Where Were You When "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" Dropped?

On the 10-year anniversary, we take a look back.

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Complex Original

Image via Complex Original

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It's been 10 years since 50 Cent's debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin' changed the face of hip-hop forever. 50 Cent was larger than life—a game-changer, the ultimate gangster rap crossover, a man who showed up as a legend, ready to become another one. Co-signed by one of the most singular and crucial entities of contemporary rap, Eminem, and the genre's most important producer, Dr. Dre, with a full street pedigree and a fearless persona, he eclipsed the competition.

It was the biggest opening statement since Doggystyle. It was proof of the importance of mixtape hustle in a new music economy. It solidified the reinvention Dr. Dre began on 2001. It initiated G-Unit's rap game takeover. And, ultimately, it became hip-hop's commercial peak, at the height of the genre's domination of Top 40.

We spoke with the OGs—artists from the era of 50's pop chart takeover, whose influence is pervasive to this very day—as well as the young'uns (artists who were only kids when Curtis Jackson was emerging as one of pop music's dominant stars).

We wanted to know: How did it feel to be them when they first heard Get Rich or Die Tryin'? What did they hear? What was that moment like? And how has it influenced them since? Whatever the answer, a consistent theme emerged: Get Rich or Die Tryin's lasting legacy isn't just an album, but also, the way everything changed the moment 50 dropped it.

As told to Joe LaPuma, Ernest Baker, David Drake, Lauren Nostro, and Insanul Ahmed.

RELATED: The 25 Best 50 Cent Rants
RELATED: 25 Rap Albums From The Past Decade That Deserve Classic Status 

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Pusha T

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"At the time, we were both managed by Chris Lighty. And, man, it was at the height of his musical rise and his beef was just as high as his musical rise. [Laughs.] I remember having to go through back entrances and so on. I was at the Meadowlands and there was a shooting at the bus and all of that.  I remember it was crazy drama. But it was crazy drama nightly. Security was high because of the attempts at 50 and the whole G-Unit gang. It was serious.

"The tour, though, was so great because the energy from the fans was just amazing. 50 was the newest, hottest artist. All the stars had aligned for him. It was interesting to see him be in work mode, but have this type of beef going on. His beefs were really real, and he was really performing to the best of his ability every night. All of them were. And then it would be like high security lock down afterwards.

"50 didn’t let it get to him at all—not that I saw. We weren’t talking about it, but I knew what the hell was going on because I knew the way in which I had to move in regards to the tour.


 

50 was the newest, hottest artist. All the stars had aligned for him. It was interesting to see him be in work mode, but have this type of beef going on. His beefs were really real, and he was really performing to the best of his ability every night.


 

"I like 50 Cent. I've said it numerous times, G-Unit was my favorite label. And his mission—I still respect his mission and what he was doing to this day. I just like the fact that it was like, ‘Fuck everybody, it’s just about my crew.’ As you can see, when your fame started to get from outside of that motto, that’s when things started breaking down. I always respected 50 just because it was like, he saw it. It all reminds me of the streets. He handled his business in the crew in a sense of, it seemed like, street rules.

"If there’s a few crews getting money in the streets, for example. A lot of times, they don’t cross paths. And if they do, it’s a line that is totally drawn. It’s like, ‘Listen, I’m all about my crew, they all about their crew and that's just what it is.’ He had that same motto and that same mentality [with business]. I understood where he was coming from in wanting to keep his circle tight. When things started to get a little different and people started deviating from that motto, I believe that’s why things began to unravel.

"Get Rich or Die Tryin' was a classic album because, to me, musically, everything aligned. Even just as far as the times, the controversy, everything was just in line. It was a whole body of work. It wasn’t just a lyrical thing to me. And that’s usually what I’m about. Whereas I might have been like, ‘Damn, the lyrics weren’t the best on a particular song, but the hook was crazy. It married the beat well' and the lyrics weren’t bad, it just wasn’t my particular Jay-Z level of intricacy. And it made me have a whole other outlook, because I’m like, ‘Damn, I can love this and I can like this and I do see the greatness in it without it being what I strive for.’ 50 Cent made me look at music and writing differently."

