VIDEO: 50 Cent X We Up (ft. Kendrick Lamar)

Like most of you, I fell…no, jumped off of the 50 Cent wagon years ago, right after Curtis was released. His first album: classic. His second: very reasonable fire. Third? Ugh. Pretty much everything that 50 has touched music wise in the years since 2007 has been seen as either forced or lazy, pretentious or ignorant, or just downright garbage. Unlike many people who just want to see an artist fumble, falter and fail, I have prayed to the hip-hop gods that Curtis Jackson III would get back on his gritty ghetto horse and crank out something that I and other mellowed fans could be proud of once again.

Although he hasn’t reclaimed his former glory (honestly, who has once their flame has ceased to flourish? Besides Eminem…), I do believe that he is on an upward spiral as opposed to heading further into trash. I don’t know about you but I thought “I Just Wanna” was a step in the right direction, despite the appearance of Tony Yayo. And I think his last two singles are an even greater step. “Financial Freedom” saw him trying to reclaim his once fiery flow and “We Up” is his attempt at creating another successful “hip-pop” song that is accepted in multiple venues, such as the streets and Top 40 radio. I like them both.

What follows is the unofficial video for the latter, featuring rap’s new wunderkind Kendrick Lamar and G-Unit’s newest signee (formerly of Young Money) Kidd Kidd. Although Kidd Kidd’s verse is remarkably forgettable, Kendrick manages to bring some relative heat, as expected. 50, however, refuses to be an afterthought on his own track, providing two verses and an extremely catchy hook. 50, keep this shit up and I think you’ll have another hit on your hands, and I don’t just mean commercially. The Niftian, out…