 Although 50 Cent earned his fourth top 10 debut on the Billboard 200 this week, his 160,000 copies sold of Before I Self Destruct is his worst first week by far.
Fif's new album was even pushed up a week early, due to an online leak. But, it didn't help his numbers.
But, the G-Unit General is not upset about it, and doesn't even consider it a failure. In a recent interview with DJ Green Lantern, 50 explained why.
"For myself, I'm asking myself, 'What did you expect, bro? Your fans got it when it was available, at the first available opportunity,' " 50 Cent said in the interview earlier this week. "For me this album is a prequel -- it's full circle. When the energy around a project is the way this is, you can't really feel like it's a failure. Like, I look at the numbers and am like, 'What is this?'
"I've already assessed that the album has been out a month before its actual release period [due to an online leak, and the album's early digital release due to the leak]. So when you got that, you go, 'Well, what did you actually expect?' ," he continued.
His debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', broke records when he earned the biggest selling debut for a rap artist with 872,000 copies sold. Then, The Massacre opened with 1.5 million. But, with the internet affecting sales, he was only able to muster 691,000 in the first week's release of 2007's Curtis, despite major promo thanks to his staged battle against Kanye West.
Is 50's dominance in hip-hop over? Or is it just the result of the sagging music industry? Is Before I Self Destruct a certified flop? What do you think?
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