Well, fortunately the answer to that question is: He already has! In fact 50, along with other authors and well-known rappers, have written several books for the G-Unit Publishing Co. Most of them revolve around topics that the rapper knows about best, like life on the streets, selling drugs, killing cops and other stereotypical roles for young African-American men. You know what they say: write what you know.
His newest book, Harlem Heat, is about a mother-daughter duo that go on a crime spree in the Upper East side of Manhattan. The first line of the book is: "I can't front." Very powerful.
While I applaud the entrepreneur's crack at writing, these novels don't seem to be much more than a continuation of the story-telling that most of us know from his music. I suppose these books are designed for the white suburban kids whose parents won't let them buy the records but figure that since it's a book, it can't be as bad. Or maybe they are trying to reach the youngsters who are turned off by reading in general, which is most of the population of children today, and want to give them something they can sink their teeth into. If this is the case, I guess the intention is nobel, if totally misguided.
Prehaps what the well-known rapper should be writting about is his rise to fame, the struggles he overcame to become the respected lyricist he is today or how to make it in the music business, which is not an easy task. Instead he has found another medium to fill kids heads with tales of cool violence and the quiet dignity of drug dealing.
I don't want to sound like Tipper Gore here, I just wanted to point out how ridiculous I felt when I picked up Harlem Heat in the library and found out that it is merely one in a long series of 50 Cent novels. He's already tried acting, rapping and writing, so I guess all that's left is politics. If he runs in my state, I'll be on the first train out.
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