The time 50 Cent had to learn a London accent
50 Cent’s rap career relies heavily on his distinct look, but, fundamentally, it’s about his sound, too.
50’s style of rapping is laid back and a little bit mumbly, while his accent is undeniably New York in origin. It’s difficult to imagine 50 Cent bearing any other quality of accent, but, in the past, he had to knuckle down to learn the mechanics of a new one.
The 2009 film Dead Man Running is the most English of English crime dramas. Directed by London-born Alex De Rakoff, the movie is a gritty gangster flick co-starring Danny Dyer and executively produced by former England international footballers Ashley Cole and Rio Ferdinand.
But into this distinctly English affair also stepped Curtis Jackson.
50 Cent was given a big part in the film, but that required him to get to grips with Cockney slang in order to understand his native co-stars. According to director De Rakoff, he managed to do just that with relative ease.
“He got it pretty quickly,” De Rakoff once claimed to Bang Showbiz. “He works with words anyway, he’s a total professional.”
50’s co-star Danny Dyer was similarly impressed with the rapper, referring to him as a “lovely geezer.”
“He’s got a fucking circus around him,” Dyer said of 50 Cent and his entourage, “but what a gentleman. I was really thrilled he came over to support the film.”
Dead Man Running was not especially well-received by critics and audiences upon its release in 2009. The performances weren’t exactly praised across the board, but, in any case, the actors seemed to enjoy themselves making it.