The Massacre is the second studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. Originally scheduled for a March 8, 2005, release, it was ultimately released on March 4, 2005, by Shady Records, G-Unit Records, Aftermath Entertainment, and Interscope Records. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, staying atop for six weeks after selling 1.15 million copies in its first four days. Upon its release, The Massacre received generally positive reviews from music critics.
50 cent album the massacre
The original title for the album was revealed as The St. Valentine's Day Massacre (titled after the 1929 North Side, Chicago murder spree of its gang) and was arranged to be released on February 15, 2005.[2] However, it was postponed for the following month, and the album title was shortened to simply The Massacre, due to the release of The Game's The Documentary. Likewise, this was one of the few factors as to why a dispute between the two began.[3] Originally, a certainty of songs that were originally intended to be included on the album were later known to be "Hate It or Love It", "Higher", "How We Do", "Church for Thugs" and "Special", causing a majority of The Massacre to be reworked.[4] After 50 released Game from his G-Unit Records imprint on live radio February 21, 2005, a shootout occurred.[5] Paul Rosenberg of Shady and Jimmy Iovine of Interscope worried that the album would underperform due to the negativity of the Hot 97 shooting. 50 and the Game later truced six days after The Massacre was released,[6][7] but their animosity later reiterated after Game made fun of G-Unit at Hot 97's annual Summer Jam, where he first launched the G-Unot phrase, later turning to a boycott.[8] After the album was bootlegged, Interscope decided to announce the album's official March 3 release date after the second planned release date was March 7, 2005.[citation needed]
The censored version of the album censors out most profanity, violence, and all drug content. The track "Gunz Come Out" has inconsistency in the editing, and contains some profanity. The opening intro removes the shooting sequence, and is cut down to 20 seconds. The album cover also removes guns in the background behind the rapper, being replaced by motifs and a gradient background.[9] In comparison, the album is not as heavily censored as his previous album Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003).[10]
With a release in the middle of the sales week, The Massacre sold 1.15 million copies in its first four days of release, becoming the sixth-largest opening week for an album at the time since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991.[11] This is the second largest opening week for a hip hop album, behind Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), which sold 1.76 million copies in its first week.[12] In February 2020, The Massacre was certified six times platinum for combined sales and album-equivalent units of at least six million copies in the United States.[13] It has sold over eleven million copies worldwide.[14][15]
In 2005, The Massacre was ranked as the number one album of the year on the Billboard 200.[16] Sustaining six weeks at number one on the weekly chart from March 19 to April 30, 2005,[citation needed] the album fell off after being ousted by Mariah Carey's The Emancipation of Mimi.[17]
The Massacre received generally positive reviews from music critics; it holds a score of 66 out of 100 at Metacritic.[18] Vibe magazine found it "full of finger-pointing panache" and wrote that "50 delivers a taut, albeit less explosive, album aimed at both silencing his detractors and keeping the ladies satisfied".[29] NME observed "a new depth to the murderous lyricism" from 50 Cent on the album.[24] Greg Tate, writing in The Village Voice, said that, like Tupac, 50 Cent is "a ruffian who knows the value of a good pop hook", and called The Massacre "the most diabolically sensous collection of baby-making gangsta music since Pac's All Eyez."[30] Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times found the album to be "nearly as addictive as its predecessor" and called 50 Cent "a crafty songwriter, specializing in obvious but nearly irresistible tracks that sound better the more you hear them."[31] In his review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said that 50 Cent's "ugly gangsta lies" are "incidental to the mood of the piece, which is friendly, relaxed, good-humored, and in the groove."[28]
In a mixed review, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said that, although its strengths lie in 50 Cent's "dark charisma" and "fluid delivery", the album is marred by flaws typical of "big rap releases: At nearly 78 minutes, it's far too long, wildly uneven, and not particularly cohesive sonically or thematically."[32] Uncut magazine wrote that, despite 50 Cent's "cool menace", "not even tight productions from Eminem and Dre can stop things from flagging midway."[33] Lynne D. Johnson of Spin felt that it lacks "originality" and makes artistic concessions: "He's tryin' too hard to be everything to everybody."[27] In a negative review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis panned him as a lyricist and felt that the album lacks "any of the factors that make the best gangsta rap disturbingly compelling ... There's nothing except a string of cliches so limited that repetition is unavoidable".[22]
The Massacre was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album,[34] but lost to Kanye West's Late Registration.[35] It was ranked the twenty fifth best album of the year by Rolling Stone.[36]
The album was re-released on September 6, 2005 as the Special edition. It included a remix of "Outta Control" featuring Mobb Deep, which replaces the original version of the song as track eight. This edition included a bonus DVD with music videos for a majority of the album's tracks (with the exclusion of "Disco Inferno", "Gunz Come Out" and the intro), and the trailer for the film Get Rich or Die Tryin', which released two months later. Due to the ongoing feud between 50 Cent and The Game, this version omits the G-Unit remix to "Hate It or Love It" as the twenty-second track. Once the special edition was released, The Massacre re-entered the top three of the Billboard 200 at number two, being blocked from number one by Kanye West's Late Registration.[98] The original version was also re-issued using the special edition track listing leaving out the parts for the DVD.
