"Go shawty. It's your birthday..."

50 Cent may be a sniveling, oddly insecure loony right now. And maybe he always was. But for a two-year run or so, he - in Chris Martin fashion - "used to ruuuuuuule the woooooooorld..." Or the rap game, at least.

"In Da Club" was his inescapable hit. Dr. Dre served Fiddy up a beat so mammoth that sabre-toothed tigers were trying to rip its guts out. And Curtis puts in yeoman's work, laying down a soon-to-be-ubiquitous sing-song chorus and a few memorable couplets. Wisely, he doesn't overstay his time on top; "In Da Club" clocks in at a lean and mean 3:13. There's no third verse... nothing, really, to dilute the atmosphere of determined menace. (Well, maybe that silly bridge... Fiddy really had a thing for nursery rhymes.)

Still, though... it's all about that beat, which made "In Da Club"'s title incredibly fitting.

Songs

50 Cent - "In Da Club"