Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
by 50 Cent
Metascore
73

Generally favorable reviews - based on 19 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 15 out of 19
  2. Mixed: 4 out of 19
  3. Negative: 0 out of 19
  1. Playlouder
    100
    It's all good. Favourites switch with listens, and we can assure you that this record will remain on your deck all year.
  2. Rolling Stone
    90
    If this combination of big-name backers, undeniable skills, radio-ready tracks and a marketable thug persona make Get Rich or Die Tryin' a sure-shot smash hit, it also makes it a great record.
  3. Splendid
    80
    More sonically adventurous than its mainstream look suggests.
  5. AllMusic
    80
    Get Rich isn't quite the masterpiece 50 seems capable of, impressive or not. But until he drops that truly jaw-dropping album -- which you know he will -- this will certainly do.
  6. Stylus Magazine
    80
    The variety and talent this album offers is enough to recommend it to almost any rap fan.
  7. Blender
    80
    Even at their most nihilistic, these 16 songs resonate melodically, like Eminem's most haunting material. [#15, p.118]
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  8. Q Magazine
    80
    His rap style isn't as distinctive as Ja Rule or DMX, but as the singalong Many Men (Wish Death) shows, with Eminem on his team, there's no stopping him. [May 2003, p.98]
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  9. Entertainment Weekly
    75
    As reality-based as the words may be, we've heard variations on these themes before, and 50, far from being the world's most nimble rhymer, doesn't always infuse them with new power.
  10. Dot Music
    70
    50 Cent's skills are better suited to the nagging digi-loops of inevitable smash single 'In Da Club', the steel drum roll-out of 'P.I.M.P.' and '21 Questions' - perhaps the track most like something that you might have found Tupac or Biggie at work on in their prime.
  11. Pitchfork
    70
    For all the flaws in 50 Cent's persona, Get Rich or Die Tryin' isn't without its redeeming qualities.
  12. Launch.com
    70
    Most of these rhymes are too shallow to warrant the hopeful comparisons to Biggie and Tupac. But if you want the best disposable gangsta tunes on the market, 50 Cent offers a definite bargain.
  13. Billboard
    70
    Unfortunately, this disc's positives don't add up to a great album: Plenty of boilerplate g-funk thuggery serves as filler.
  14. Amazon.com
    70
    Sure, Get Rich could never have lived up to the hype, it’s nowhere near Biggie's Ready to Die or Nas's Illmatic, but there's no fast-forward material here, a near miracle in these times.
  15. E! Online
    67
    Unless you are the president of the NRA or addicted to Cops-type tales, 50 Cent's debut is strictly small change.
  16. Austin Chronicle
    67
    The outcome is as natural as John Gotti singing Sinatra.
  17. Uncut
    60
    [An] unapologetic throwback to straight-assed songs about guns, girls and drugs. [May 2003, p.109]
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  18. New York Magazine (Vulture)
    60
    Without question, 50 Cent has one of the most distinctive voices in hip-hop: He raps in a molasses-slow, beyond-laconic drawl, and chants in a singsongy patois reminiscent of dance-hall stars like Sean Paul. But there isn’t enough invention in the rhymes, and, worse, barely any humor.
  19. The A.V. Club
    50
    Only intermittently justifies the buzz surrounding the rapper's career.
  20. Mojo
    40
    It's impressive, but heavy going, with scant trace of 50's acerbic humour. [Apr 2003, p.114]
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Awards & Rankings

11
#11 Most Discussed Album of 2003
12
#12 Most Shared Album of 2003

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.5

Universal acclaim- based on 313 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 275 out of 313
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 313
  3. Negative: 28 out of 313
  1. Emperor
    Apr 9, 2011
    10
    Along with Marshall Matters Lp, Blueprint, Eminem Show, College Dropout, This few albums were the only classic hip hop albums released in theAlong with Marshall Matters Lp, Blueprint, Eminem Show, College Dropout, This few albums were the only classic hip hop albums released in the 2000s. 50cent took the music industry with surprise with this album but bigger thanks to Eminem and Dr Dre, i believe anyone who rides with Em and Dre cant lose. Classic !!!!!… Full Review »
  2. CrystalM
    Feb 18, 2003
    10
    50 cent is so fine a no matter what that b**** Ja Rule has to say about him I still love his fine ass!
  3. Hulsee
    May 27, 2023
    10
    some obvious fake 50 cent fans out there - dont recognise good music when they hear it

    best album for 50
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