Album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued as a collection on compact disc, audio tape, or another medium. Albums of recorded music were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78-rpm records collected in a bound book resembling a photograph album. Vinyl LPs are still issued, though album sales in the 21st-century have focused on CD and MP3 formats; the audio cassette was a format used alongside vinyl from the 1970s into the first decade of the 2000s. An album may be recorded in a recording studio, in a concert venue, at home, in the field, or a mix of places; the time frame for recording an album varies between a few hours to several years. This process requires several takes with different parts recorded separately, brought or "mixed" together. Recordings that are done in one take without overdubbing are termed "live" when done in a studio. Studios are built to absorb sound, eliminating reverberation, so as to assist in mixing different takes. Recordings, including live, may contain sound effects, voice adjustments, etc..
With modern recording technology, musicians can be recorded in separate rooms or at separate times while listening to the other parts using headphones. Album covers and liner notes are used, sometimes additional information is provided, such as analysis of the recording, lyrics or librettos; the term "album" was applied to a collection of various items housed in a book format. In musical usage the word was used for collections of short pieces of printed music from the early nineteenth century. Collections of related 78rpm records were bundled in book-like albums; when long-playing records were introduced, a collection of pieces on a single record was called an album. An album, in ancient Rome, was a board chalked or painted white, on which decrees and other public notices were inscribed in black, it was from this that in medieval and modern times album came to denote a book of blank pages in which verses, sketches and the like are collected. Which in turn led to the modern meaning of an album as a collection of audio recordings issued as a single item.
In the early nineteenth century "album" was used in the titles of some classical music sets, such as Schumann's Album for the Young Opus 68, a set of 43 short pieces. When 78rpm records came out, the popular 10-inch disc could only hold about three minutes of sound per side, so all popular recordings were limited to around three minutes in length. Classical-music and spoken-word items were released on the longer 12-inch 78s, about 4–5 minutes per side. For example, in 1924, George Gershwin recorded a drastically shortened version of the seventeen-minute Rhapsody in Blue with Paul Whiteman and His Orchestra, it ran for 8m 59s. Deutsche Grammophon had produced an album for its complete recording of the opera Carmen in 1908. German record company Odeon released the Nutcracker Suite by Tchaikovsky in 1909 on 4 double-sided discs in a specially designed package; this practice of issuing albums does not seem to have been taken up by other record companies for many years. By about 1910, bound collections of empty sleeves with a paperboard or leather cover, similar to a photograph album, were sold as record albums that customers could use to store their records.
These albums came in both 12-inch sizes. The covers of these bound books were wider and taller than the records inside, allowing the record album to be placed on a shelf upright, like a book, suspending the fragile records above the shelf and protecting them. In the 1930s, record companies began issuing collections of 78 rpm records by one performer or of one type of music in specially assembled albums with artwork on the front cover and liner notes on the back or inside cover. Most albums included three or four records, with two sides each, making six or eight compositions per album; the 12-inch LP record, or 33 1⁄3 rpm microgroove vinyl record, is a gramophone record format introduced by Columbia Records in 1948. A single LP record had the same or similar number of tunes as a typical album of 78s, it was adopted by the record industry as a standard format for the "album". Apart from minor refinements and the important addition of stereophonic sound capability, it has remained the standard format for vinyl albums.
The term "album" was extended to other recording media such as Compact audio cassette, compact disc, MiniDisc, digital albums, as they were introduced. As part of a trend of shifting sales in the music industry, some observers feel that the early 21st century experienced the death of the album. While an album may contain as many or as few tracks as required, in the United States, The Recording Academy's rules for Grammy Awards state that an album must comprise a minimum total playing time of 15 minutes with at least five distinct tracks or a minimum total playing time of 30 minutes with no minimum track requirement. In the United Kingdom, the criteria for the UK Albums Chart is that a recording counts as an "album" i
Music journalism
Music journalism is media criticism and reporting about music topics, including popular music, classical music and traditional music. Journalists began writing about music in the eighteenth century, providing commentary on what is now regarded as classical music. In the 1960s, music journalism began more prominently covering popular music like rock and pop after the breakthrough of The Beatles. With the rise of the internet in the 2000s, music criticism developed an large online presence with music bloggers, aspiring music critics, established critics supplementing print media online. Music journalism today includes reviews of songs and live concerts, profiles of recording artists, reporting of artist news and music events. Music journalism has its roots in classical music criticism, which has traditionally comprised the study, discussion and interpretation of music, composed and notated in a score and the evaluation of the performance of classical songs and pieces, such as symphonies and concertos.
