The one album 50 Cent “studied” before making ‘Get Rich or Die Tryin’

Rappers might have natural talent and flow, but they still have to do their homework before launching an album. For 50 Cent, the album he studied ahead of his debut release, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, was Snoop Dogg’s 1993 Doggystyle. 

The story of 50’s inspiration was first shared by Snoop Dogg, during an interview with Sirius XM in 2018. Snoop revealed that 50 Cent had called him at the time and told him that he was using Doggystyle as a guide for his music.

“50 Cent told me out of his mouth that he studied Doggystyle thoroughly before he did Get Rich or Die Tryin’”, Snoop told DJ Suss One in the interview. 50 later reposted the video on his Instagram account, validating what Snoop said.

“He ain’t lying, I studied that Doggystyle album. That shit was so good if you didn’t listen to it you couldn’t make the right creative choices”, 50 added.

In the original interview, Snoop spoke about the importance of mentorship and influence in hip hop. He referred to his own relationship with his mentors, Dr Dre and The D.O.C., and how their support fuelled Snoop’s artistry and birthed the next generation of artists in the rap game. “Seeing them put the foundation down for me, there’s gotta always be somebody to show you how to do it, and then you do it your own special way”, Snoop said. 

For Snoop, 50 Cent studying his album wasn’t about imitating it. Snoop explained that inspiration is part of hip hop’s progression, and that every rapper should be learning from their predecessors before carving out their own path.

Both Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent came up in the 1990s, but were from different sides of the U.S. and were in different moments in hip hop’s evolution. Snoop was part of the early 90’s West Coast G-funk, while 50 arrived later on the scene with more aggressive East Coast swagger that emerged in the post-Biggie Small New York rap scene.

And even despite the ongoing East Coast and West Coast beefs that were happening between rappers at the time, Snoop recognised that his work allowed 50 Cent to reimagine how he made music for a different audience. “The way I was doing it was influential to 50”, Snoop said. “He was seeing some shit that was like ‘Oh, this is how I will do my shit but from a New York point of view’”.

50’s respect for Snoop’s album, and Snoop’s acknowledgement of his role for 50, are part of a larger lineage of influence in hip hop. No artist appears fully formed out of nowhere – all the greats (and the upcomers) develop their craft by studying and absorbing the work of those before them. They then add their own innovations atop, and continue the cycle of progression in the genre.

Just as Snoop grew following the likes of Dre and The D.O.C, 50 Cent used Snoop’s album as a blueprint to make his way to stardom. And no doubt, many rappers have (and will) use 50’s albums as a springboard for their own new music.