Funkmaster Flex

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"I remember being in the club and the vinyl was still popping then and you could play six or seven records off that album and send the club into a frenzy. "'What Up Gangsta,' 'Poor Lil Rich,' '21 Questions,' and of course 'In Da Club'." "P.I.M.P" was hard too, that was mean. 50 was in the zone. He was coming off hot mixtapes. That was kind of the first time an artist was riding and he brought his whole team with him.

"Usually an artist comes out, sells a little bit then brings out artists. He kind of had the artists next to him in the whole album. From the freestyles to mixtapes. I remember him, Yayo and Banks coming out and doing a freestyle on my show and they all kept yelling '50 could retire if he wanted to!'

"The freestyle was mean that night. That album was a combination of every part of the United States. He had Nate Dogg giving you that West Coast feel. 50 always had a little South in him to me. Queens was always represented. It was an amazing album. It was also a hard album for him to top, a hard album for a lot of people to top.

"'In Da Club' was so hard, man. I spoke to him or something and he eluded towards having a single and I didn't hear it but if you listen to that freestyle on my show, he does the hook to "In Da Club." He knew he had a smash. I remember in the club to tell a girl 'Go shawty, it's your birthday' was disrespectful. It wasn't cool, that wasn't nice. That was usually leading towards a woman being loose. The whole thing is we know it's not your birthday but we're saying it's your birthday just because you're on the dance floor acting silly. I thought that was funny and his verse was mean. That beat was so—that 'boom boom cha boom boom' was so crazy.


 

All those records I mentioned off his album still crank in the club. It's a different energy, it's a 10-year later classic type of remembrance to it.


 

"I never go into the booth saying I'm going to play a record on the radio for an hour straight. I'll play it and then they'll be people in the station and I just get a vibe. Like you know when a record is doing good, it's this feeling. It's all on gut feeling, I never go in there saying I'm going to play it a bunch of times. I just heard it and was like this is hard. Sometimes I hear something through a computer and then I hear it through the big speakers in the big DJ booth. Sometimes it's a better feeling, sometimes it's a worse feeling.

"That record in particular I was like, 'This is cranking!' There was no stopping it after that. I probably did that whole playing a record an hour straight on the radio with a Dre record, a Jay-Z record, and 50's record. I think Cam'ron had called a few days later like, 'I was riding the highway up to Harlem, had that record on and then when I was riding back down you still had the record on.' All those records I mentioned off his album still crank in the club. It's a different energy, it's a 10-year later classic type of remembrance to it.

"When it used to be big years ago, it was like hearing mixtape cuts in the club. It went from there to now—it's like a classic movement and people like those records. The album represented a special artist. He's been through a lot. He got shot nine or 10 times, labels weren't signing him, he got dropped from Sony. He had to regroup—come back with mixtapes. He appeared that he was still persecuted, he was being blocked, he was beefing with Ja Rule and Irv Gotti. So he was kind of in trouble and then those mixtapes man, making those mixtapes over, having those little beefs here and there-that album was reflecting the voice of the current crown holder of the street. This was like getting a dope polished mixtape from a guy that was holding the street crown so it was a big deal."

Bun B

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DJ Drama

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"Every time All-Star comes around, it always reminds me of that February '03 when All-Star was in Atlanta and 50 Cent dropped his album. That was the soundtrack for the All-Star week. For that moment, it was crazy. The whole industry was in the city and 50 was made such a monumental album.

"At that point 'In Da Club' was already a smash, but you knew '21 Questions' was definitely a hit record. I started playing records in the club to get the feel for them and saw the reaction, I saw which records were gonna go. But out of all the songs on the album, I could say probably at least eight, maybe even 10 records, could all be played in the club.


 

The South loved 50. Point blank, period, I think he was smart because he clearly embraced the South. Even before the album, he had done a record with UGK, he was cool with Juvenile and Ludacris, and he embraced Young Buck.


