50 Cent on what fans can expect on his 20th anniversary tour (not upside down crunches)
NEW YORK – "It was the best body of work at that time."
50 Cent is giving "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" a tour encore.
The Grammy-winning artist, 47, announced a 20th-anniversary tour, The Final Lap, to celebrate his debut studio album Friday. Busta Rhymes is joining him for all 90 days and Jeremih is coming along for the North American stops.
50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) helped define an era of hip-hop with his 2003 album that included hits "In Da Club," "21 Questions," and "Many Men (Wish Death)." Several of the songs referenced the moment he was shot nine times in 2000 as well as various happenings from street life in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York.
The album also popularized hip-hop artists rapping and singing, laying the foundation for Drake, 6LACK, Monaleo, Doechii, Ty Dolla $ign and more.
Two decades later, 50 Cent jokes the anniversary of "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" means "I'm getting old."
What can you expect for 50 Cent's The Final Lap tour with Busta Rhymes and Jeremih?
If you saw the rapper perform the album in the past, don't expect the same from this tour. "It’s going to be a whole new show," he promises.
"Sometimes out of habit, you go to certain records," 50 Cent says. "People love other things on it, so I want to make sure I touch those records before I don’t do those anymore."
One thing you shouldn't expect from the tour is upside-down crunches, a move he did in the music video for "In Da Club" and recreated during a guest appearance at the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show headlined by Snoop Dogg, Mary J. Blige, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Kendrick Lamar.
"I think that was a mistake for the Super Bowl," he says. "Everybody else walked in regular, the songs still went over and they got the trophy, too. They all won an Emmy. They got the same thing I got and I had to put myself upside down."
50 Cent jokingly adds that someone should have intervened, because if he fell, he would've been made fun of for years to come. It was high risk over reward.
In contrast, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" has proved to be all reward. After all, he did get rich.
Here's more from USA TODAY's interview with 50 Cent:
Question: Did you know the revolutionary impact you'd have rapping and singing on "Get Rich or Die Tryin'"?
Answer: It's not really a revolution. If you're going to make music that is going to be world music, it has to have melodies. English is not their first speaking language in a lot of places that I travel. What (those crowds) follow is the melody until they understand what you're saying.
Drake is the new, stronger version like that because he can do a whole pop record, sing the whole song. I've never done that. He'll say that I'm one of those influences. ... That’s a big compliment because he's established himself and done great work.
Would you ever collaborate with Drake?
That would be a good one.
How did you learn to perfect your craft?
Luckily enough I was able to run into Jam Master Jay from Run DMC and he took an interest in (my music). He helped develop me as an artist in the very beginning (and) taught me my song structure.
He would make me write the chorus to the song twice or three times before we decided which one and then write the rest of the record. "P.I.M.P." has two (choruses) on the record and that instinctively comes from because of how I learned how to write music.
Who is your dream male collaborator?
I mean in music.
I'd do something with Eminem again. We'll do something again at some point.
Who is your dream female collaborator?
Nicki Minaj. She's on fire. She's still right there.
Would you ever retire from making music?
I've retired several times. Because specifically, hip-hop is not something that you "work." In the culture, you work in it and you start to look at everything that happens like new artists to keep in touch with what's going on in music.
You can't see limitations with hip-hop, because look at what artists from hip-hop have done. You look at Will Smith in film, Mark Wahlberg in film, you look at Queen Latifah, L.L. Cool J. They've done phenomenal work and it was harder to do it in the time because they wouldn't let people in, specifically African Americans.
50 Cent The Final Lap – North American tour dates:
The Final Lap – European tour dates:
Additional dates for Australia, New Zealand, Asia and Europe will be released at a later time.
How to buy tickets to 50 Cent's tour
Fans who registered for 50 Cent's Ticketmaster Verified Fan presale and receive an access code can buy tickets to North American shows May 10 on Ticketmaster.com.
The general sale for North American shows begins Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m. local time on Ticketmaster.com.
For European tour dates, local presales start on May 10 at 10 a.m. local time on 50Cent.com.
The general sale for European shows begins Friday, May 12 at 10 a.m. local time on 50Cent.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 50 Cent tour: Rapper on 2023 concerts, Drake and being upside down
