50 Cent’s 2007 project, Curtis, just crossed a huge milestone on Spotify — and he made sure to clap back at critics while celebrating it.
On Thursday (February 12), the G-Unit boss jumped on Instagram to post a graphic revealing that his third studio album has officially surpassed one billion streams on the platform.
“I thought I only had one good album,” he wrote in the caption, poking fun at longtime critics. “Which one of your albums got a billion streams that ain’t good? Because I know you got bars. LOL.”
When Curtis dropped in September 2007, the reviews were split — but the sales told a different story. The album moved an impressive 691,000 copies in its first week, debuting at No. 2 on the Billboard 200.
It hit shelves the same day as Kanye West’s Graduation, which claimed the top spot with 957,000 copies sold. The face-off between the two heavyweights sparked major buzz, and both projects went on to achieve long-term commercial success.
The “one good album” 50 Cent joked about is widely believed to be Get Rich or Die Tryin’, his 2003 major label debut that many still consider a modern-day classic.
Even with his chart dominance, 50 Cent hasn’t dropped a studio album since 2014’s Animal Ambition. Speaking ahead of the Super Bowl last week — where he premiered a new commercial with DoorDash — he hinted that new music is on the horizon. Still, he admitted there’s added pressure for veteran rappers trying to stay relevant.
“Look, I’m going to make music. I’m excited that this is the feeling,” he said. “The general consensus is they want to hear something new from me, right? You can have the best verse, but I don’t think you should have the best verse at 50 years old. … I think hip-hop is connected to youth culture, and I think simplicity is a part of why it’s the best music.”
When Nas was mentioned as an example of someone thriving both commercially and critically later in his career, 50 suggested the Queens icon would understand his perspective.
“If you ask Nas to compare what that feels like, those four or five joints versus what it felt like when his first album came out, he would not say it’s the same thing,” he explained. “It doesn’t feel the same to him ‘cause I’m telling you it’s different. If you consecutively release material and you go out, I would say you’re as hot as the last thing you did. Or if you’re not generating interest in other platforms and other areas, that’s where it’s at.”
