Part Two:
The Infamy of a Failed, Rapping
Wannabe Forest Prince
How
our ideas of power and success are shallow and naïve, and that Bambi’s virtues
remain a noble goal.
“Later, you
grow and start to understand”. (Cooper)
Jackson insists that he respects women,
puts them on a pedestal, even. Of
course, this is only because of their beauty. And only a few “Queens,” for reason. The rest,
he says, are “b****es and hoes” (Kugel). His attitude may be evident through the
lyrics of his art:
Yeah! - I got all kinda b****es: from vet b****es to beginner b***h
(uh!)
My phone ringing and I ain't answering cause I'm in a b***h. (yeah!)
I'm all like a pimp than a trick. - I send a b***h! (hahaaa!)
50's and lead escorts, call me the runner b***h.
(whoooooo-whooooooooooooooohhhhhh!)
If we going out, we going dutch pay for your inner, b***h!
Look b***h! - This is my life, I'm on some different sh*t.
Every different day I wake up to play with a different b***h
B****es love me. (yeah!) - Just like I loooove me! (yeah, YEEEAH!)
(“All His Love”)
Here 50 Cent struts his status as a
player, boasting about how many woman he uses. Their names are irrelevant,
their interests, too. His insistence
that they “love me” strikes us as shallow, even naïve. How could they? Unless his idea of love is completely
warped. While Jackson claims that the
loss of his mother was a major impact on his young life. Had he a mother to
remind him of basic decency in interacting with people, had he a father who stayed
to teach him how to act like a man, the sort of Prince 50 Cent would become
might look very different.
But the 50 Cent Prince of the Forest is,
in fact, very shallow, and very temporary.
Debuting a powerful set of albums in 2003, he has not produced a single
album since 2009, and that one—Before I
Self Destruct—failed to reach gold. Beset by legal problems, Jackson is
finally about to release another album after many false starts, but early reviews
aren’t positive. To be a Forest Prince,
something more tangible, powerful is required.
Jackson does have power—nearly gunned down in the street is 2000, much
of his fame is built upon this near-martyrdom (and a deal to sell vitamin
water) (Charnas).
But fame, power, and princedom require more than a near death experience and a
slick business sense. Bambi’s rise is
inevitable, permanent, marked by genuine love, respect, and power based on
nobility, morality, and truth.
In stark contrast to 50 Cent, Bambi builds
himself to Princedom through his love, friendships, and simple humility. He does not buy Faline’s physical attention
or even remark on her obvious cute factor. Instead, with an endearing
innocence, he builds a friendship and devotion to her. He nobly battles Ronno for her. He protects his family from fire, wards off
attack dogs, and finds his way back to her. In short, Bambi earns both love and
power. He does it because he is genuine, and he does it because he has a father
who teaches him. Jackson does not want to even meet his, though he admits that
he might not have made so many mistakes. (Cooper)
One might argue that Bambi is a fictional
character and 50 Cent is real. Given.
Yet we must not forget that it is Curtis Jackson who is as real as Bambi author Felix Salten. 50 Cent is Jackson’s fiction as Bambi is
Salten’s. And, as Jackson himself says of art, “Nobody’s gonna pay a million dollars for me . . . scribbling
(Kugel). You said it, Mr. Jackson. This is why you
found a few quick years of infamy while Bambi endures. I wish you had seen the
movie.
“Later, you grow and start to understand.”
Works Cited
"All His Love by 50 Cent." YouTube.
YouTube, 16 Apr. 2014.
Charnas, Dan. "How 50 Cent Scored a
Half-billion." Washington Post. The Washington Post,
Cooper, Roman. "50 Cent Recalls
Losing His Mother, Has "No Interest" In Meeting
Father."HipHopDXRSS. 24 Mar. 2014.
Kugel, Allison. "Inside 50 Cent:
The Rap Mogul's Thoughts on Love, Sex, Fear & Taking Risks
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