Before about the 1840s, reporting on music was either done by musical journals, such as the Allgemeine musikalische Zeitung and the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, in London journals such as The Musical Times. An influential English 19th-century music critic, for example, was James William Davison of The Times; the composer Hector Berlioz wrote reviews and criticisms for the Paris press of the 1830s and 1840s. Modern art music journalism is informed by music theory consideration of the many diverse elements of a musical piece or performance, including its form and style, for performance, standards of technique and expression; these standards were expressed, for example, in journals such as Neue Zeitschrift für Musik founded by Robert Schumann, are continued today in the columns of serious newspapers and journals such as The Musical Times. Several factors—including growth of education, the influence of the Romantic movement and in music, among others—led to an increasing interest in music among non-specialist journals, an increase in the number of critics by profession of varying degrees of competence and integrity.
The 1840s could be considered a turning point, in that music critics after the 1840s were not practicing musicians. However, counterexamples include Alfred Brendel, Charles Rosen, Paul Hindemith, Ernst Krenek. In the early 1980s, a decline in the quantity of classical criticism began occurring "when classical-music criticism visibly started to disappear" from the media. At that time, magazines such as Time and Vanity Fair employed classical music critics, but by the early 1990s, classical critics were dropped in many magazines, in part due to "a decline of interest in classical music among younger people". Of concern in classical music journalism was how American reviewers can write about ethnic and folk music from cultures other than their own, such as Indian ragas and traditional Japanese works. In 1990, the World Music Institute interviewed four New York Times music critics who came up with the following criteria on how to approach ethnic music: A review should relate the music to other kinds of music that readers know, to help them understand better what the program was about.
"The performers be treated as human beings and their music be treated as human activity rather than a mystical or mysterious phenomenon." The review should show an understanding of the music's cultural intentions. A key finding in a 2005 study of arts journalism in America was that the profile of the "average classical music critic is a white, 52-year old male, with a graduate degree". Demographics indicated that the group was 74% male, 92% white, 64% had earned a graduate degree. One critic of the study pointed out that because all newspapers were included, including low-circulation regional papers, the female representation of 26% misrepresented the actual scarcity, in that the "large US papers, which are the ones that influence public opinion, have no women classical music critics", with the notable exceptions of Anne Midgette in the New York Times and Wynne Delacoma in the Chicago Sun-Times. In 2007, The New York Times wrote that classical music criticism, which it characterized as "a high-minded endeavor, around at least as long as newspapers", had undergone "a series of hits in recent months" with the elimination, downgrading, or redefinition of critics' jobs at newspapers in Atlanta and elsewhere, citing New York magazine's Peter G. Davis, "one of the most respected voices of the craft, said he had been forced out after 26 years".
Viewing "robust analysis and reportage as vital to the health of the art form", The New York Times stated in 2007 that it continued to maintain "a staff of three full-time classical music critics and three freelancers", noting that classical music criticism had become available on blogs, that a number of other major newspapers "still have full-time classical music critics", including the Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Baltimore Sun, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Boston Globe. Music writers only started "treating pop and rock music seriously" in 1964 "after the breakthrough of the Beatles". In their
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III, known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, film producer, actor. He is cited as one of the greatest and most influential artists of all time in hip hop, with Rolling Stone placing him in its list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time and labeling him the "King of Hip Hop". After his debut album Infinite and the extended play Slim Shady EP, Eminem signed with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and subsequently achieved mainstream popularity in 1999 with The Slim Shady LP, which earned him his first Grammy Award for Best Rap Album, his next two releases, 2000's The Marshall Mathers LP and 2002's The Eminem Show, were worldwide successes, with each being certified diamond in U. S. sales and both winning Best Rap Album Grammy Awards—making Eminem the first artist to win the award for three consecutive LPs. They were followed by Encore in another critical and commercial success. Eminem went on hiatus after touring in 2005 due to a prescription drug addiction.
