The Massacre [EXPLICIT LYRICS]

50 Cent

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 3, 2005)
• Original Release Date: March 3, 2005
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Explicit Lyrics
• Label: Aftermath
• ASIN: B0007P3582
• Average Customer Review: 2.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (558 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #18,188 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
50 Cent is now a full two dollars, according to pop culture exchange rates. His sheer influence on music charts, and thugs hearts, changed things. So why then on Massacre is the 'hood drama that one would think he'd want to leave behind even more front-and-center than on Get Rich or Die Tryin'? It's hard to say, but 50's developed a questionable gun fetish here. With firearms plastered all over the liner notes, and throughout most of his lyrics--on "In My Hood" he retorts "…I don't go nowhere without my strap"--apparently his nouveau rich status has only accelerated the number of enemies he's accumulated. On "I'm Supposed to Die Tonight" he even awkwardly forecasts Notorious B.I.G.-like, Tupac-ian rap game death scenarios. "Piggy Bank," a virtual diss fest further cements his "How to Rob" persona as Nas and Fat Joe get the lyrical smack down; so does A-list actor Vivica Fox ("Get In My Car") for even daring to consider their rendezvous to be anything more than a fling. Despite beat contributions from Aftermath hombres (Eminem, Dr. Dre), some of the better beats come courtesy of lesser-known beatsmiths like Disco D ("Ski Mask Way") and the always consistent Hi-Tek, whose "Ryder Music" is a sick concoction of keys and haunting vocals. At 22 tracks (with no inane interludes), it's worth the loot, but it doesn't cover up 50's artistic regression since Get Rich. --Dalton Higgins

Co-Conspirators' Greatest Hits

The Eminem Show, Eminem	The Chronic, Dr. Dre	Olivia, Olivia
The Slim Shady LP, Eminem	Hi-Teknology, Hi-Tek	Straight out tha Trunk, Disco D

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

126 of 146 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars This will sell regardless of how uneven the Massacre is, March 4, 2005

By	Scott D. Gribble "scottgrib" (Baltimore MD) - See all my reviews

Aside from a couple of shining moments, you're crazy if you've ever thought 50 was lyrically that good. His success is mainly due to his style/swagger, stellar beats, and undeniable hooks. Not like I'm trying to take anything away from him, but if you're expecting a whole lot of solid rhymes, let alone ones that don't involve guns & sex, 50 never has nor will be the place to go. He hasn't changed a whole lot in two years, but is he still doing it as good as he has?

"In My Hood" gets the album off to a solid start, it's a typical 50 Cent hood song and has a great beat by C. Styles & Bang Out. Overall it's good, but it's nothing special (although the Saxophone part that closes the track is real nice). "This Is 50" has a pretty grimy beat, but 50's drawl at the end of every line seems all too formulaic, taking a page right out of "Blood Hound" from "Get Rich...". It could easily grow on the listener though. Lyrically 50 copies his previous effort again with "I'm Supposed To Die Tonight" (aka "Many Men" Pt. II). That being said it's one of the better tracks on the album with Eminem's production being the perfect marriage for the 50's subject matter.
"Piggy Bank" is Massacre's diss track, where the clunky beat won't really draw you in as much as the venom he spits at Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Shyne, & Nas. To be honest this is not a big winner, the beat's not really that great but the big thing is while he disses these rappers he doesn't really say anything remotely harmful/embarrassing/clever/whatever. All this track is gonna do is make enemies & create some buzz, but he didn't have a single diss line that was memorable at all. This is a soft diss track at best, sorry no memorable "Back Down" on here.

Em produces and drops a verse for the great concept track "Gatman & Robbin". Both Mcs fit the quick paced beat quite well, Em's verse in particular will take several listens to break down.
Say what you want about the `hit' "Candy Shop", but the Scott Storch beat is simply hypnotizing and will be in the clubs for a long time. The subject matter gets a bit old (it's basically "Magic Stick" Pt. II), but the masses aren't even gonna listen to the lyrics anyway.

