[louder]

Originally Posted by Severian

I can't really listen to any of it anymore and truly enjoy it. There was a time when I really did listen to and enjoy 50, and The Masssacre is probably his best. I actually really like a couple of tracks from Before I Self Destruct ("The Invitation," "Death to my Enemies"), but I never feel a desire to listen to them.

Thing about 50 is that he was a personality above all. As a rapper, he's really pretty shite. His flow is stunted and lurches like a stalling car engine. His rhymes are flat. His delivery is flat, except for when he's just screaming himself hoarse. He raps like Puff Daddy, or Mase, only with Phil Anselmo's impotent rage.

Basically, he sucks. His good songs can be attributed to his personality, the production, the company (G-Unit), etc.

Anyway, if he thinks Jay Z's music is "too smart," I don't really know what to say to that. His head would probably explode if ever heard Gift of Gab or Aesop Rocky. Calling 4:44 "too smart," and "golf course music" (?) is just way, way off. For a guy who can be funny, he certainly is going out of his way not to be.

4:44 is like We Got it From Here... No, there's nothing new going on... nothing revolutionary, but it's a traditionalist hip-hop record, and a "thinking man's" rap record in an era when most rap is just boing-boing, slobbery, Brocolli bullshit. It's refreshing in that it captures the best of an older artist and sounds fresh in 2017.

Interestingly, there was a time that I liked 50 Cent to the point where I legitimately bumped his music quite a bit. I also had a Rick Ross phase, a Tyler phase and probably a bunch of other weird phases. Now I can hardly bring myself to enjoy their music. I respect Tyler a bit more, because he has some production skills, but meh.