Curtis - 50 Cent

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Are you scared of 50 Cent? The chart-topping rapper certainly wants you to be, judging by his violent, aggressive and occasionally distasteful third album.

On Curtis, Mr Jackson seems intent on proving just how tough he is - repeatedly fantasising about mowing people down with his arsenal of guns.

If the opening dialogue sample from the movie Shooters doesn't give you this impression, the first three tracks will. My Gun Go Off, Man Down and I'll Still Kill all chronicle Fitty's ability with a weapon.

Man Down features a cop killing and is so violent it's been censored by label Interscope. Okay, we get it, Fitty. You're pissed off, you've got a gun and you're prepared to use it. Got anything else to say?

Erm, it seems not. Most of the beats on Curtis are monotonous and the constant threats of violence are wearisome. Fitty doesn't even bother writing a chorus for Fully Loaded Clip, instead stuttering "I got ... I got ... I gotta fully loaded clip." Perhaps a speech therapist could help?

The two bright moments - I Get Money and Ayo Technology (with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake) - come when Fitty finally lays down his weapons. They're classic club tracks and feature some of the best hip-hop beats you'll hear this year.

But both tracks mean nothing by the time Peep Show rolls around. It's a horribly explicit duet with Eminem in which the pair defecate on a stripper. So much for being lovable thugs.

Sorry, rap fans, but Curtis is too gangsta for it's own good. It proves 50 Cent has ridden his one-trick, pimped-out and gun-toting pony into the ground.

Feedback:

I bought a copy of 50's album the album is a bomb. His only problem is he has to realise that he has to get softer - there is now little room for music that's too gangster. I loved 15 of the 18 tracks.
-Paul Mazvarira

Just wait, this album will be No. 1 in New Zealand and No. 1 on the Billboard charts in the USA. Your reviewer needs to open his other eye!
-Sam

Yeah, Curtis may go to No. 1 but I totally agree with the reviewer that if he doesn't grow as an artist and becomes one dimensional (ie: gangstas, girls and guns) then he is doomed to falling record sales like Eminem's last few records. The Public are a fickle lot, one day they love you, the next they want to crucify you and what was yesterday's or today's cool-in-thing will be tomorrow's recycled garbage.
-Calvin

- © Fairfax NZ News