Yes GRODT had more cultural impact, was a bit more tight in its tracklist curation and has the more iconic hits…. BUT

I’m done with The Massacre being slandered sometimes when people say 50 only dropped one amazing album. The Massacre is super replayable, versatile and was released when 50 was still the hottest in the streets

I consider it a classic, many do too, but I also feel that people who have never listened to 50 much roll with this narrative that he immediately fell off after GRODT. It’s simply not true, go listen to the Massacre again

“I came up with 2 new ways to get rich, I can’t wait” is such a hard line and really encapsulates early 50’s hunger and sounds even harder in retrospect knowing how successful of a businessman he became

always loved this album! 50's beat selection was so elite

Heavy agree OP I go back to Massacre the most. My favorite 50 song

Been on this wave

good take, it’s actually better

For real

Power of the dollar > GRODT > The Massacre and all the mixtape/Gunit stuff in between was such an incredible run

Based

Meh it’s got too much radio on it. The street tracks and deep cuts def are on par with GRODT tho

God gave me styleeeee, god gave me grace

Saying someone dropped one good album and "fell off" when the G-Unit Radio mixtape series had like 80 tapes and a s***load of heat from Fif alone is just an insane take to me

From '03 to '05 alone even if we're just looking at studio releases we had GRODT and The Massacre, PLUS Beg for Mercy (one of the best posse tapes of that era) and the GRODT movie soundtrack (which is one of the best label comps ever imo)

In those 3 years 50 went on a run that most rappers can't even hope to touch across their whole career.

Let’s talk about it Baltimore love thing> any track on grodt

It’s actually a better album.

Said it for decades.

YEP

I feel like it’s overblown how much radio stuff is on there, you could argue that GRODT has those radio cuts as well. In Da Club, PIMP, 21 Questions

Whole thread based af so far whew music sxn won

I liked The Massacre more than GRODT

They just hate on it because of the singles but all 3 singles proved to have aged well years later

Both are classics tho

ski mask way is generational

The Massacre's biggest mistakes were:

1. Letting Candy Shop be the lead single

2. Giving the Game some of the quality tracks like Hate It Or Love It.

Perception is everything and, in the midst of 50 beefing with other rappers on Piggy Bank and promoting himself as rap's supervillain, he drops.....Disco Inferno and Candy Shop as the first batch of singles lol.

TM turned off a number of rap fans and even casuals who only listened to the singles and were disappointed at 50 "copying Ja Rule" but the album is packed full of some of the best album tracks and deep cuts in his career.

Songs like This is 50, Positions of Power, Get In My Car, Ryder Music, I'm Supposed To Die Tonight, Ski Mask Way, Baltimore Love Thing, and God Gave Me Style are classic 50 as both a lyricist and a songwriter.

But the "50 fatique" on top of the Game/Piggy Bank beef and the polarization of the singles(excl. Outta Control Remix) made people view it as a sophomore slump.

CD Player days lol this album is amazing but I think it sounds a little more dated than GRODT and it’s too long, also he went a little more poppy/hitmaker on it.
In My Hood, ISTDT, Ryder Music, Gunz come out, God gave me style are my fav non singles

It‘s a great album

What‘s the problem with Candy Shop?

GRODT had everything lined up for 50.

The mixtape run of 2002, beefing with Ja when niggas were getting sick of him, the Eminem/Aftermath cosign, the inclusion of Wanksta on 8 Mile, and his GOAT single(In Da Club) starting the rollout.

The stars were aligned perfectly for GRODT while still being a classic.

The Massacre came out in the midst of 50 beefing with many people's favorite rappers and having a fallout with Game before the album even dropped. And Ja was kinda out the picture outside "New York". So, the polarization was already there for 50 in 2005 in contrast to 2003.

So, him starting off with Disco Inferno and Candy Shop made people discredit the album before it even came out. It was "he's copying Ja now" or "he sold out" or "how is 50 beefing with Jadakiss but puts this s*** out." Those were critiques BEFORE the album even came out.

So, the people who only listened to Massacre on the surface level weren't actually comparing it to GRODT track by track. They were comparing the singles or the difference in perception of 50 more so.

GRODT is still the better album with higher highs and less duds but the Massacre was actually more versatile. 50 actually feels like a more fleshed out songwriter in TM whereas GRODT has more of a uniform theme that he stays in.