Is 50 Cent Ready to ‘Self-Destruct?’

50 Cent’s long awaited Dr. Dre-produced single “I Get It In” has been generating a tremendous amount of buzz on the Web; and the hip-hop nation can’t seem to get enough of the Queens-based rapper’s barbs at Miami superstar Rick Ross. But with so many artists’ careers seemingly losing ground, can 50’s return hope to match or better his past glory? His loss to Kanye West in 2007’s much-hyped ‘battle’ for commercial supremacy was hardly an insurmountable blow to his clout and credibility, but it could’ve been an early indicator to the waning interest in the G-Unit frontman’s material. His one-time mentor, Eminem, is apparently readying his own comeback to recording, but the former Slim Shady hasn’t released an official album since 2004’s Encore. Although both of his Internet-leaked singles have garnered some attention, no one is expecting Marshall Mathers LP-era commercial success or artistic greatness from Em.

But he’s not the only early 2000’s star to experience some commercial setbacks in recent years. Nelly was one of the biggest hip-hop acts of the decade, and he released numerous hit singles and blockbuster albums like Nellyville and Sweat/Suit from 2000 to 2005. But his 2008 release, Brass Knuckles, has only sold 562,160 copies domestically after seven months it hasn’t generated any hit singles.

Atlanta superstar Ludacris also released an album, Theater of the Mind, in 2008, his sixth. It became his lowest-charting album since his 1999 debut and he failed to reach No. 1 for the first time in seven years. “Hip-hop is known for having an extremely short attention span,” says record store employee James Ashford. “What was the hottest thing in the world six years ago could be forgotten today — it happens just that fast.” So as 50’s latest album, Before I Self-Destruct is prepped for release, and as he unleashes barb after barb at his foe Rick Ross, hip-hop will have to wait to find out if Curtis Jackson can still spar with rap’s heavyweights. –dusty culpepper