even tho he aint puttin that gritty enjoying sound we once loved...u still hav 2 giv credit when credit is due... in the same breath we can say he's now trash but we can say thank u 4 ur past.... this article sums it up a lil bit....
How G-Unit Saved Hip-Hop (no, seriously) · by Hashim Warren
G-Unit is easily the most hated on group in rap music, but what most fans don’t realize is that 50 Cent’s crew saved hip-hop from a fate worse then death at least once, and probably twice.
Think back to 2003 when Eminem and and Nelly were the top selling artists in all of American music. Those two were a huge improvement over their Vanilla Ice and MC Hammer forerunners, however their popularity put real hip-hop (yes, there is such a thing as “real hip-hop” ) in danger of becoming too accessible to the masses.
Enter 50 Cent and G-Unit. All of a sudden hip-hop became dangerous again. Parents, politicians, and preachers spoke out against G-Unit’s music and warned about it’s effect on America. Talk shows called in hip-hop bloggers to explain this crisis of violence in the music that was spilling out in the street.
Record labels lost interest in finding the next Eminem and Nelly (sorry Bubba Sparxxx and Chingy), and looked for the next former crack dealer who could go platinum (sorry Young Jeezy haters).
No longer was hip-hop in danger in taking a Jazz-style dive into mediocrity and irrelevance. People forget that a Jazz club used to be a dangerous place, tucked away on the seedy part of town, where only the Black people lived. Now Jazz clubs are featured in city travel brochures as attractions. Back then mothers locked up their daughters, for fear that a Thelonius Monk would get them pregnant, killed, or hooked on H. If G-Unit didn’t save hip-hop, we’d be 5 years away from the son of some billionaire building a hip-hop graveyard conservatory next to Lincoln Center, word to James Murdoch.
Now, the first time G-Unit saved hip-hop was before any of them were even signed to deals. G-Unit invented, perfected, and still lead the way on mixtape albums, a creation that revitalized the hip-hop underground, giving indie artists an uncensored voice without the record label middle men. Before G-Unit made full length mixtape albums popular, DJ’s had to beg, barter, and steal random tracks from rappers and piece them together as a mix. No one would imagine an artist giving away 2 dozen songs for free. But that’s what 50 did, and he instilled the same work ethic and benevolence into G-Unit.
This was huge for our music culture. Some of the most exciting work from rappers have been on mixtapes. Jadakiss’ mixtape with Green lantern was arguably better then his own album. Ghostface’s series with J-Love featured unclearable gems that are part of his best songs. The Clipse, Juelz Santana, Lil Wayne are established artists who have second careers through mixtape albums. And Papoose and Grafh are unsigned artists who have made a name for themselves through the G-Unit creation. Even Jay-Z released a mixtape album for free with the sale of his Reebok shoe (the first truly promotional use only mixtape).
The mixtape album is hip-hop’s buffer from the corporate influence in hip-hop and the mainstream pressure. It’s where a rapper can speak directly to fans and not have to wait for anyone’s approval or budget, or worry that FOX News will blast them the next day for what they said. They can rhyme over beats they can’t afford, collab with artists they shouldn’t be working with, and spotlight crew members we otherwise wouldn’t care about.
Thank you, G-Unit. Hip-hop wouldn’t be the same without you guys......
and i agree with this 100% ... always feelin this way but dude saved me typing time...