Jessica Miller
Staff Writer
Artists are rarely able to live up to the success of their first album, and Rapper 50 Cent proves this to be true with his new comeback record, “Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire to Win.”
50 Cent’s new album, “Animal Ambition,” is his first studio album since splitting with his record label and his first full-length record in five years. 50 Cent incorporates various catchy old school beats, but fails to blend them with the appropriate tune and lyrics. Although a few of the tracks are promising, 50 Cent lacks the ability to expand and experiment, ultimately creating a dull and flawed album.
After leaving Interscope records, American rapper 50 Cent made a failed comeback working with Caroline, the independent label at Capitol Music Group. “Animal Ambition” is the rapper’s sixth and first independently-released album.
50’s new album contains mostly arrogant lyrics and unexciting melodies, but the 11-track record is not a total disaster. The album opens up with “Hold On,” a lively single containing a mellow, easygoing chorus and nonchalant vocals. The song has a groovy beat combined with beautifully flowing instrumentals to make it the most notable track on the album.
“Everytime I Come Around,” featuring Kidd Kidd, entertains with toe-tapping beats and an alluring hook. The funky chorus creates a classic rap anthem that has the potential to be a hit, along with strong base and keyboard sounds.
Despite a few good tracks, most of the songs on “Animal Ambition” fail to integrate 50’s symphonic, passionate beats from the rapper’s past albums. Simplistic songs like “Don’t Worry About It” disappoint with lyrics that simply say the title over and over and lack any originality. Almost every line of the track begins with “Don’t worry ‘bout” and ends with a lyric about money, cars, or fame, making it superficial and uninteresting.
Although the rapper’s music has worsened, 50 Cent’s songs continue to be about the same thing: money, drugs, and fame, proven by the titles “Chase the Paper” and “Smoke,” making the songs idealistic and contemptuous. The album has meaningless lyrics which prevents people from connecting to the music.
However, “Animal Ambition” does contain some promising songs such as “Chase the Paper.” Featuring Prodigy, Kidd Kidd, and Styles P, the track composes catchy beats with an electric guitar, proving there is still hope for 50 with the help of a few other rappers. Sadly, 50’s best songs tend to be the ones which feature another artist, showing how he’s worsened over the years.
The album is not entirely empty and does contain a few gripping tracks with passionate beats that could be possible hits. Still, 50 Cent’s tracks lack the same contagious spirit that lived in 50’s past rhythmic hits like “In Da Club” and “P.I.M.P.” Overall, 50 Cent fails to live up to his potential with “Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire To Win” because of its unproductive ballads and snobbish lyrics.
“Animal Ambition: An Untamed Desire To Win” was released on June 3 and is available digitally and in retail for $11.99.
Leave a Reply