Released March 3, 2005 Length 77:22 | Recorded 2004–2005 Release date 3 March 2005 | |
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Label ShadyAftermathInterscope Producer 50 Cent (exec.), Dr. Dre (also exec.), Eminem (also exec.), Scott Storch, Sha Money XL (also exec.), J.R. Rotem, Cool & Dre, Disco D, F.B.T., Hi-Tek, Luis Resto, Mike Elizondo, Needlz, Buckwild, Cue Beats, Dangerous LLC, Black Jeruz Awards American Music Award for Favorite Rap/Hip-Hop Album Nominations Grammy Award for Best Rap Album Similar 50 Cent albums, Hip hop music albums | ||
50 cent intro the massacre
The Massacre is the second studio album by American rapper 50 Cent. It was released on March 3, 2005, by Aftermath Entertainment, Shady Records and Interscope Records. The album debuted at number one on the US Billboard 200, selling 1.14 million copies in its first week. Upon its release, The Massacre received generally positive reviews from music critics. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, but lost to Kanye West's album Late Registration at the 48th Grammy Awards.
Contents
- 50 cent intro the massacre
- 50 cent i dont need em
- Background
- Commercial performance
- Critical reception
- Accolades
- Track listing
- Personnel
- Songs
- References
50 cent i dont need em
Background
The Massacre has a music video for every track on the special edition version of the album. The original title for the album was revealed as St. Valentine's Day Massacre and was arranged to be released on February 14, 2005. However, it has been postponed, while the album title has been shortened and was later changed into The Massacre. The censored version of the album censors out most profanity, violence, and all drug content. The track "Gunz Come Out" has inconsistency in the editing, and contains some profanity. In comparison, the album is not as heavily censored as his previous album Get Rich or Die Tryin', but it is still a very highly censored album ranking in severity with albums such as Jadakiss' Kiss tha Game Goodbye (2001), along with Tony Yayo's Thoughts of a Predicate Felon (2005) and Nas' Stillmatic (2001).
Commercial performance
The Massacre sold 1.14 million copies in its first week, becoming the sixth-largest opening week for an album at the time, since Nielsen SoundScan began tracking sales in 1991. This is the third best opening week for a hip hop album, behind Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP (2000), which has sold 1.76 million copies in its first week, and The Eminem Show which sold 1,322,000 copies in its first week. In 2015, the album has sold 5.36 million copies in the United States and 13 million worldwide.
Critical reception
The Massacre received generally positive reviews from music critics; it holds a score of 66 out of 100 at Metacritic. Vibe magazine found it "full of finger-pointing panache" and wrote that "50 delivers a taut, albeit less explosive, album aimed at both silencing his detractors and keeping the ladies satisfied". NME observed "a new depth to the murderous lyricism" from 50 Cent on the album. Greg Tate, writing in The Village Voice, said that, like Tupac, 50 Cent is "a ruffian who knows the value of a good pop hook", and called The Massacre "the most diabolically sensous collection of baby-making gangsta music since Pac's All Eyez." Kelefa Sanneh of The New York Times found the album to be "nearly as addictive as its predecessor" and called 50 Cent "a crafty songwriter, specializing in obvious but nearly irresistible tracks that sound better the more you hear them." In his review for The Village Voice, Robert Christgau said that 50 Cent's "ugly gangsta lies" are "incidental to the mood of the piece, which is friendly, relaxed, good-humored, and in the groove."
In a mixed review, Nathan Rabin of The A.V. Club said that, although its strengths lie in 50 Cent's "dark charisma" and "fluid delivery", the album is marred by flaws typical of "big rap releases: At nearly 78 minutes, it's far too long, wildly uneven, and not particularly cohesive sonically or thematically." Uncut magazine wrote that, despite 50 Cent's "cool menace", "not even tight productions from Eminem and Dre can stop things from flagging midway." Lynne d Johnson of Spin felt that it lacks "originality" and makes artistic concessions: "He's tryin' too hard to be everything to everybody." In a negative review for The Guardian, Alexis Petridis panned him as a lyricist and felt that the album lacks "any of the factors that make the best gangsta rap disturbingly compelling ... There's nothing except a string of cliches so limited that repetition is unavoidable".
Accolades
The Massacre was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Album, but lost to Kanye West's Late Registration. It was ranked the twenty fifth best album of the year by Rolling Stone.
Track listing
Personnel
Credits for The Massacre adapted from Allmusic.
Background
The album was re-released under the name The Massacre (Special Edition). It was re-released on September 6, 2005 with a remix of "Outta Control" featuring Mobb Deep. The re-release included a bonus DVD with music videos for all of the songs (except for Disco Inferno, Gunz Come Out and the Intro), and the trailer for the movie Get Rich or Die Tryin' excluding track 22, the G-Unit's remix to "Hate It or Love It", due to the ongoing feud between 50 Cent and The Game which leaves 21 tracks. The re-release helped the album re-climb the charts to number 2 in the United States. The original version was also re-issued using the special edition track listing leaving out the parts for the DVD.
Track listing
Informations taken from The Massacre liner notes:
Songs
1Intro/ 50 Cent / The Massacre0:41
2In My Hood3:51
3This Is 503:04