 

"The South loved 50. Point blank, period, I think he was smart because he clearly embraced the South. Even before the album, he had done a record with UGK, he was cool with Juvenile and Ludacris, and he embraced Young Buck. More than anything, 50 had the nation on smash so the South was no different.

"Right before the album dropped, he came down here and did a party at this club called Level 3 on Peachtree Street. I guess the promoter had got him at the perfect time because it was pandemonium. This was when the club was still open crazy late and 50 didn't even come until 4 o'clock in the morning, but it was still packed. He used to open up his shows with that Jay-Z line, 'I'm about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 cents?' Then he'd drop the coin [and come on stage]. So you knew who was about to come on when you heard that.

"You know, what 50 did, what Kanye did, what Jay-Z did, what Drake did, what Jeezy did, those were those moments when it's just that one artist and he is hip-hop for that moment. Clearly when Get Rich or Die Tryin' came out there's no argument anywhere, about anything. It was Fif's world, period."

Juicy J

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Soulja Boy

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Prodigy

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Freeway

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DJ Clark Kent

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"'Cause I was cool with 50, I heard it a little early. Like maybe two weeks early. And those guys were my friends. If you remember, I produced the "Fuck You" song, so we were already cool. And like I said: I've known 50 since he was with Jam Master Jay. 

"So I was hearing the music when it was happening. I just thought he had actually put together a super solid body of great songs. To me, with 50, it's not about the rhymes, it's about the songs. And his song-making ability was so ill that when I first heard it, I was like 'That's really, practically, a perfect album.'

"My favorite song, funny enough, on that album: "If I Can't." When I heard that, I was like 'Oh my god that's just like the insanity.' Of course, "In Da Club" was what it was, "Wanksta" had already been doing what it was. But when I heard "If I Can't" I was like 'That shit is just stupid.' And it just sounded so angry, and super clean.


 

First time I played 'In Da Club,' I think I played it like eight times in a row. I had a super early pressing of the record, and I just wore the shit into the club that night.


 

"First time I played 'In Da Club,' I think I played it like eight times in a row. I had a super early pressing of the record, and I just wore the shit into the club that night. It's just such a mean record. The energy on it made you...It's like you had no choice but to like it.

"It's not like he was trying to sell out. Imagine you go to a club, and there's a bunch of super-thugs, but when your record comes on, and you're singing in the record, these thugs are singing the record with you. They're ghetto sing-a-long records. He mastered that shit.

"Because of how much of a monster his first album was, it almost set him up to never be that successful again musically. It was too crazy. Like, even the G-Unit album that came out after that was really crazy. But the thing is, it was too big, too fast. Everything was too good, too fast. "

Tech N9ne

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"First thing I heard [of 50 Cent's] was 'How To Rob.' Then he got shot, so when I heard Get Rich, I could tell that bullet going through his cheek affected him. But he made that work for him just like Kanye made [his car crash] work for 'Through the Wire.' He made it sound good and I guess it gave him a little bit more swag.

"There were a lot of hits on that motherfucker. Everybody liked 'What Up Gangsta' because I come from a gang bang neighborhood. So he gave love to both sides. [Laughs.] 'Wanksta' was the hood jam. He had so many videos, he did the SWV thing where damn near every song was a single and had a video. It was a beautiful thing that he did.

"I remember being in the club and hearing 'In Da Club.' Everybody was talking about it before I heard it. Then I heard it in the club somewhere—I think I was down South or in Houston—and was like, 'Oh my fucking God.' I remember being in the middle of the dance floor. It was packed because everybody down South dances. I remember thinking he was so smart for saying, 'Go shorty. It's ya birthday,' because everybody can relate.

"I met a couple years ago for the first time. I went up to do a ThisIs50.com interview with Jack Thriller. 50 happened to be there. He came out of his office. I said, 'What's up brother?' He was real calm and saying how he loved the way we're doing business. I was flattered, coming from 50, because he's a businessman. In my eyes he's an MC, businessman, all that. So to hear another businessman to another say, I admire what you're doing, it's a big thing. I love to see what he's built. I think his Get Rich movie was top-notch. I think it's neck and neck with 8 Mile. I think he did a wonderful job acting.


