50 Cent Curtis Jackson Critical Essay

Curtis James Jackson, known worldwide as 50 Cent, is one of the most successful rappers of his time. He has produced many hits as a singer, and one of his greatest hits is Many Men. The song was produced in 2003 in the album, Get Rich or Die Tryin. 50 Cent wrote Many Men after he was caught in a shooting where he was shot nine times from his hand, legs, and his chest. He miraculously survived the shooting. Once recovered from the shooting was when 50 Cent decided to write one of the greatest hits of all time that he has ever produced. The song shows a lot of emotion since it was about the shooting that almost took his life away. He talks about how a lot of people wish death against him when he’s trying to accomplish and succeed in life as a rapper. The reason why 50 Cent wrote this song was to express himself how he felt about the fact that people wanted him dead and actually tried to take his life away. The song starts off by saying, â€Å"Many men, wish death upon me blood in my eye dawg and I can’t see I’m trying to be what I’m destined to be And niggaz trying to take my life away† (Jackson). This quote explains the distress in 50 Cent’s voice by saying these lyrics. This quote means a lot, 50 Cent lets us know that many people wish he was dead, he also reflects to the night of the shooting with the blood in his eye, and how he’s trying to become a rapper and succeed and become famous while people are trying to take his life away. Those couple of lines shows a lot of where 50 Cent comes from. As a young boy he had a very hard lifestyle, dealing drugs and robberies were part of his daily routine as he would make a living. Working on music really helped straighten him up as he focused on becoming a name in the rap industry and getting away from the drug business. There were a lot of people that had hate on 50 Cent, which led to the shooting that night and which was meant to take his life away. The beat to the song goes really well to the flow of the lyrics, and makes the listeners really get zoned in to the song and to what message he’s trying to say in it. The chorus talks about people wishing death upon him and how he doesn’t cry anymore and doesn’t look up to the sky anymore, and for the lord to have mercy on him. He makes the readers feel the pain he went through and the pain he still goes through being 50 Cent. Being rich and famous like 50 Cent doesn’t mean you have everything made for you. Having a substantial amount of fame can sometimes lead to trouble, as we saw with the accident with 50 Cent. In the chorus it says, â€Å"Many men, many, many, many, many men Wish death ‘pon me Lord I don’t cry no more Don’t look to the sky no more Have mercy on me Have mercy on my soul Somewhere my heart turned cold† (Jackson). By 50 Cent saying this, you can easily comprehend the pain he was in and the damage that will always be there with him, both physically and mentally, for the rest of his life. The beginning of the song starts off with 50 Cent and a friend talking to each other. You can then hear a car racing towards them and braking really hard, and then you hear the shots being fired. He does this to reflect back to the shooting. By doing this he lets people know what this song was meant for and why he made it. Even though it was a horrific scene, he reflects on it to show people what he’s all about and how he came back from it. The lyrics for this song come from his bottom of his heart. He expresses himself in a very unique way, something not every rapper can do. The fact that he sings about his life gives the song more meaning to it, especially since it was about him in the brink of losing his life. One of the verses that stand out the most in the song says, â€Å"Are you illiterate nigga? You can’t read between the lines In the bible it says, ‘what goes around, comes around’ Almost shot me, three weeks later he got shot down Now it’s clear that I’m here, for a real reason ‘Cause he got hit like I got hit, but he ain’t fucking breathing† (Jackson). This verse really stands out in this song. He starts off by calling out the guy who shot him saying if he’s an â€Å"illiterate nigga†, and then referring to the bible in a very straight forward manner. He then refers to the guy shooting him and how three weeks later he got shot, so that’s how the bible line comes to play. He then says how the guy got shot just like he did but the shooter actually died unlike 50 Cent, that’s how he knows he’s meant to be in this world and things happen for a reason. By referring to the bible in that verse, it shows how 50 Cent is close to God and that he has a relationship with him. He uses another line in his song that refers to God and he says, â€Å"Every night I talk to god, but he don’t say nothing back I know he protecting me, but I still stay with my gat†. Once again this shows how he has a relationship with God. Mentioning God in a song must be really special for him. Even though he says how he knows he’s being protected by God, the line after that means that he still carries a gun with him. This shows how the incident really got to him to the point where he needs to carry a gun with him to feel safe even though he knows God is protecting him and by his side. Overall the song Many Men in the album Get Rich or Die Trying was an absolute success. 50 Cent expresses his feelings in a very unique way to the people about an incident that almost took his life away. As we may know now, 50 Cent is in this world for a reason. He would always be remembered as one of the greatest rappers of all time and for the name that he made for himself. Like he says in his song, â€Å"You can call me the Don†.