In the wake of Eminem's cancellation of Slane, fellow rapper 50 Cent has announced an extra date in addition to his 18 December date at The Point, Dublin.
50 Cent’s rise to the top of the rap game has been impressive, but he remains dogged by critics who claim that his fame owes more to a compelling personal history than any remarkable talent. Shows like this represent an excellent, defiant response to the haters, but not quite enough to dispel all lingering doubts about his rap credentials.
How much of the 50 Cent phenomenon is for real and how much for effect? Danielle Brigham meets the mainman and his crew in Dublin and attempts to make sense of the shootings and the sales figures.
There's some consolation to rap fans disappointed at the news that Eminem's cancelled Slane - fellow homie (or whatever the lingo is in the hood these days) 50 Cent will is confirmed to carry on with his own show at The Point.
A former drug dealer, he’s been shot at nine times and lived to tell the tale, emerging as one of the most controversial and uncompromising figures in rap. But there's more to 50 Cent than the popular legend suggests. For a start, there’s a new commercial edge to the music, as his US and Irish number one album The Massacre demonstrates. Plus, as one of the new faces of Reebok’s ‘I Am What I Am’ campaign, he’s taken to the role of cultural icon with considerable zest. Oh, and besides, he’s a bit of a wow with the ladies.
The only serious present-day heir to sainted founding fathers DMC and NWA, ex-crack dealer 50 Cent became an overnight hip-hop Godhead with his beyond-phenomenal debut Get Rich or Die Tryin’, an echoing, booming, bloodthirsty beast saturated with paranoia, claustrophobia and general violent vibes. It sold ten million-plus copies, and Eminem aside, the spliff-toting kids in my less-than-Bronxlike suburb scarcely listen to anybody else.
What better way to gauge the state of contemporary hip-hop than checking out the latest singles from 50 Cent and Chingy, two of the genre’s brightest young things.
50 Cent's skills as an MC are limited, his beats pedestrian, and his show the very definition of low concept. Beneath his veneer of showmanship, there is little to maintain interest.
50 Cent has had his heterosexuality questioned by Deadlee, the Californian rhymer who’s headlining the upcoming gay, lesbian and bisexual HomoRevolution tour.
Full profiles on Faithless, Antony & The Johnsons, Slayer, The Who, Bell X1, Status Quo, The Flaming Lips, 50 Cent, Madness, Christy Moore, Elton John and Lionel Richie.
Music Review | Live
53% | 10 Oct 2003
Phil Udell
It’s mostly pretty crap, dull and uninspired, a booming set of backing tracks over which 50 and his two cohorts rap indistinctly.
Only the most blinkered rap aficionados could claim themselves immune to yet another record padded out with the same old routines about homicidal life on the street.
The “war on terrorism” and the death of Irish Happy Hour aside, 2003 has been a year of good times and great tunes. For me, it’s also been a year of daring debuts.
He brought the plight of the Guildford Four to the silver screen and shot a weepy film about the Irish diaspora. Now Jim Sheridan has made a movie with the sultan of bling, rap star 50 Cent. It’s all Bono’s fault, he tells Tara Brady.
Hip hop is in crisis, what we need is a new soldier to rise from ghetto streets to tell it like it really is, someone to do justice to the legacy of NWA and… well stop if you’ve heard this one before. It certainly feels like this isn’t the first time I’ve sat down to write this review. Indeed, it seems like I can hardly escape Eminem, 50 Cent, Obie Trice or the rest these days. So are we to hope that The Game actually is capable of offering something different? The signs aren’t good.
This third album has gone platinum in the US, and Robin Thicke now counts 50 Cent and Pharrell among his showbiz pals. Is it hard to see why? No. Is it a good album? Not really.
Within a minute of meeting Olivia, you realise you're in the presence of a future R&B star. It's depressing. Depressing because you don't even need to hear a record to know that the 23-year-old New Yorker is destined to be all over MTV and the music media within the blink of an eye.
Alright, there’s more to student life than scrimping and saving – but a bit of it is the order of the day for the vast majority. Recent graduate Louise Hodgson has tips on that, and a whole lot more besides.
Playing Live at the Marquee on Sunday June 24: Lock up your housewives. Ireland’s most eligible bachelors, Podge & Rodge, are on the road and looking for love.
Personally speaking, the death of the wonderful Elliott Smith was a major blow his year. I found out about his suicide through Ollie Cole, who had e-mailed me with a very succinct, “Elliott Smith is dead. He was my king”, on the day of his death.
Tinchy Stryder is the fast-talking Star In The Hood who’s pretty much dominated the charts in 2009 with a nagging brand of infectious hip hop. Hot Press caught up with the Prince Of Grime to see if we can figure out his formula for Number Ones.
He may be trained to kill, but recently James Blunt has been seducing vast swathes of the population with his poignant love songs. Lured to the Hot Press Chat Room, he tells all about his number one album, the Queen, being shot at in Kosovo and lesbian swim parties.
Messiah J and The Expert aim to put Dublin hip-hop on the map. To do so, they must tackle several deep-set prejudices – such as the belief that Irish people can’t rap.
Like Groucho Marx may or may not have said, timing is (pause) …everything. As such, the two albums that electrified us this year (Interpol’s hugely moving, visceral masterpiece Turn On The Bright Lights; Justin Timberlake’s Neptunes-assisted pop‘n’B triumph Justified) were actually released in ’02.
Matisyahu is a rapper with a difference. As a Hassidic Jew he lives a strictly orthodox lifestyle. Whatever you do, don’t describe his music as ‘heeb-hop’.
Now in its second year, Cork Live At The Marquee is one of the highlights of the Irish music calendar. Here, Hot Press presents a complete preview of what's in store for music fans in the southern capital - and looks at the great legacy of Cork music.
