Hip-hop veterans such as Ice-T and Snoop Dogg have, for weeks now, proudly crowed on social media about the fact that concerts by rappers from the 1990s have been selling out, while the younger generation has struggled to fill venues. 50 Cent's "The Final Lap Tour," which ended in France on Friday, November 3, at the Paris La Défense Arena, didn't completely prove them wrong. After sold-out concerts in Nantes and Strasbourg, the gangsta rapper from Queens, who was celebrating the 20th anniversary of his debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003), drew 31,000 people to the 45,000-capacity Paris venue.
However, unlike his fellow New Yorkers Nas and Wu-Tang Clan, who played the Accor Arena in Paris on June 7 with unprecedented professionalism, 50 Cent (real name Curtis Jackson) failed to live up to the expectations set by his career and his self-proclaimed qualities as a businessman. He arrived more than an hour and a half late, and botched his sound check, forcing Paris La Défense Arena to postpone opening their doors, as queues outside grew longer.
Once inside, the other stars on the bill, R&B singer Jeremih and the veteran Busta Rhymes, did their best to warm the crowd back up. Arriving on stage at 10 pm, an almost inaudible 50 Cent struggled to get his concert off the ground, even with pyrotechnic effects, a laser show and a score of thong-clad dancers. Like in his music video for "In Da Club," he seemed to have emerged from a laboratory and was presented to the public as a new man, all muscles. The concert opened with "What Up Gangsta," like his first album, which was produced by Dr. Dre and Eminem and sold over 15 million copies worldwide.
A host of celebrities, from the actor Guillaume Canet to the DJ Cut Killer, were in the VIP area to watch the American's concert. His film-worthy life story – boxer, crack dealer at the age of 12, once shot in the jaw – has made him one of the biggest stars of this musical genre in the United States, thanks in part to his distinctive flow.
On stage, 50 Cent made the most of his reputation and muscularity, but struggled to break out of his "rapper stance", marking the beat with an outstretched arm. Despite the hits – "Hate It or Love It," "How We Do" (a track recorded with Dr. Dre's other protégé, The Game, with whom he eventually fell out), "Candy Shop" and "Window Shopper" – the dancers' choreographies, each one sexier and more acrobatic than the last, and the two hype men who accompanied him, 50 Cent remained ineffective. He communicated little with the audience, except to ask for an ovation for his friend Eminem, referring to him by his nickname Slim Shady.
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