He released Relapse in 2009 and Recovery in 2010. Both won Grammy Awards and Recovery was the best-selling album of 2010 worldwide, the second time he had the international best-selling album of the year. Eminem's eighth album, 2013's The Marshall Mathers LP 2, won two Grammy Awards, including Best Rap Album; these were followed by 2017's Revival and 2018's Kamikaze, the latter being the best-selling hip hop album of 2018. In addition to his solo career, Eminem is an original member of the Midwest hip hop groups Soul Intent and D12, he is known for his collaborations with fellow Detroit-based rapper Royce da 5'9". Eminem has developed other ventures, including Shady Records, with manager Paul Rosenberg, which helped launch the careers of artists such as 50 Cent. Eminem has established his own channel, Shade 45, on Sirius XM Radio. In November 2002, he starred in the hip hop film 8 Mile playing himself, which won the Academy Award for Best Original Song for "Lose Yourself", becoming the first rap artist to win the award.
Eminem has made cameo appearances in the films The Wash, Funny People, The Interview, the television series Entourage. Eminem is the best-selling artist of the 2000s in the United States. Throughout his career, he has had 9 number-one albums on the Billboard 200 and five number-one singles on the Billboard Hot 100, he is the only artist to have nine albums consecutively debut at number one on the Billboard 200. With over 220 million records sold globally, Eminem is among the world's best-selling artists of all time. Marshall Bruce Mathers III was born on October 17, 1972, in St. Joseph, the only child of Marshall Bruce Mathers Jr. and Deborah Rae "Debbie". He is of English, German, Swiss and Luxembourgian ancestry, his mother nearly died during her 73-hour labor with him. Eminem's parents were in a band called Daddy Warbucks, playing in Ramada Inns along the Dakotas–Montana border before their separation. Eminem's father, referred to by his middle name Bruce, left the family, moving to California and having two other children: Michael and Sarah.
Debbie had son Nathan "Nate" Kane Samara. During his childhood and Debbie shuttled between Michigan and Missouri staying in one house for more than a year or two and living with family members. In Missouri, they lived in several places, including St. Joseph and Kansas City; as a teenager, Eminem wrote letters to his father, which Debbie stated all came back marked "return to sender". Friends and family remember Eminem as a happy child, but "a bit of a loner", bullied. One bully, D'Angelo Bailey injured Eminem's head in an assault. Eminem spent much of his youth in a working-class black, Detroit neighborhood, he and Debbie were one of three white households on their block, Eminem was beaten by black youths several times. As a child he was interested in storytelling, aspiring to be a comic-book artist before discovering hip hop. Eminem heard his first rap song on the Breakin' soundtrack, a gift from Debbie's half-brother Ronnie Polkinghorn, close to him and became a musical mentor to him; when Polkinghorn committed suicide in 1991, Eminem stopped speaking for days and did not attend his funeral.
Eminem's home life was stable. When her son became famous, Debbie was unimpressed by suggestions that she was a less-than-ideal mother, contending that she sheltered him and was responsible for his success. In 1987, Debbie allowed runaway Kimberly Ann "Kim" Scott to stay at their home. After spending three years in ninth grade due to truancy and poor grades, he dropped out of Lincoln High School at age 17. Although he was interested in English, he never explored literature and disliked math and social studies. Eminem worked at several jobs to help his mother pay the bills maintaining that she threw him out of the house anyway; when she left to play bingo, he would write songs. At age 14, Eminem began rapping with high-school friend Mike Ruby.
