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He has been touted as the return of the gangsta, the savior of a genre, the most important rapper in the business. Can a man and his album live up to all this hype? 50 Cent has a better chance than most, with Dr. Dre and Eminem at the helm. The result is simple: production on Get Rich is ace all the way through, beats laced with orchestral stabs and plucking strings. With the help of two of hip-hop’s most powerful impresarios, 50 Cent has released one of the better-produced mainstream hip-hop albums in quite awhile. “In Da Club” and “Wanksta” are terribly catchy singles; try as one might to not fall prey to singing along to their ridiculous choruses, it becomes an exercise in vanity. Beyond the singles, Get Rich boasts a few fairly solid tracks, the best being “Patiently Waiting,” which features Eminem. A metallic synth weaves between the drums, and there’s a sense of urgency in the song, despite 50’s claim of patience. On it, he raps, “In this white man’s world, I’m similar to a squirrel, lookin’ for a slut wit a nice butt to get a nut.”

This, unfortunately, sums up Get Rich. There’s simply no follow-through, and we get the sense that 50 Cent could revolutionize the rap game. He could be the return of real hip-hop. And he’s on the verge of that at points on the album. Sometimes the fear and grime shine through. “Some say I’m paranoid, I say I’m careful how I choose my friends. Been to ICU once I ain’t goin’ again,” he slurs at the beginning of “Gotta Make It to Heaven.” But for the most part, it’s missed chance after missed chance. And remember how I said the production was ace? It is, but not for this album. We get no grit in the beats, no street sound in those synthetic strings and stuttering steel drums. This is all representative of where 50 is now, not where he was. But the lyrics suggest otherwise, centering on the rapper’s past in clichéd sweeps. Production must match a song’s content to be successful, and at most times on Get Rich, the two seem obviously opposed. So you’ve heard about 50 Cent. You’ve heard about his mother’s murder, his attempted murder, his crack enterprise, his jail time.

The trouble is, knowing all of this is important when listening to Get Rich or Die Tryin’, even though it shouldn’t be. Without previous knowledge of 50’s tragic background, the context of the album disappears. The threats become hollow, the language loses the little power it held. Subsequently, 50 Cent can’t even carve his own niche in hip-hop, relying so much on that vague gangsta persona that he appears almost a lazy amalgam, a caricature, of those more memorable and sincere rappers who preceded him.