Gangster rap, the dominant paradigm in mainstream hip-hop since the release of The Notorious B.I.G’s 1994 album, Ready To Die, looked to be cruising along in fine form in 2003. The genre had just seen the birth of its newest star in the Queens rapper 50 Cent, whose debut album for Interscope, Get Rich Or Die Trying was released in February. The album, promoted heavily by his image as a hard-bitten survivor of nine bullet wounds... sold over 8 million copies and spent six nonconsecutive weeks at the top of the Billboard 200. In November of the same year, Jay Z released what was then billed as his retirement record, The Black Album...
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