 

I remember being in the club and hearing 'In Da Club.' Everybody was talking about it before I heard it. Then I heard it in the club somewhere—I think I was down South or in Houston—and was like, 'Oh my fucking God.'


 

"He said to me, 'Tech, I bought Mike Tysons house off of one record, 'In Da Club.' He said, 'One song Tech.' Every since then, everyone keeps saying that to me, 'Tech, you're one song away.' Every time I hear 'In Da Club,' I think of 50 saying to me, 'I bought Mike Tysons house off of one song.'

"50 probably ain't gotta do shit no more [to make money]. To still see him doing music, it lets you know that that shit is inside you because he ain't gotta do it, ever again. To see him keep doing it, it lets me know that when I think about retiring, [I can't]. When I hear a dope beat it makes me want to fucking go. I can't stop. That's all I can think of when I see 50 still doing his thing. It must be in his blood, he don't wanna let it go. He ain't gotta do it, especially if he bought Mike Tysons house with one song."

Master P

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Sha Money XL

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"The illest part about the whole thing was: My birthday is on February 11th. We dropped it a few days before because of the demand and then the whole world got it on the 11th, on my birthday, as planned. That was the best gift I could have ever gotten. We were so busy that we didn't even have time to celebrate. 50 had so much stuff to do I couldn't even celebrate my birthday. I couldn't even chill.

I knew I had a classic in my hands. I had higher predictions on that album than 50 had for himself. No one could tell me that 50 wasn't going to be the biggest rapper of this time, period. I bet everything on him. I bet my safety, I bet my life, I bet my family. We recorded in my house when people wanted to kill his ass.

"If you notice, that album is demographically covered. He covered the South—I had found Buck from hanging out with Juvenile, so that was Buck's debut as well. That was our G-Unit South extension, we were grabbing someone from the South. Working with Dre, that was West Coast. With Eminem, that's the Mid-West. So regionally we were covered.

"He did his thing for the weed heads too. 50 doesn't even smoke weed, but I was the one getting high all the time in front of him. He made that record not only an album, but he marketed the songs, personally. If you break it down it's like, this is for the weed heads, this is for the heads in the South. That's how he thought.


 

[50] was still a cheap bastard, and he didn't even want to have to hire an engineer. So I had to engineer the record too, at an all-in fee. But it was a get-rich fee. That fee made me a millionaire at 26.


 

"I engineered the album. I recorded all the vocals on that album except for what Dr. Dre did. I recorded it at my crib in my basement, so I was the engineer. If I wasn't the engineer, I was the producer. If I wasn't the producer, I was the co-producer. If I wasn't the co-producer, I was the executive producer. I was the one finding him the music to rap to.

"Damn near everything [was recorded at my crib] in Westbury, New York. Even 'In Da Club and 'Many Men' were recorded at my crib. I learned Pro Tools doing that album. 'What Up Gangsta' was recorded at my crib but I lost the vocals, so we had to re-cut those vocals. That was all recorded in my basement, that's where we did all the G-Unit shit. Every last one of them.

"After that album dropped, that was the last year he worked in my basement. After that, we hit the road for two years straight, and we seen New York for about 20 days for the whole year. We hit the road and we never returned back to that. I never moved back to that house. I moved totally up from that point on.

"I never wanted to be an engineer but we didn't have any money to pay anybody. Even when we got the check, he was still a cheap bastard, and he didn't even want to have to hire an engineer. So I had to engineer the record too, at an all-in fee. But it was a get rich fee. That fee made me a millionaire at 26. So I thank 50 Cent for that, because I got rich and I didn't die trying."

stic.man of dead prez

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Travi$ Scott

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Havoc

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Casey Veggies

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Kitty Pryde

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Theophilus London

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Young Chop

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Heems

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Rockie Fresh

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A$AP Ant

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Ty Dolla $ign

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Young Scooter

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Fredo Santana

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