Before I Self Destruct is the fourth studio album by American rapper 50 Cent, released November 9, 2009 on Interscope Records in the United States. It is his final solo release for his current contract with Interscope Records, excluding a "greatest hits" album. A feature film, also titled Before I Self Destruct was also made, and is available within the album packaging. The Invitation Tour took place in promotion of the album and his then upcoming studio album Black Magic, which has since been shelved.
Initially, Before I Self Destruct was planned to be 50 Cent's 2007 album, for which he confirmed he had already completed twelve songs. However, he decided to release Curtis instead, and thus Before I Self Destruct's release date was originally pushed back to 2008.
In a red carpet interview 50 Cent stated that while he was working on the album, he wrote, produced, and directed his first film saying that the release of the film would coincide with the release of the album.
Though a tracklist appeared in early January 2009, 50 Cent later stated he reworked much of the album.
Another track stated to be on the album, though not officially confirmed as a single, entitled "Crime Wave" was released in late October 2009.
The album's release date was initially announced to be February 4, 2008, but later moved to March 2008, due to the release date of Curtis being pushed up to September 2007. However it was later revealed, in an interview with G-Unit members Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, that the album was scheduled to be released during the 4th quarter of 2008, with 50 Cent himself later stating that the album was due to be released December 9, 2008.
MTV later reported that the album will instead be released in 2009, with February 3 being the date 50 Cent himself confirmed. Though it was later pushed back to March 2009, with March 24 being set as the day, until he later confirmed that mentor and labelmate Eminem's album, Relapse, was going to be released before his own. 50 Cent then told MTV that he would release the album in June, with the date being changed once again as he decided to retool parts of the album once Eminem's Relapse was completed. However, the album was pushed back to a Fall 2009 release, with September being the specific month. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, 50 Cent stated that the album will be out "second week of September, I'll be back on the streets baby", with the date later stated to be specifically September 11, which at the time, was the release date of Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3. However, these reports were later contradicted by MTV, when they stated that 50 Cent exclusively confirmed the release date as September 29, 2009. The album was later officially confirmed to have been pushed back again by 50 Cent, who claimed November 3, 2009 as the newly confirmed release date, but this was once again changed to November 17, 2009. However, in October 2009, the album was pushed back a week to make the release date November 24, 2009. Universal has pushed several albums forward to November 23, 2009, including Before I Self Destruct.
50 stated that because the album leaked and the good response it got, he will release the album a week earlier, on November 16. The album was released exclusively on the iTunes Store on November 9 at 12:00am, while the physical copy was released in stores on November 16. Since the album was released digitally a week ahead of the physical copy, Interscope records requested that Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan uphold a rule instituted in 2008 where a label may ask Nielsen SoundScan to hold the digital sales count of an album for up to one week, and for Billboard to delay charting that album, when a leak results in a digital album beating its physical counterpart to brick and mortar stores.[27]Before I Self Destruct is the fourth studio album by American rapper 50 Cent, released November 9, 2009 on Interscope Records in the United States. It is his final solo release for his current contract with Interscope Records, excluding a "greatest hits" album. A feature film, also titled Before I Self Destruct was also made, and is available within the album packaging. The Invitation Tour took place in promotion of the album and his then upcoming studio album Black Magic, which has since been shelved.
Initially, Before I Self Destruct was planned to be 50 Cent's 2007 album, for which he confirmed he had already completed twelve songs. However, he decided to release Curtis instead, and thus Before I Self Destruct's release date was originally pushed back to 2008.
In a red carpet interview 50 Cent stated that while he was working on the album, he wrote, produced, and directed his first film saying that the release of the film would coincide with the release of the album.
Though a tracklist appeared in early January 2009, 50 Cent later stated he reworked much of the album.
Another track stated to be on the album, though not officially confirmed as a single, entitled "Crime Wave" was released in late October 2009.
The album's release date was initially announced to be February 4, 2008, but later moved to March 2008, due to the release date of Curtis being pushed up to September 2007. However it was later revealed, in an interview with G-Unit members Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, that the album was scheduled to be released during the 4th quarter of 2008, with 50 Cent himself later stating that the album was due to be released December 9, 2008.