There is one serious problem you can see from reading the liner notes. While his previous effort was driven by four incredible Dr. Dre cuts, the producer's presence is greatly missed here as he only contributes two tracks. A Dre beat tends to bring out the best in 50, it did on "Get Rich" and the same holds true here. "Outta Control" is another classic shoulda-been Detox track and 50's hook comes off incredibly well, as it matches the high-pitched organs in the background. The strings and thumping bass in the background only add more intensity. While 50's verses aren't nearly as catchy as the hook, they certainly don't take away from this stellar track.

For "Get In My Car" Hi-Tek used a slight G-funk sound too it, and accompanies typical 50 pimping rhymes. The hook definitely has the potential to be used by every guy by the end of the summer. Disco D provides the stellar beat for "Ski Mask Way" which sounds like the score from an old Blaxploitation film, with its creative use of an O'Jays sample. This proves to one of the best tracks on here, and 50's Kool G Rap robbin' style rhymes works better than almost any other verse on the album. It's only further complete with the great hook that's doesn't have a hint of radio play in it. "Ski Mask Way" is definitely 50 at his best and most respectable.

50 actually shows some creativity on the concept "A Baltimore Love Thing". While it's not a new concept to compare Drugs with Love, 50 pulls it off quite well (to spell it out for you, he's rapping as if he were heroin). Plus it's such a huge change of pace for him it's almost a shock at first. "Ryder Music", while not bad, just sounds completely uninspired. It's pretty much just lazy filler, and it doesn't even fit the title very well.

Dre somehow does not produce "Disco Inferno", instead again it's C. Styles & Bang Out. The beat and 50's hook really make this song. It's already a club hit and you either love it or hate it. Unlike that track, you can tell from the opening seconds that "Just A Lil Bit" is a typical Scott Storch production. 50 kicks some seductive rhymes (all too similar to "Candy Shop") to fit.

The final Dre track only makes you want more from the two. "Gunz Come Out", which is your less than typical Dre track, is just that dark hard-thumping gun-talk track that worked so well for "Heat". Slow horns play throughout that sound like a processional march and pounding pianos come in to compliment it. Overall it's another classic Dre & 50 track, but kinda unsatisfying knowing this is the only other spot from Dre. More of the same gun talk, comes from the high energy "My Toy Soldier" that you can't help but compare to "My Buddy" from the G-Unit album. Tony Yayo drops the all to frequent quick verse at the end of the track.

"Position of Power" has a pretty nice piano loop, although the hook is not the best. 50's typical lyrics fit nicely with the beat and are slightly more light hearted (more of a hustler song).

The album, which was carrying along pretty well, has a lot of faults towards the end.

The Scott Storch "Build You Up" has a pretty nice beat, but the Thug Luv type track is defiantly gonna be another love it or hate it track. Jamie Foxx's chorus isn't nearly as memorable as the one for "Slow Jams", it basically could have been sung by any typical R&B singer.
"God Gave Me Style" is pretty forgettable, though some might argue his cheesy lyrics here show "depth" or whatever... I'm not buying it.
"So Amazing" is SO much like a Ja Rule/Ashanti track it's sick. How could 50 possible put this song after he ripped JA for releasing this same garbage? This track is a huge disappointment, I'm not sure at all what he was thinking (nor how could Dre or Em let him put this out.)

If that wasn't bad enough, the "I Don't Need Em" COMPLETELY jacks Ghostface's "Metal Lungies" on the Pretty Toney Album. Did he think that no one would notice?? I cannot believe 50 did this, considering Ghostface's album wasn't even released more than a year ago. This really leaves the album off on a sour note for a real rap fan.

Both regular & collector's editions have the 'bonus' track "Hate It Or Love it (Remix)". The original is a great song and both the Game and 50 brought some great lyrics. Here, both 50's verses are the same, the Game's first verse is different (and actually better), the rest of G-Unit adds on a small verse, but they really sound out of place. They don't work well on the track, making this Bonus not very rewarding.

Before concluding the review of the album - despite the fact it doesn't cost much more, THE COLLECTORS EDITION IS NOT ANY BETTER. You're better off saving the $5 bucks or so and skipping the nude photos included (which is really the only difference i can see).