They’ve sold millions of records but don’t expect to find Beautiful South frontman Paul Heaton breaking out in a grin. Unless England have been stuffed at football.
Slash can go boil his silly hat, but Iggy Pop, The Rolling Stones and Kraftwerk are welcome to come and stay in Fagersta any time they want. Howlin’ Pelle and the boys talk heroes and zeros with Stuart Clark
Having delivered a storming set at Oxegen, pop-rock powerhouse NOISETTES confess a love for all things Irish in the Hot Press Signing Tent. Plus, they hold forth on their passion for everything from jazz to punk to heavy metal.
Former Belle And Sebastian mainstay Isobel Campbell has recorded a country-rock masterpiece worthy of Johnny Cash. But what’s a gravel-throated Mark Lanegan doing on it?
That’s ICE T, mind, and make sure you use capitals. The rapper turned TV star is coming to a stage near you, and still has plenty to say about hip hop/rock, Michael Moore, George Bush, acting, porno and, of course, ho’s.
The latest wave of right-wing attacks on US musicians is likely to have a knock-on effect here, with the words and actions of our own artists coming under increased scrutiny. In a special hotpress report, Ed Power enlists the help of Marilyn Manson and a number of major Irish players to pick his way through the censorship minefield.
After what seemed like an eternity of enduring processed boy/girl band hell, 2003 was the year that pop became exciting again. Finally, we got a long hot summer soundtracked by Beyoncé (song of the year – hands down), 50 Cent’s awesome ‘In Da Club’ and even a band from my own ‘hood whose debut album was the feelgood hit of the season.
If you know who to call, it's as easy to buy a gun in Dublin as a microwave. No wonder there are more firearms in the streets – and more gangland murders – than ever before.
Amir Khan is one of the hottest young British boxers in a generation. What makes his story especially interesting is that the Bolton Olympic silver medallist is an English Muslim child of Pakistani parents. He is due in Belfast shortly for his seventh professional encounter and, make no mistake, fight fans are in for a treat.
With his first two albums, Streets mastermind Mike Skinner established himself as one of the most eloquent, idiosyncratic and gifted vocalists and worsdsmiths of his generation. But the 27 year old came close to blowing it all on spread-betting and crack, not to mention engaging in an XXX-rated tryst with an unnamed pop starlet. Thankfully, he’s bounced back with the tell-all confessional of The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living.
There's a veritable treasure chest of musical swag up for grabs in the RTE/People In Need Telethon auctions on eBay.ie right now - and it's all for a good cause!
U2 are about to unleash their new album How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb. The world’s media are descending on Dublin. And Bono is back at the punch-bag, getting into fighting shape before the shit storm really explodes. The gloves are off. He’s got work to do. And he’s going to do it. Words Stuart Clark, additional reporting by Niall Stokes.
Thickfreakness is all about paying homage and not at all about offering a new vision of how blues can be the backbone of music that is unapologetically modern.
Despite their phenomenal achievements west of Galway, success on this side of the pond continues to elude the Dave Matthews Band. Their seventh studio album, Stand Up is unlikely to have any impact on such a change.
There’s something too predictable about Snoop Dogg’s R & G (Rhythm & Gangsta): The Masterpiece, his seventh studio album, to lift it beyond just about bearable background noise.
Of course the advantage with dead rap acts is that you can store their phone messages, pizza orders, laundry lists and interviews, then underdub all manner of rhythm tracks until kingdom come, or the fans decide they’ve had, or been had, enough. It’s time to let the ol’ bastard rest in peace.
Competing with Henry Rollins' spoken word thing ten yards away, that didn’t stop ?uestlove from The Roots regaling the Hot Press Chatroom at Electric Picnic with some tales – and a world exclusive.
It’s not revolutionary or groundbreaking stuff by garage standards, but it’s an impressive enough statement of intent from potentially Peckham’s finest export since the family Trotter.
Roots’ two previous albums have been credited with influencing everyone from The Streets to Dizzee Rascal, but Awfully Deep is easily his most consistently worthwhile offering yet
Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith had harsh words for both U2 and Black Eyed Peas as the American funk rockers arrived in last weekend for their Oxegen and T In The Park festival headliners.
The title of this album could refer to the fact that this is 29-year-old Detroit rapper Obie Trice’s second long-playing release. Alternatively, it might be a reference to the events of last December 31st, when he was shot twice while driving on the Lodge Expressway by Wyoming Avenue in Detroit (he was also one of the late Proof’s best mates).
The founding father of gangsta rap had his heyday in the early 1990s when his albums went platinum, he was nominated for a Grammy and his explicit lyrics introduced "Parental Advisory"-stickers to CD collections across the world.
There’s enough edge on his third outing, The Trinity, to suggest he has at least an even-money chance of cutting it as a more credible latter-day incarnation of chest-beating predecessors like Shabba and Shaggy.
The stage is well set for the entrance of Kanye West, who seems to have made the transition from producer to star performer with few growing pains. Having crafted beats for the likes of Jay Z and Alicia Keys, the Chicago native’s debut album College Dropout has lead to his new role behind the mic becoming a very successful one indeed.
Could this, you wonder, actually be the record that sees Eminem the artist match Eminem the personality? The opening seconds of ‘Puke’ – the sound of, yes, someone puking – sadly answers the question.
The current perceived wisdom on hip-hop is that (a) no-one makes decent albums anymore, (b) the gangster culture and it’s huge mainstream success has left it a joyless, soulless beast with no social conscience, and (c) it makes for a crap gigging experience.
The word on Kanye West is that he is the one who could change all that.
Convicted traffickers are being put behind bars for far longer than their crimes actually merit. Is this progressive policing - or a miscarriage of justice?