Clued in by an intro skit in which a sweet-sounding young damsel receiving a Valentine gets blasted by bullet-spray, we get it: 1) He's rich, and 2) He'll get you first. This is 50's massacre, no mercy. Scarface is in da club. It's followed by a series of guttural threats and luggish offerings to snuff anyone to save face-- "y'all know what I'm about," 50 reminds us more than once. And in case we don't, he hits us with indelible, existential gloom, especially on "This is 50"'s ominous piano plinking and the funereal low-end synths of "I'm Supposed to Die Tonight", where his warnings are cut directly from mobster cinema: "Don't be stupid, find out who you fuckin with, son/ 'Fore we find out where yo' bitch get her hair and nails done/ It's elementary, life is but a dream/ You know, row row your boat/ Your blood forms a stream."
Following up one of the biggest debuts in hip-hop history, crack dealer turned charisma dealer 50 Cent makes some bold moves, recycles plenty of old ideas, and sprinkles in some perfect party singles for The Massacre. Crafty man that he is, 50 must have known following up the massive Get Rich or Die Tryin' was going to be extremely difficult, especially for a rapper rightfully known more for creating headlines than rhymes. To cushion the blow, 50 released an album by his G-Unit crew, made numerous guest appearances on other artist's tracks, and helmed ten mixtapes in his G-Unit Radio series. It kept the debut momentum moving and it's half the reason why The Massacre doesn't feel like Get Rich's proper successor, the other half being the album's effortless attitude. That's the most frustrating thing about the otherwise satisfying Massacre. At worst, it feels unfinished, and at best, it feels like a mixtape cobbled together from mostly choice tracks but without that overseer's polish. At a stunning, slightly overstuffed 78 minutes, it's overwhelming, too, but without a perfect flow to hold the listener's hand the whole way through, it's also a testament to 50 and crew that The Massacre doesn't test your patience until after the one-hour mark. Silly and short intro out of the way, the slinky "In My Hood" gets down to business and gives way to four tracks of the same-old, same-old bravado and beats that are still just as stunning and catchy as hell. "I'm Supposed to Die Tonight" and "Gatman and Robbin" are both great tracks from the quirky/macabre house of Eminem, but it's the Fat Joe-dissing "Piggy Bank" that steals the show. Like "Candy Shop," "Outta Control," "Disco Inferno," and on and on, "Piggy Bank" succeeds because of its serviceable rap, believable swagger, inescapable hook, and phatter than phat beats. For those who've had it with the gunshots, the Shady/Aftermath boasting, and the usual "G-G-G-G-Unit!" shouts, The Massacre has just enough surprises. Besides mentioning Kurt Cobain and Ozzy Osbourne, "A Baltimore Love Thing" is the big shocker as 50 poignantly tells the tale of a heroin-addicted girlfriend destroying all that's good. "Ryder Music" is more easygoing than expected, "Build You Up" (featuring Jamie Foxx) is actually sweet, and "God Gave Me Style" has just about the dreamiest beat in the G-Unit universe. Scott Storch, Dr. Dre, and Eminem are the only big names in the producer's chair, but everyone else serves up fine tracks, especially the great Needlz. Guest spots are kept to a bare minimum and besides the intro, skits are nonexistent. Trim a couple tracks and a couple beefs and rearrange the album and you have what sounds like Get Rich's lesser sequel, but The Massacre doesn't look back. It really just wants to challenge other rappers' albums and not its predecessor. Taken that way, it's an excellent effort. 2ff7e9595c
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