R.U.L.E.
R. U. L. E. is the sixth studio album by American rapper Ja Rule. Records and Def Jam Recordings; the album debuted at number 7 on the US Billboard 200 chart, selling 165,000 units in its opening week. The album has become a certified gold for selling more than 600,000 copies in the United States. Singles from the album include "Wonderful" featuring R. Ashanti; the album was made in a edited version removing profanities and violent content: it removes the skits "Weed" and "Stripping Game". This version of the album became the most edited album other than his previous album Blood in My Eye. R. U. L. E. Garnered favorable reviews from music critics but some questioned if this was a return to form after the disappointing Blood in My Eye. K. B. Tindal of HipHopDX called the album Ja's best since Rule 3:36 and Pain Is Love, concluding that "The Inc. will always be Murder Inc. no matter what and Ja will always be at the head of the fam so get used to it, he's back." Steve'Flash' Juon of RapReviews gave a mixed review, stating "his is not an overwhelming strong album lyrically, but it's a pleasant enough one to listen to musically - and from Ja Rule that's enough to get by."
Timothy Gunatilaka of Entertainment Weekly found love ballads like "Passion" and "Wonderful" suitable for Ja Rule, concluding that they "suggest he might want to stick to raspy romanticism." AllMusic editor Jason Birchmeier said that the album continued the depletion of Ja's relevance in hip-hop, stating, "And so the downfall goes — tragic, indeed, or not, depending on how affecting you find the pathos at work." Nathan Rabin of The A. V. Club found Ja's reliance on emulating "2Pac's tortured-thug persona" to craft mildly amusing "overwrought melodrama" overlong throughout the record and exacerbated further through "anonymous production, irritating skits, raspy shower-stall warbling." Sample credits "R. U. L. E" - Contains a sample of "They Ain't JE" performed by Jagged Edge. "Bout My Business" - Contains a sample of "Hogan's Thing" performed by Simon Haseley. "New York" - Contains a sample of "100 Guns" performed by Boogie Down Productions. "Where I'm From" - Contains a sample of "The Boys of Summer" performed by Don Henley
The Last Temptation (Ja Rule album)
The Last Temptation is the fourth recording studio album by Ja Rule.. It was released by Murder Inc. and Def Jam on November 19, 2002. This album contained singles such as "Thug Lovin'", "Mesmerize" and "The Pledge". "Murder Reigns" was released as a single titled "Reign" in select territories outside of North America, such as Europe and Australasia. The song "Pop Niggas" gained some attention after it was reported to be talking in part about 50 Cent. Pharrell was featured in the song, but not credited. Other guests featured on the album include: Bobby Brown, Nas, Charli Baltimore, 2Pac, Caddillac Tah, Celeste Scalone, Crooked I, Young Life & Chink Santana; the album was successful, moving 237,000 units in its first week, but less than his previous Pain Is Love. On December 13, 2002 the album was certified Platinum. "Mesmerize" is ranked at #45 on Blender's list of the "50 Worst Songs Ever", but was the most successful single from the album, reaching number 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100 and number 12 on the UK Singles Chart.