MTV later reported that the album will instead be released in 2009, with February 3 being the date 50 Cent himself confirmed. Though it was later pushed back to March 2009, with March 24 being set as the day, until he later confirmed that mentor and labelmate Eminem's album, Relapse, was going to be released before his own. 50 Cent then told MTV that he would release the album in June, with the date being changed once again as he decided to retool parts of the album once Eminem's Relapse was completed. However, the album was pushed back to a Fall 2009 release, with September being the specific month. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, 50 Cent stated that the album will be out "second week of September, I'll be back on the streets baby", with the date later stated to be specifically September 11, which at the time, was the release date of Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3. However, these reports were later contradicted by MTV, when they stated that 50 Cent exclusively confirmed the release date as September 29, 2009. The album was later officially confirmed to have been pushed back again by 50 Cent, who claimed November 3, 2009 as the newly confirmed release date, but this was once again changed to November 17, 2009. However, in October 2009, the album was pushed back a week to make the release date November 24, 2009. Universal has pushed several albums forward to November 23, 2009, including Before I Self Destruct.
50 stated that because the album leaked and the good response it got, he will release the album a week earlier, on November 16. The album was released exclusively on the iTunes Store on November 9 at 12:00am, while the physical copy was released in stores on November 16. Since the album was released digitally a week ahead of the physical copy, Interscope records requested that Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan uphold a rule instituted in 2008 where a label may ask Nielsen SoundScan to hold the digital sales count of an album for up to one week, and for Billboard to delay charting that album, when a leak results in a digital album beating its physical counterpart to brick and mortar stores.[27]false2022-11-17 09:58:02Before I Self Destruct7.220092009-11-162009-11-1657East Coast Hip HopGangsta RapHip HopPop RapHardcore Hip Hop11198521156682945374b-c21a-4116-96bf-91ea3d9ee0cc8e68819d-71be-4e7d-b41d-f1df81b01d3ff79c54a1-080b-468a-9ddc-943a65bf77d1/media/data/media8/Music/50 Cent/Before I Self Destruct (2009)/folder.jpg50 CentAlbumArtist/config/metadata/People/5/50 Cent/folder.jpg50 CentArtist/config/metadata/People/5/50 Cent/folder.jpg50 Cent50 CentCurtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, television producer, and businessman. Born in South Jamaica, a neighborhood of Queens, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999-2000, he recorded his "debut" album Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records; however, he was struck by nine bullets during a shooting in May 2000, causing its release to be cancelled and Jackson to be dropped from the label. His 2002 mixtape, Guess Who's Back? was discovered by Detroit rapper Eminem, who signed Jackson to his label Shady Records, an imprint of Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records that same year.
His debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. Peaking atop the Billboard 200, it spawned the Billboard Hot 100-number one singles "In da Club" and "21 Questions" (featuring Nate Dogg), and received nonuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). That same year, he launched the record label G-Unit Records, namesake of a hip hop group he formed two years prior; the label's initial signees were its members, fellow East Coast rappers Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. His second album, The Massacre (2005) was met with similar success and supported by his third number-one single, "Candy Shop" (featuring Olivia). He adopted a lighter, further commercially-oriented approach for his third and fourth albums, Curtis (2007) and Before I Self Destruct (2009)—both were met with critical and commercial declines—and aimed for a return to his roots with his fifth album, Animal Ambition (2014). He has since focused on his career in television and media, having executive-produced and starred in the television series Power (2014–2020), as well as its numerous spin-offs under his company G-Unit Films and Television Inc.
Jackson has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and won several awards, including a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, thirteen Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards and four BET Awards. In his acting career, Jackson first starred in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005), which was critically panned. He was also cast in the war film Home of the Brave (2006), and the crime thriller Righteous Kill (2008). Billboard ranked Jackson as 17th on their "50 Greatest Rappers" list in 2023, and named him the sixth top artist of the 2000s decade. Rolling Stone ranked Get Rich or Die Tryin' and "In da Club" in its lists of the "100 Best Albums of the 2000s" and "100 Best Songs of the 2000s" at numbers 37 and 13, respectively.