery with that of the hood to pull listeners in with the lines, “Its elementary, life is but a dream / You know row, row ya boat, your blood forms a stream.” And, in the song, “Gunz Come Out”, among the violent imagery there are a couple of lines in the 50 Cent lyrics that show great skill in blending the old imagery with new wealth plus an effective internal rhyme, “Now you know the hoes, they know how I roll / In that new Rolls with the suicide doors”.

In his later albums, 50 Cent’s lyrics take shots by disrespecting his rivals in the rap / hip hop industry sometimes in a funny manner and sometimes a bit more serious. Whether 50 Cent is taking the first punch with his lyrics or simply counter-punching is a matter of debate, but what is interesting is how this has become a forum and form of communication with others in the same industry unlike any other musical genre.

Critics of the 50 Cent lyrics say they are too violent, sexual, derogatory towards women and even homophobic. But, though some of this may be true, what is impressive is that the 50 Cent lyrics lets the listener into a wild world on the streets of New York and the bravado and vulnerabilities the rapper feels with a gritty, urban reality check that is not accessible in the world of most, save those who live there.