Granted, this album isn't an authentic N.Y.C.-style mixtape, but it's awfully close, definitely modeled after one and therefore representative of precisely why 50 went on to become the most talked-about upcoming rapper in a decade. It's this occasional underground sense, though, that makes Guess Who's Back? such a worthwhile listen for fans. A few of the inclusions suffer from shoddy sound quality, particularly the trio of freestyles that close the album, while a few others sound like mixtape tracks, lacking commercially orientated production and verse-chorus-verse structures. About half come from Power of the Dollar, including such highlights as "Life's on the Line," "Ghetto Qua Ran," and "As the World Turns," while the others, such as "That's What's Up" (a G Unit posse track over the beat to Wu-Tang's "Ya'll Been Warned"), "Too Hot," and "Who U Rep With" (the latter two featuring Nas, who is sampled for the hook to "F*ck You" also), come mostly from mixtapes.
or the bandwidth of cyberspace, many of these songs will be familiar. However, if you're indeed down with the underground, either via the streets of N.Y.C. The skimpily packaged album, released by the indie label Full Clip and documented by no credits whatsoever, compiles what it terms as "underground classics & freestyles." Unless you're connected to the New York mixtape circuit or happen to own a bootlegged version of 50's unreleased 2000 debut album for Columbia, the Trackmasters-produced Power of the Dollar, none of the 18 songs here are going to be familiar - they're all previously unreleased, legally that is. Amazing interview on it comes to the L.A.Months before 50 Cent burst into the mainstream with Get Rich or Die Tryin', his "In da Club"-highlighted debut for Shady/Aftermath, the highly touted rapper cleaned out his closet with Guess Who's Back?."There are going to be people reading this right now,… 25 days ago “The Bounce” Was the First Time Kanye Rapped on a Jay-Z Song.RT Man I've been sleeping so hard on Guru's Jazzmatazz series.There’s a reason why Meth is on so many dope hooks, with that voi… 24 days ago The Top 10 Greatest Method Man Hooks Of All Time.With an unprecedented exploration of five Baltimore institutions, immacul… 23 days ago 7 of the Best Rap Lyrics about The Wire.The 100 Most Downloaded Hip Hop Mixtapes of All Timeįrom Meek Mill’s Dreamchasers 2 tape, to Rick Ross’ cinematic… 22 days ago.To measure a rap song’s influence, you need to think about its i… 21 days ago The 53 Most Influential Hip Hop Songs of All Time.Inspectah Deck, aka the Rebel INS, may not have had th… 20 days ago The Top 10 Greatest Inspectah Deck Guest Verses Of All Time.His debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, was one of the most anticipated hip-hop albums of all time, moving 872,000 copies in its first week of sales and going on to become one of the best-selling hip-hop albums of all time.
A copy of Guess Who’s Back? made its way into Eminem’s hands and the rest is history.ĥ0 Cent: Theo, my attorney and Paul Rosenberg work close together, like they know each other, they came up together so, I had a CD called Guess Who’s Back and Em, right got a copy of it and he was in the middle of completing The Eminem Show, so he didn’t get a chance to properly listen to it, but after he got that done he heard it and he was like “Ya’ll need to come out here now!” so they flew me out on like Friday night, I fly to Los Angeles the next day and I met wit him and Dre and then after we met it was kinda all alrightĥ0 went on to sign a $1 million deal in a joint venture between Em’s Shady Records and Dr.
Released on the independent label Full Clip Records in 2002, the record featured now classic 50 cuts like “U Not Like Me,” “Life’s on the Line” and “Ghetto Qu’ran” as well as guest appearances from Nas, Bun B, Nature and Bravehearts. Guess Who’s Back? was just a compilation of tracks 50 had recorded for his Columbia debut album, Power of the Dollar, before it got shelved. Even to this day, rappers trying to promote their mixtapes are jacking 50’s formula from back in the day.ĥ0’s mixtapes from that era – 50 Cent Is the Future, No Mercy, No Fear and God’s Plan – are now legendary, but it was one project in particular that launched him to the top. Whether you were Raphael Saadiq, Mobb Deep, Jay-Z or the Wu-Tang Clan, it didn’t matter – if your shit was hot, 50 was jacking it and making it hotter. Using the mixtape circuit to distribute his music better than any car trunk could, 50 quickly saturated the market with freestyles and remixes of other artists’ songs. With his G-Unit soldiers, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, right beside him, 50 start recording music non-stop. Hip-hop heads, did you know that Eminem signed 50 Cent to Shady Records after he heard the rapper’s 2002 compilation album Guess Who’s Back?Īfter getting shot nine times on May 24, 2000, 50 went on a mission to make it in the rap game.