It was criticized by fans, saying that the album sounded too commercial, that Ja Rule was selling out. Though it did not manage to surpass Pain Is Love, The Last Temptation is Ja Rule's third most popular album to date; as of February 1, 2006, the album has sold 2.4 million copies in the United States and 4.3 million worldwide. The album was released in a censored version as well. However, sex-related lyrics like "gettin' head" and violent lyrics like "murder" are left in. Sample credits"Thug Lovin'" – Interpolates portions of "Knocks Me Off My Feet" performed by Stevie Wonder "Mesmerize" – Interpolates portions of "Stop, Listen" performed by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross "The Pledge" – Contains a sample and elements of "So Many Tears" performed by 2Pac "Murder Reigns" – Contains a sample of "Africa" performed by Toto "Last Temptation" – Contains a sample of "Funky Sensation" performed by Gwen McCrae "Murder Me" – Contains a sample of "Anniversary" performed by Tony! Toni! Toné! "Rock Star" – Contains a sample of "I Belong to You" performed by Lenny Kravitz "Destiny" – Contains a sample of "Midnight Sunshine" performed by The Soul Children
Shady Records
Shady Records is an American record label founded in 1999 by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the successful release of Eminem's The Slim Shady LP. Both serve as the label's presidents. Since its formation, Shady Records has signed fourteen acts and is home to seven, it has been part of the business venture in Shade 45 radio station via Sirius Satellite Radio, had its own dedicated special edition magazine via XXL magazine. Tough times were seen when its record co-founder, along with the artists were involved in public feuds with one-time former affiliate Royce da 5'9", record label Murder Inc. and The Source magazine. The label has seen positive times when being part of the successful international Anger Management tours and, in 2006, released an album showcasing its then-roster on Eminem Presents: The Re-Up, it was the label to be contracted for putting together the soundtrack to the Eminem-starring film 8 Mile, which had the lead single "Lose Yourself". The song went on to take the first Academy Award for Best Original Song given to a song in the hip hop genre.
The label's acts over the years have earned RIAA certifications of gold or higher on twelve of its twenty one released albums. Signed acts include Eminem himself, Bad Meets Evil, Westside Gunn, Hall N' Nash and Boogie, while former acts include D12, 50 Cent, Obie Trice, Stat Quo, Bobby Creekwater, Cashis and Yelawolf. After Eminem released The Slim Shady LP, he started his own record label in late 1999. Eminem looked for an avenue to release his Detroit, Michigan-based rap group, D12, Rosenberg was keen to start a label, which led to the 2 teaming up to form Shady, its A&R Marc Labelle has defined the record label as "a boutique label but all the outlets of a major Interscope backing up our every move."D12 was the 1st to be signed as they had been rapping together since the 1990s, the members had made a promise that whoever became successful would come back and sign the others. In June 2001, D12 released Devil's Night, peaking at #1 on the Billboard 200. Obie Trice was introduced to Eminem through D12 member Bizarre.
Eminem signed him in June 2001 as the second Shady Records act. Obie Trice first got public attention via a freestyle skit on the Devil's Night album. While working on the film 8 Mile, Eminem had a meeting with then-small-time New York rapper 50 Cent. Eminem had heard 50 Cent's early mixtapes, taken them to Dr. Dre and offered him the chance to work together on the artist. 50 Cent became the first solo artist signed to Aftermath Entertainment. The 8 Mile soundtrack was the second Shady Records album; the first single was "Lose Yourself", which earned multiple nominations and became a surprise win of an Academy Award for Best Original Song, the first time a hip hop song had won the award. The second single was 50 Cent's "Wanksta", released as a buzz track and became popular in 50 Cent's home town. During this time, Eminem had made a deal with DJ Green Lantern, who released the label's first mixtape, Invasion!, in 2002. He was to DJ for Eminem during the Anger Management Tour; the third release from Shady Records was 50 Cent's Get Rich or Die Tryin', in February 2003.
The album became the fastest selling debut in U. S. history. Next to be released from Shady Records was Obie Trice's debut album, six months later. Despite having been a commercial success, the album was considered overshadowed by 50 Cent's music at the time. In 2003, Shady Records was involved in several controversies with the likes of the inherited Murder Inc. feud that 50 Cent and G-Unit were involved in, on-going problems with the previous co-owners of The Source magazine, namely Benzino, as well as escalating issues with rapper Royce da 5'9", a friend of Eminem and D12. Near the end of 2003, Eminem and Dr. Dre signed a joint deal with Atlanta rapper Stat Quo. Stat Quo became the second artist to be signed after 50 Cent; the following year saw the release of D12 World. In 2004, Eminem and Rosenberg began a venture offered by Sirius Satellite Radio that saw the airing of their uncensored hip hop radio station, Shade 45. Shady Records DJ, DJ Green Lantern, was given his own show, whilst 50 Cent's G-Unit DJ, DJ Whoo Kid, co-hosted G-Unit Radio on Saturdays.
