Now, I rarely listen to mainstream rap music. And with good reason. . . . .IT SUCKS! Call me a snob, an elitist, a backpacker, I don’t really give a rat’s ass. With the exception of a handful of popular artists, I can’t stand most of the rap you find on radio and MTV. It’s boring, repetitive, and devoid of any real creativity on the part of the MC and/or the producers/DJs. And nothing’s worse than when an artist rises to the top of the mainstream heap, and isn’t even all that good!

Going back four or five years ago, everyone was making a big deal about 50 Cent. He had been around a while before that though, a one-time protégé of hip-hop legend Jam Master Jay. But jail and getting shot nine times can really sidetrack a career. Dr. Dre and Eminem eventually picked him up, and when “Wanksta” came out, everyone wanted to be in the 50 Cent business. I honestly never got the appeal, and I still don’t. I find his mush-mouthed voice and lyrical delivery annoying as hell, and thus they don’t make up for his woefully unimaginative subject matter. From the very beginning, 50’s popularity was born through a juxtaposition of urban violence and materialism, but that was nothing new in mainstream rap. 50 Cent just took it to another level. It was no longer a matter of simply reacting to the hand life had dealt, it was a matter of killing and getting money for the sheer fun of it.

For a good long while though, it’s been hard for anyone to really take the man seriously (Get Rich Or Die Tryin’: The Movie, anyone?). And maybe he’s even realizing that. ‘Cause I can’t imagine any other excuse for him continually playing himself in the press lately. Yeah, I know it’s probably more about stirring up controversy for the release of his new album, Curtis, but I can’t imagine it helping;

In a recent interview with XXL Magazine, 50 spoke on fellow rapper Nas, claiming that Nas lost his fans essentially because he reads too much:

“Nas is a really smart guy. He reads books constantly. We were around him on the Nastradamus tour. He was almost weirder than me ’cause we would go to breakfast and he’d be there reading a book. Conceptually, I think that’s what made him drift away from what his initial audience enjoys from him and why he’s not hot right now.”

To quote the great poet Lil’ John: “WHAT?!?” How does this make any kind of sense?!? And does 50 even realize how stupid he sounds for even saying it?! I guess if you’re that stupid, you wouldn’t realize it, would you?

Then there’s his ongoing feud with Cam’Ron, which he says will be put to rest because his new album will outsell the Dip Set leader’s disc. Why even put forth the energy, it’s CAM’RON!! In retrospect, he’s always been a joke, long before he started rockin’ pink and paisley. Take a page outta Chamillionaire’s book, as the Houston rapper has gone on record as saying that he won’t be putting any effort towards responding to 50 Cent’s criticism of his choice to make his new album profanity-free:

“Let him (Chamillionaire) go sell gospel records, if he’s so f**kin’ righteous,” 50 told Spin Magazine. “I can write around the curses if I want to, but you can’t tell me to write around the curses.”

Then there’s his lawsuit against an internet company that created one of those ad-banner games, allegedly based on 50’s likeness, in which users have to shoot the moving target a number of times to win a prize. The suit claims that 50 was offended by the game, not only for the likeness issue, but because it’s in poor taste when considering the fact that he was a victim gun violence. This from the man whose first album cover features him wearing a tacky Louis Vutton (or was it Gucci) gun hostler and brandishing a Glock 9mm handgun!! Gimme a freakin’ break!

I mean, really, who is this man fooling?!? I guess the people who end up buying his new album.