Having reviewed Before I Self Destruct back in 2009 and rewarding it with a PARLÉ, I hesitated to do a review of Animal Ambition – primarily because for most of these last 5 years, I’ve found myself listening to earlier 50 Cent cuts from earlier 50 albums as opposed to anything that was featured on Before I Self Destruct. Nevertheless, it can be argued that Animal Ambition is better than Before I Self Destruct for one reason and one reason alone – 50 stays true to the style that made him popular – an effective combination of aggressive hubris and verbal onslaughts on anyone that finds this hubris overdone and over talked about. 50 noted in Complex Magazine that the album is about an “untamed desire to win…prosperity, ambition and entrepreneurial energy from a distorted perspective.” Hmm, that about partially sums up this 11 track collection (14 if you count the 3 songs on the deluxe edition).
“Hold On” opens the album with 50 asserting “I woke up this morning/this is insane, rich as a muthafucka and ain’t shit changed.” The beat is fit for Fiddy allowing him to spit some verses that uphold the album’s theme. The issue with the track is that we’ve seen this before and given this is an album 5 years in the making that is a problem because it makes one wonder if the rest of the album will be like this – that s**t really hasn’t changed. Yet, many of the other songs featured on Animal Ambition make up for the lackluster opener such as “Pilot,” that’s full of all of the vainglory that 50 frequently comments on; and “Everytime I Come Around,” where he returns to similar topics presented on “Wanksta,” “Many Men” and “Fully Loaded Clip.”
“Irregular Heartbeat” helps to support the tactless demeanor that fans have been looking for quite frankly since the No Mercy, No Fear mixtape, which dropped in 2002. Most of the songs that follow this one provide more an animal feel than a success tone. On “Chase The Paper,” Fiddy combines both contexts, but after hearing the menacing “Irregular Heartbeat,” and even the last track “The Funeral” it pales in comparison.
There seems to be two different 50 Cents on this album – the shameless blunt emcee that flagrantly creates candid manifestos and a shopworn rapper that has learned to play on the sentiments of fans knowing they will eat up the outdated m.o. of generic rhythms and commercialized rapping etiquette. That doesn’t mean that Animal Ambition is a bad album despite the debatably corny opener. In fact, it features memorable rhymes and brings 50 Cent back into the Hip-Hop discussion as more than a mere memory – even though whatever cred it has now will more than likely be eclipsed when Street King Immortal drops later this year.
Prime Cuts: “Irregular Heartbeat,” “I’m A Hustler,” & “The Funeral”
Animal Ambition receives a PARLÉ
Rating:
P…Horrible
PA…Tolerable
PAR…Good
PARL… Kinda Great
PARLÉ… Classic
Also Check Out:
Me. I Am Mariah… The Elusive Chanteuse – Mariah Carey album review
All Things Fall Apart… 50 Cent movie review
50 Cent – The Lost Tape mixtape download
Did 50 Cent Kill WorldStar Hip-Hop?
50 Cent – 5 Murder By Numbers mixtape download
