50 Cent feat. Trey Songz – Smoke

50 Cent feat. Trey Songz – "Smoke"

I feel like it's safe to say we're all still rooting for 50. He's had his slip ups (more than a few since 2007), but he's obviously a very smart man. He also seems to have an answer for absolutely everything, which makes watching his recent interviews almost impossible because he goes on these tangents for what seems like hours. You ask him why he's been quiet for so long, and it's because this or that or Interscope or because Lloyd Banks is lazy or whatever. But now really is his last chance to pull a rabbit out of his hat and prove not only to himself but to the rest of us that he's still got it and that he's still culturally relevant.

The thing about 50 is that he's always been mainly an entertainer (and probably even more of an entrepreneur), but we don't really know much about him as a person. He reps New York, but he chokes up when you ask him to pick between the Giants or Jets. He keeps his relationships private, but you wonder if he thinks about getting married at all. The artist-fan relationship is so much more about buying into the artist as a person, and it's odd to see 50 confused to realize that. Even his moves outside of music right now are somewhat baffling. He'll (I assume) brag about his new show on Starz, a network not known for groundbreaking original programming or impressive ratings. He's hanging out with Rachael Ray, who hasn't actually been a thing since her show on the Food Network (#TeamGiada tho). And while I'm sure he's made millions off these decisions, it's almost like who cares?

He's dropped a few songs recently, but "Smoke" is the one. It's supposed to be anyway. On first listen, especially once the synth kicks in, it's easy to think the song is special. But maybe I just want it to be so. It's kind of forgettable, but for some reason I find myself listening again. The smoke metaphor probably came from the time he kept outwardly legitimizing the popularity of Wiz Khalifa and Frank Ocean's "Novacane"as hippy culture. In today's radio climate, it might have made more sense for the song to feature Chris Brown but that probably doesn't change much.

This video really sucks though. As do all of his videos. They're all directed by Eif Rivera, and they're all just footage of him reciting the song. This one tries to be interesting, but falls flat all while ripping off Kanye's "Flashing Lights" video. He also has the most horrendous album and single artwork, but I'll save that for another post.