50 Cent Calls "In Da Club" A Gift & Curse

G-Unit's 50 Cent recently opened up about the success of his 2002 "In Da Club" smash hit and how despite his later achievements, he still gets compared to his debut material.

Although he embraces the love people have for his early days, 50 said he is constantly having to outdo his own achievements.

"It's great. It's a gift and a curse," 50 said in an interview when informed CNN personality Piers Morgan works out to his 2002 "In Da Club" anthem. "When your first song is that good, that effective you are kind of up against that first body of work for the rest of your entire career. So until I make an album better than Get Rich or Die Tryin', I have people forget on me at different points. My second album, The Massacre, sold ten million copies and they'll go, 'His first album was great.' Like they didn't even hear the last three after. You know what I mean? I just have to make something that tops it." (CNN)

Last summer, 50 credited "In Da Club" for ultimately paving his career.

"I love [Dr.] Dre...Without 'In Da Club' and Dre's guidance on the first record...none of those other things would've happened," 50 said in an interview. "That's the biggest record of my career still. Dre can be difficult at times, and not intentionally. He can be on his own and in his world." ("Power 106")

Past album talk to the side, the G-Unit general recently dished out a few details about his upcoming new LP.

"My new album is epic it defines the struggle between good and evil. There's a bright side and a dark side on it. #SK," he tweeted October 23rd.

"I had to write it that way so I don't lose people. When you see someone say they miss the old 50 know that person hasn't grown with me. #SK" (50 Cent's Twitter)

Last month, 50 said the album was a go and ready to enter the mixing/editing stage.

"I feel like I'm done with the album, I'm going through the mixing process," 50 revealed in an interview. "Music, for me, it marks time. I believe a classic is timing. I haven't made a song that I felt like wasn't up to standard, where you listen to it and say, 'This is garbage.' You just got to be in the mood for it, maybe. The timing might have been bad during the release for some of the actual songs but it's not necessarily a record that you say, 'OK, I can't listen to this. What is this? Turn it off,' because I make all of my music up to standard. If that's the case, the stuff I did for promotional purposes, for free, wouldn't be talked about like it's so good." (Shade 45)