As good as this album can be at times, it equally falls flat in other areas. The album is just too long (1 hour and 17 min!), especially when it has more than it's fair share of duds. The Massacre would get some serious help if it was a bit more picky with the track selection, in paticular towards the end.
Fans can expect the same from 50 lyrically for the most part, which is either good or bad depending on how you look at it. Another slight problem is you almost can't help but compare a lot of the tracks from "Massacre" to 50 or G-Unit's previous work, because they just sound like they fit the same formula all too well.

Bottom Line: There's plenty of material on here that is good quality (from 50 Cent standards) and fans will end up loving the album because of this. Despite the fact that there are way too many weak tracks, the strengths will satisfy just as they did on "Get Rich", and "Massacre" will probably go at least 4x Platinum. This album as a whole is merely ok, because the good and bad balance out pretty evenly, but even knowing ahead of time won't stop anybody from picking up "The Massacre".

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Holy piece of crap, January 26, 2006

By	Nate_dog - See all my reviews

50 Cent is no big shakes as a rapper, but as a lyricist he's a disaster. He can't do metaphors - at one juncture he claims to have the dancefloor "hot as a tea kettle" - and his idea of humour involves referring to fellatio as "licking the lollipop". He can't even insult people properly. There's nothing except a string of cliches so limited that repetition is unavoidable, as evidenced by the opening trio of tracks. In My Hood, on which he threatens to beat someone's girlfriend up, is followed by This Is 50, on which he boasts about his arsenal of "clips" and "hollow tips"; this precedes I'm Supposed to Die Tonight, on which he throws caution to the wind and threatens to beat someone's girlfriend up, then boasts about his arsenal of "clips" and "hollow tips".

The Massacre sounds like the work of someone for whom music is merely a sideline, a distraction from the serious business of perpetuating a violent, ghoulish side-show. Depressingly, you suspect 50 Cent knows exactly what his audience wants.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Worst album of 2005, December 19, 2005

By	Eddie (Miami, Florida) - See all my reviews

Guess who's back? 50 Cent. And so am I so I can tell the people of America the worst album of 2005. Last year Ashlee Simpson's "Autobiography" took home honors, and now 50 Cent's "The Massacre" is our new award winner. And for all the gangster suburban teenyboppers who are going to give me a bunch of negative votes when this review will save your life, or at least your music life, unless you commit suicide after spending your hard, earned cash on trash from 50 Cent.

I like music. I listen to music acts like Metallica, The Rolling Stones, The Doors, The Who and The Beatles. Also as for modern performers, I like listening to rappers like Nas, Jay-Z, Kanye West and nu-metal acts like System of a Down. Old rap like Public Enemy, Beastie Boys and the fathers of gangsta rap, N.W.A. and Ice Cube. So, this is talented performers. And then along comes this whole little commercial bubble-gum pop-rap like 50 Cent, G-Unit and Twista and all that other garbage. They release albums, get played out on MTV and the radio and become multi-billionaires with bodyguards, cooks and drivers.

50 Cent's "The Massacre" is torture. ALl the beats suck. Especially on the hit "Just A Lil Bit", which is quite possibly the worst song written in the last 15 years. "Disco Inferno" is a carbon-copy of "On Fire" from Lloyd Banks. And then "Candy Shop"... 50 Cent dissed Ja-Rule for making queer, wimpie songs with Ashanti. So he makes a bubble-gum pop song like "Candy Shop" with Olivia who has half the talent of Ashanti. The biggest disgrace ever is that 50 Cent ruined Ja-Rule, yet he is copying his exact style which would lead to Ja-Rule's downfall, which now its 50 Cent's downfall. Everything else wouldn't cut it on any other album, and are just filler.

Since 2003's "Get Rich or Die Tryin'", 50 Cent has completely been hypocritical acting like he is all hard and he is really not because he ain't shooting or killing anyone lately. Get lost buddy, because maybe a great 2Pac type rapper will come along and show the rap long and put an end to 50 Cent. That will be the day... as for now, your mission is to show everyone who listens to this some great rap, like Public Enemy or the Beastie Boys. ANd then get them into good rock. So white kids, give me all negative votes, cause you know that this sucks!