J. Cole says 50 Cent’s ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin” is the “best album of all time”

11 August, 2023

50 Cent and J Cole

J. Cole has revealed that 50 Cent‘s ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin” is the “best album of all time” while on stage with the rap legend this week.

On August 9, the North Carolina rapper joined the New Yorker during his set at New York’s Barclays Center to perform his most popular track, ‘No Role Modelz’. The show kicked off the US leg of the ’50 Cent: The Final Lap’ tour, celebrating 20 years of 50 Cent’s 2003 debut album.

After performing the ‘2014 Forest Drive’ hit, J. Cole got the crowd to “make some noise for one of the greatest n****s to do this shit: 50 Cent, Curtis Jackson.” Before leaving the stage, he also added: “‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’’ is the best album of all time. It’s ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’’ at number one and it’s ‘Thriller’ at number two, and I love Michael Jackson.”

50’s debut is now a rap classic. The album was released on February 6, 2003, debuting at Number One on the Billboard 200, selling 872,000 units in its first week and is now nine times platinum. Michael Jackson‘s ‘Thriller’ is one of the best-selling and most critically acclaimed albums of all time. Released in 1982, it has sold over 70 million copies worldwide and earned eight Grammy Awards.

Recently, in place of 21 Savage, the Dreamville Records co-founder stepped in and opened up for Drake during the Montreal stop of the ‘It’s All A Blur’ tour. As a nod to his absent past collaborator, Cole performed his and Savage’s Grammy Award-winning song ‘A Lot’ as well as other tracks.

@rio.mtl

Rest in peace Uncle Phil!! #jcole #drake #fyp #itsallablurtour

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The 38-year-old also appeared on Summer Walker’s latest EP ‘Clear 2: Soft Life’, where he featured on the “audio hug” ‘To Summer, From Cole’. He penned a message to “Ms Walker”, referring to the R&B singer, about getting through the hard times over a sombre and subdued beat.

In March, rapper-turned-media personality Joe Budden said J. Cole was “pandering” to fans when talking about how the latter’s song ‘Procrastination (Broke)’ came about. Cole told fans that he was inspired by a “J. Cole type beat” on Youtube, which was produced by Bvtman, to write the single. However, Budden claimed “[He] found out that the guy who just so happened to do the ‘J. Cole type beat’ – that was the first one to pop up – is like the most popular producer on YouTube.

“And it’s pandering,” Budden continued. “There’s nothing wrong… Y’all swear I hate people, and I don’t. I love J. Cole, so don’t spread that. But the story that they put out versus what the fuck was really happening, like stop y’all. I’m just not stupid.”

The ‘Pump It Up’ rapper also took issue with J. Cole’s collaboration with BTS member J-hope, believing that it was all a ploy to push Cole’s music back out there. “I can see through what your publicist is pumping in you,” Budden said, “what your lawyer is pumping, your label, A&R is pumping in you… This is why people pander, by the way, because it works. Let’s land the K-pop star-J. Cole merger.”

In a four-star review of J. Cole and J-hope’s ‘On The Streets’, NME wrote, “For the most part, ‘On The Street’ caps this leg of J-hope’s voyage on a bright note – one where he can proudly look back on as he prepares to move forward. When he returns post-military, he’ll be coming back to strong foundations ready for him to build even more exciting new blocks on.” J. Cole said working on the single was a “blessing” and J-hope was “so happy” to work with his long-term idol.

‘The Final Lap’ tour continues to tour around the US with the next stop being in Hartford, Connecticut on August 11. The North American leg of the tour will end on September 17 at Detroit’s Pine Knob Music Theatre. Fans can look and buy any available tickets here.

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