Street King Music
Munir Junker
Initially reported to be released during the summer of 2011,[1] the release date of Street King Immortal has since been revised on several occasions. Officially announced release dates of November 13, 2012;[2] February 26, 2013;[3] and August 18, 2016,[4][5] were set in the past. In July 2017, 50 Cent stated that the album would be released at the end of the year though this did not occur. 50 Cent said in an Instagram post that "Still Think I'm Nothing" was the first single off of Street King Immortal. In July 2021, 50 Cent confirmed in an interview that he had decided to officially cancel the project.[6]
Originally, 50 Cent's fifth studio album was set to be Black Magic, an album influenced by several genres including rock and dance music. However, its release was postponed as 50 Cent began to write more material based on a different concept. As a result, recording sessions for a brand new album began from scratch, and material recorded for Street King Immortal is reportedly of a traditional hip hop nature, involving producers such as Alex da Kid, Bangladesh, Cardiak, Dr. Dre, Hit-Boy, Jake One, Jim Jonsin, and Just Blaze among others. It was later reported that the album would be titled 5 (Murder by Numbers), and would be released on July 3, 2012. 50 Cent instead decided to make 5 (Murder by Numbers) a separate album, to be released as a free download on July 6, 2012, and release a new collection of material as his sixth studio album, titled Street King Immortal:[7]
I got a chance to hear the music that was playing out there prior to me coming there. It's almost like when I come into the territory they change the music to 50 Cent music, so I'm saying, 'What were you playing before I got here?' And this music was all fast, the tempo and production, it was just different.
In November 2009, 50 Cent released his fourth studio album, titled Before I Self Destruct. The album did not match the previous commercial success of his first three studio albums, only selling 160,000 copies in its first week of release in the United States, peaking at number five on the Billboard 200.[9] To help promote the album, 50 Cent went on The Invitation Tour; while on the European leg of the tour, he visited nightclubs and was impressed with the vastly changing styles of music played.[8][10] Because of this, 50 Cent began to write and record material for an album called Black Magic while still on tour. This new album's music would be influenced by number of genres, including dance, rock and pop music; it would have a "higher tempo" than his previous work, although he claimed that the predominant genre of the music would still be hip hop.[11]
However, 50 Cent later revealed to the Brazilian edition of music magazine Rolling Stone that he was unsure whether to continue with the recording of the album, which he had begun while in the European venues of the tour, as he had begun to write material that he claimed "didn't quite fit the concept" of the album.[10] He later revealed the release of Black Magic had been postponed indefinitely, although he stated the album may be released in the future.[10] Street King Immortal will be more hip hop-influenced than the material recorded for Black Magic, which was inspired and influenced by a number of genres.[12] In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, 50 Cent announced that he would never release the album Black Magic, as it no longer makes sense to do so:[13]
In an interview with MTV, 50 Cent discouraged fans from comparing Street King Immortal to his debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin'. In the same interview, 50 Cent revealed the album's release date and said it would not be changed again, as it will serve as a commemoration of the tenth anniversary of Get Rich or Die Tryin':[14]
Hold me to the greater quality. Don't hold me to the exact content, don't hold me to the production, don't play both albums next to each other and say, 'Which track do I like better?' Just listen to the actual project itself and you'll see the growth and how I'm seasoned. I'm 10 years in now. I'm not under any circumstances in a position that I'm not comfortable or able to function in any area of entertainment at this point.
