In da Club

Background

After 50 Cent was discovered by rapper Eminem in 2002, he flew to Los Angeles where he was introduced to record producer Dr. Dre. "In da Club" was the first of seven tracks he recorded in five days with Dr. Dre. 50 Cent described the studio sessions, saying:

Dre, he'll play dope beats ... [He'll say], 'These are the hits, 50. So pick one of these and make a couple of singles or something.' The very first time he heard [me rap on] 'In Da Club' he said, 'Yo, I didn't think you was going to go there with it, but, you know, it works.' He was probably thinking of going in a different direction with that song. Then he expanded it into a hit record.

The production was originally given to the hip hop group D12, but was passed on to 50 Cent because the group did not know how to approach the song. He recorded the track with only the drum beat present. Since much of the content on Get Rich or Die Tryin' was "dark", he wanted to write material that was "the exact opposite". He called the song a "celebration of life. Every day it's relevant all over 'cause every day is someone's birthday."

Critical reception

"In da Club" was lauded by music critics. AllMusic described it as "a tailor-made mass-market good-time single". The Source called the song a "guaranteed party starter" with its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps". The BBC also wrote that the song is "a spectacular party anthem" that "highlights 50 Cent's ability to twist his words effortlessly". Entertainment Weekly noted that 50 Cent "boasts unashamedly of his career objectives and newly flush bank account" with lyrics such as "I'm feelin' focus, man, my money on my mind/Got a mil out the deal and I'm still on the grind."

Rolling Stone wrote that the song sports "a spare yet irresistible synth hook augmented by a tongue-twisting refrain".The Guardian called the track "irresistible" due to its "sparse orchestral samples and snaking chorus", and Pitchfork Media said, "the bounce on 'In da Club' is straight-up irresistible, Dre at both his minimalist best and most deceptively infectious." Splendid magazine called the song an "insanely catchy" single with its "stanky, horn-addled thump". The track was listed at number ten on Blender magazine's "The 500 Greatest Songs Since You Were Born". In 2008, it was ranked at number 18 on VH1's "100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs".

Chart performance

"Before my album Get Rich or Die Tryin' came out, there was a big debate about what the first single should be. Jimmy Iovine thought it should be the one that Dr. Dre produced, 'If I Can't'. But Em wanted 'In Da Club'. In the end they were deadlocked, so they asked me and I told them, real quiet, 'In Da Club'." – 50 Cent

"In da Club" became 50's first number one. It peaked at #1 for 9 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 and remained on the chart for 30 weeks. The track also reached #1 on the Top 40 Tracks, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, and Hot Rap Tracks charts. In March 2003, it broke a Billboard record as the "most listened-to" song in radio history within a week. Billboard also ranked it as the No. 1 song for 2003. The Recording Industry Association of America certified the track Gold.

Nominated for Best Male Rap Solo Performance and Best Rap Song at the 2004 Grammy Awards, it lost to Eminem's "Lose Yourself".

Across Europe, it reached number one in Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland, Austria, Belgium, Finland, Greece, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands, and number three in United Kingdom. In Australia, the single peaked at number one, was certified two times Platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association, and on the 2003 year-end chart, it was listed at number five.

Music video

Phillip Atwell directed the music video on December 10–11, 2002. Almost all the film footage was used in the video except for a scene where 50 Cent raps in a glass box. The video is set in a fictional hip hop boot camp known as the Shady/Aftermath Artist Development Center. It begins with a black Hummer driving to the facility at an unknown location. Video clips from Eminem's single "Without Me" are seen playing in the entrance on flat screen TVs. We see Eminem & Dr. Dre looking down at the lab from a lab balcony with windows. 50 Cent is introduced by hanging upside down from the roof of a gym. Atwell commented, "I think I could have done better with it, but I really liked the way that it turned out". The video also contains a shooting range, which Atwell felt was appropriate because 50 Cent had been shot nine times. He said, "creatively, I felt like we were able to put guns in a video and have it play. And I like it when you are able to play within the standards and still give the artist something symbolic of what they are going for."

The video ends with the camera zooming out of the club to reveal a two-way mirror with Eminem and Dr. Dre in white lab uniforms, observing 50 Cent and taking notes. Atwell stated that "seeing 50 with Dre and Em having his back is as big a visual statement as it is a musical statement" and the shot was significant because it made clear the club was inside the center and not unrelated performance footage. On January 27, 2003, the video debuted on MTV's Total Request Live at number nine and stayed on the chart for fifty days. It also reached number one on the MuchMusic video charts. At the 2003 MTV Video Music Awards, the video was awarded Best Rap Video and Best New Artist and was nominated for Video of the Year, Best Male Video, and Viewer's Choice. Cameos include: Dr. Dre, Eminem, D12, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, Game (in his first cameo appearance), Bang' Em Smurf, Young Buck, Xzibit and DJ Whoo Kid.

Lawsuit

In January 2006, 50 Cent was sued for copyright infringement by former 2 Live Crew manager Joseph Weinberger, who owns the rights to the rap group's catalog. He claimed that 50 Cent plagiarized the lines "it's your birthday" from the eponymous second track of former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell's 1994 album Freak for Life 6996 (also known simply as Freak for Life). The lawsuit was dismissed by U.S. District Judge Paul Huck, who ruled that the phrase was a "common, unoriginal and noncopyrightable element of the song".

Remixes

Many remixes for the song have been made by artists including Beyoncé, Mary J. Blige, P. Diddy, Lil Wayne and many others who rapped their own verses over the song's instrumentals.

"Sexy Lil Thug"

In 2003, American recording artist Beyoncé recorded a remix version of "In da Club" titled "Sexy Lil Thug". Her version sampled the original's instrumental and melody with the singer singing her own, newly added verses. In the song, she references Jimmy Choo shoes, Marilyn Monroe, Marc Jacobs, and Bailey Bank and Biddle. Makkada B. Selah of The Village Voice said, "Her version of 'In da Club' outed 50 Cent as a singing-ass rapper with lines like 'Don't wanna be your girl/I ain't lookin' for no love/So come give me a hug/You a sexy little thug.'" Joey Guerra of the Houston Chronicle coined Beyoncé's cover version as a "female spin" on the original. The song was officially released on Beyoncé's mixtape Speak My Mind. According to Guerra of the Houston Chronicle, the song was never an official single, likely because of permission issues. Beyoncé's version of the song charted for 7 weeks and peaked at number 67 on the US Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. In 2013, Mike Wass of the website Idolator put "Sexy Lil Thug" at number six on his list of "Beyonce's 10 Best Unreleased And Rare Tracks". He described it as a "radio staple" in 2003, adding that it "remains something of a lost gem" and concluded "Queen Bey spit iconic lyrics like 'I’m that classy mami with the Marilyn Monroe body'". An unauthorised mashup popular in Britain combined 50 Cent's vocals with the theme tune to Thomas the Tank Engine.

Appearances in other media

The song is featured in the films Soul Plane, Shark Tale, Beauty Shop, Dead Tone, and Detention. It's also featured in the television shows The Wire, CSI: Crime Scene Investigaiton, Revenge, and The Fall.

Personnel

Information taken from the liner notes of Get Rich or Die Tryin'.