No Wonder He Lost (Curtis - 50 Cent)

Member Name: XICripZ

Product:	Curtis - 50 Cent
Date:	01/08/09 (40 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A few big tunes

Disadvantages: Nothing apart from the singles are worth listening to

"Curtis", a self-entitled release, was the third official solo effort from the Queens, New York rapper 50 Cent in 2007. It was a pretty significant one of the time as its release was built up as one that would have 50 square up against Kanye West for sales against his "Graduation" release. As it went, commercially, Kanye beat him, and although predictably, 50 Cent didn't quit as he said he would if he lost the sales war, he did still have something worth listening to (as a change from his last release in 2005).

1. "Intro"

2. "My Gun Go Off"

He takes things to a predictable place as he begisn the album and turns straight to the gun raps as he does the whole Gangsta Rap thing and comes with lots of murder talk. It does very little for him and offer nothing new whatsoever, so it sounds a bit pointless and starts this, his third, album to a rather weak start as he does something that all expect and does it all of rather plain production (especially from an ex-member of the Average White Band).

**One Star**

3. "Man Down"

With much more power coming through in the production (as Don Cannon and Detroit Red come together) you find that it means that you don't really have to complain about the fact that the artist doesn't do anything particularly original in this one either, but it does mean that it gives you the chance to actually engage with the music to some degree, but having him talk of how he is just going to mindlessly kill, it isn't special.

**Two Stars**

4. "I'll Still Kill"

Now moving onto one of the multiple singles from the album, this was, for me, the worst that he dropped from it, and this (going by other experiences with his guest appearances) is down to Akon's role as the hook man. The content of the material is completely unchanged form the track prior to it, once gain showing his originality, but you do see some advancements in the quality of the rhymes (coming in handy in time for the next tune on the album).

**One Star**

5. "I Get Money"

Going off a killer sample, using lines from the chorus of Audio Two' "Top Billin'", this oen is a straight club banger of a tune for the artist and one which is directly solely to let people know just how much he is raking in. It features some hardcore bass and from here the rapper goes hard with his lines, off the hype of Milk D's high-pitched voice for a great effect. It is killer and one of the best that the record has to offer (only the remix beats it).

**Five Stars**

6. "Come And Go"

As Dr. Dre is on the production, you just can't complain of what you get on this one (as he comes with something that seems to take things to his newer, post-"2001" style). It is one tha is composed well but as ever 50 Cent does very little to take things to another level (and I can't see how Dre can have allowed him to sing an adapted version of "Just Be Good To Me" to ruin the creation he has made.

**Two Stars**

7. "Ayo Technology"

After giving this one some time to die down in popularity, I can finally say that I like it again (as it was a song you couldn't miss towards the end of 2007 and a good proportion of 2007 - significantly overplayed) the track was rinsed of its quality. However, it is one that needed the airplay it received as here you have the artist coming in strong with soft club material as he links up with the R&B singer Justin Timberlake.

**Five Stars**

8. "Follow My Lead"

After the hype of the track prior to it, you have a tune that seems perfectly fitting to come off it as you see that here the artist is made to be tamed as The Bizness gets on the production and comes with a classy joint. It is a soothing tune and takes appears as a shock tune on the album to really turn things around and enables him to turn to the girls as he works with the R&B singer Robin Thicke, to show that he has improved this side of things (just still isn't quite at the LL Cool J standard).

**Two Stars**

9. "Movin' On You"

This one has him working off some Jake One beats, and I felt that they were something that suited his style (one that seems to be pretty unchanged since 2003's "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'") and in this case you see that the rapper does one that doesn't really serve any real purpose on the album at all as he performs one where he simply experiments with his rhyming style and the melodies and doesn't really stick to any real themes.

**One Star**

10. "Straight To The Bank"

This tune was one of the biggest tracks from the album, and just as "Ayo Technology" as one that I simply couldn't enjoy at the time when it dropped,. But after going it some time to mature, I can appreciate it much more as you see that he does a fly, laid-back joint where he simply rhymes about the amount of money he is able to rake in and the story (that any fan would already know) about his pursuit up to that point.

**Three Stars**

11. "Amusement Park"

Here he moves on into one of the other big single form the album, but in this case I did feel this one from the get-go, and as it wasn't really as impactful as many of the others, it didn't get over-done with excessive airplay. Here he does some themed rhymes in the "Candy Shop" format, but unlike that terrible one, this one has him refining it to a place where it sounds quite classy and much more impressive.

**Four Stars**

12. "Fully Loaded Clip"

After a couple relatively strong ones, you find that there is a bit of an improvement in the general thing, but really it doesn't match the level that you get with the singles from the album and so it could easily go unnoticed on the album. Here he does one where he seems to go over lots of lines he's already used, and references lots of typical things (for a Hip Hop album), and so you can't actually going to excite many.

**One Star**

13. "Peep Show"

This is an unexpected one on the album, and not only does it get something new out of 50 Cent, but also the producer and guest rappers (who in this one is Eminem) as here you get a rare club tune from Em', who does things in a style that, needs some time to feel the strange structure of, but certainly stands as one of the better tracks from the album and one on the album that adds to the diversity of it.

**Three Stars**

14. "Fire"

Keeping to the club scene, this one has him jumping on even more of Dre's beats, and once again 50 manages to ruin what he does by coming with a tune that has him using a very weka delivery style and recruiting to people who seem like reasonable choices for guests on a 50 track (Young Buck and Nicole Scherzinger) but don't actually fit in a track together where the Pussycat Doll represents the rapper's Pop elements, and Buck is about the Gangsta Rap material.

**One Star**

15. All Of Me"

After taking some time to get back on track, you find that as Jake One restores the order, and you get a perfect guest in Mary J. Blige, this one makes for one of the best tunes on the album and has the rapper forced to adapt is style to quite a significant degree to fit in with the much more mature style for this one and come out with a tune that has him coming out with more of the laid-back flows where attention turns to the girls.

**Three Stars**

16. "Curtis 187"

With Havoc of Mobb Deep on the production, this one has him (as the title suggests) turning back towards the Gangsta Rap style. When you consider how often he does it, this one is rather unmemorable and has him doing very little for the album as he returns to the type of thing that started the album and simply fill up time on the pointlessly-long record. It is monotonous, and I can't see who can enjoy this (after having so any just like this before).

**One Star**

17. "Touch The Sky"

With Kanye using one of 50's big lines in one of the most popular singles form his 2007 album (on "Good Life") here you see 50 using the title to one of 'Ye's big singles here. It is one that, form the start, I knew I was going to have problems with as you see that here he raps with fellow G-Unit member Tony Yayo, and I simply can't do with his voice, and so all it did was annoy me (which 50 worsen by taking from the style of various other artists) just in time to finish the album.

**One Star**

I can see why the singles that were chosen, were chosen for the album as really they are the only tracks on the record worth something and the rest is just a straight flop from the artist and has him doing things in the same way he has since he made his big break in 2003 (no wonder his lost to Kanye West).

Summary: 50 Cent's third album