50 Cent confirmed in an interview with British hip-hop music television channel Flava, aired on January 3, 2012, that he had recorded seventy songs for the album, and only fourteen would make the final cut.[15] In early January 2013 Street King Immortal was included on multiple "Most Anticipated albums of 2013" lists including E!, MTV[16][17] and being eleventh on a list by XXL Magazine.[18] On January 25, 2013, 50 Cent announced that he is still recording material for the album in an interview with Fuse.[19]
In January 2014, 50 Cent said he plans on a releasing a project called Animal Ambition in the first quarter of 2014 before the album comes out. He wanted to release the project as his "viral marketing plan" in order to hype up Street King Immortal.[20][21] However a month later it was announced that the Animal Ambition LP would instead be released on June 3, 2014.[22] In June 2014, 50 Cent announced the album would be released on September 16, 2014.[23] It has features from Drake, Dr. Dre, Pop Smoke , SZA, Chris Brown and JAY-Z,
In November 2010, in an interview with MTV News, Surf Club producers Hit-Boy and Chase N. Cashe revealed that they had contributed production work for Street King Immortal. Hit-Boy revealed that they had visited 50 Cent to play him a selection of their productions and hear "where he was going with it".[24] He went on to talk positively about the album's material and its musical variation:
He's taking it back to the old 50. And he had some new records that were some different-sounding stuff too. I'm excited to see how people react to it, and hopefully we end up with some stuff on the album. I gave him some stuff he really loved. It's really a blend of the old 50 mixing with the new stuff that he's doing. It's crazy.[24]
Whilst attending the Sundance Film Festival on January 25, 2011, 50 Cent revealed to MTV News that "80 percent" of the album had been recorded,[25] and also revealed that he had recorded material for the album with record producers Boi-1da, Alex da Kid and Symbolyc One.[25] In an interview in March 2011 with online blogger DDotOmen, record producer Cardiak revealed that he had produced a song for the album called "Outlaw", which was later released to several digital outlets to promote the album.[26]
On April 8, 2011, MTV Mixtape Daily reported that producer Jim Jonsin had been involved in the album's recording sessions.[27] In an interview with Rap-Up on May 13, 2011, American rapper Soulja Boy revealed that 50 Cent had requested several productions from him for the album whilst the pair were in California the previous month, and that he had given him roughly five of these productions to record over. He also claimed that 50 Cent had played him all of the material recorded for the album at the time, and was impressed with the material, stating that "His album was kinda dope. I ain't gonna lie to you. That's my big bro and all that. I got love for him. He's got some good stuff on there".[28] In an appearance with singer Nicole Scherzinger on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, hosted by comedian and actress Ellen DeGeneres, on May 24, 2011, 50 Cent and Scherzinger performed their single "Right There", and 50 Cent revealed that the album was only a single song away from completion. He also confirmed that the mixing process for the album had already begun.[29]
50 Cent later elaborated on Boi-1da's contribution in an interview with DJ Whoo Kid on the hip-hop radio station Shade 45, when he revealed that Boi-1da had produced two potential songs for the album.[30] In the same interview, he revealed that producer Just Blaze had contributed two song productions for the album.[30]
While promoting his Animal Ambition LP 50 spoke on SKI coming out later in the year, "It's gonna ride right into it. Street King Immortal is more personal. It's way more personal than this record. Of course this one is about a portion of my actual experience, but that one is...I talk about things that I haven't talked about."[37]
Although a confirmed track listing for the album never emerged, several other recording artists were reported to be appearing on the album. On January 24, 2011, Rap-Up reported that fellow rapper and longtime collaborator Eminem would appear on the album, along with Lil' Kim, Akon, Swizz Beatz, Busta Rhymes, and former G-Unit member Lloyd Banks.[38] In the aforementioned interview on Shade 45, 50 Cent elaborated on Eminem's contributions to the album, revealing that he would appear on four songs. He also stated that the songs were designed to appear to various audiences: two of the songs were referred to as "definite singles", and the other two were described as created to appeal to his "core audience", as well as being "more aggressive" and having a "different kind of energy".[30]
On July 11, 2011, while on the set of the video for the Tony Yayo song "Haters", 50 Cent revealed that New Orleans rapper Kidd Kidd, formerly of Young Money Entertainment but now of G-Unit Records, would appear on the album's title track.[39] Chris Brown's contribution to the album was elaborated upon when DJ Felli Fel revealed that he would be on a song titled "Lighters".[33] Black Hippy member Schoolboy Q stated that in addition to having a good rapport with 50 Cent, the two had done multiple collaborations, which could be featured on the album.[40][41]
On June 29, 2012, the G-Unit Philly rapper Mike Knox tweeted that he was in the studio with 50 Cent and Alicia Keys. Later the lead single featuring her and Dr. Dre was released .[42] In an interview with DJ Whoo Kid on Shade 45 for his birthday, 50 Cent confirmed an upcoming song with Young Jeezy. 50 also stated that he wished to work with Kanye West, adding him to the list of possible featured guests.[43] Drake shouted out 50 Cent while performing at a concert on the latter's birthday. He also talked about his work plans with 50 Cent, making a collaboration between the two rappers possible.[44] 50 Cent stated that he wanted to work with Rihanna and Frank Ocean, in an interview with Digital Spy, making two more appearances possible.[45]
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