2005 saw the release of 50 Cent's second release, The Massacre, which set a record as the sixth fastest selling album since Nielsen SoundScan started tracking albums in 1991, with 1.14 million albums sold in four days. The album was a commercial success, was only 32,000 records away from being the best-selling album of the year. On "Piggy Bank", a song off the album, 50 Cent insulted several artists, including Jadakiss; the feud between Jadakiss and 50 Cent indirectly led to DJ Green Lantern leaving Shady Records. A few months after the release of The Massacre, Jadakiss appeared on a street DVD, had DJ Green Lantern on loudspeaker through his phone, without Green Lantern being aware of this; the DJ shared his thoughts on. When the DVD was released and Eminem found out about what happened, Green Lantern had to leave Shady Records and Shade 45, his upcoming album, was no longer a Shady Records-related project; the Alchemist was signed on as the official tour DJ for Eminem on the 2005 Anger Management 3 Tour, replacing the ousted DJ Green Lantern.
In August 2005, Eminem and the XXL magazine teamed up to release a special issue titled XXL Presents Shade 45, was designed to give maximum exposure to Shade 45 as a radio station, at the same time give maximum exposure to the Shady Records label as a whole, as well as the radio DJ's and G-Unit Records' artists. XXL e
G-Unit
G-Unit is an American hip hop group formed by longtime friends and East Coast rappers 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. After releasing a string of mixtapes in the early 2000s, including 50 Cent is the Future, God's Plan and No Mercy, No Fear, the group released their debut album Beg for Mercy in 2003, which went on to ship over 4,000,000 copies in the US and was certified Quadruple Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America; the album, which followed the critical and commercial success of 50 Cent's major-label debut Get Rich or Die Tryin', served as a platform for Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo to release their respective solo debut albums. In 2008, the group released their second album T·O·S. During Tony Yayo's imprisonment in 2003, the group recruited Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck, featured throughout the Beg for Mercy album; the Game was added to the group, a proposition made by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine in late 2003, to promote the Aftermath/Interscope newcomer.
However, due to The Game's "disloyalty" in the eyes of 50 Cent, he was soon removed from the group in March 2005. In April 2008, 50 Cent revealed Young Buck was no longer a part of the group due to his "excessive spending" and "inconsistent behavior". In early 2014, after Yayo and 50 Cent separately stated G-Unit was no more, the original members of the group reconciled and reunited at Summer Jam 2014, along with Young Buck after his six-year departure from the group. G-Unit Records artist Kidd Kidd was added to the group upon its reformation; the group released their first collaborative project in 6 years, an EP titled The Beauty of Independence in August of the same year. In April 2018, Kidd Kidd announced he was leaving both the group and G-Unit Records to become independent. In June of the same year, 50 Cent announced Lloyd Banks departure from the group, leaving himself Uncle Murda and Tony Yayo as the remaining members of G-Unit; the group's founding members, 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo were all born and raised in South Jamaica, a section of the Queens borough of New York City, began rapping together as teenagers.
After 50 Cent was blackballed from the music industry in 2000 and lost his record deal, the group began recording music independently, released several mixtapes between 2002 and 2003, the most prominent of these being 50 Cent Is the Future, God's Plan, No Mercy, No Fear and Automatic Gunfire. In 2002, 50 Cent was discovered by Eminem and signed a $1 million contract with Shady Records, under the aegis of Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records. After the success of his commercial debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', he was granted his own record label, which led to the creation of G-Unit Records. 50 Cent signed both Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo to the label, they began working on G-Unit's debut album, Tony Yayo was incarcerated at the time and was unable to record any new material for the album, which led to 50 Cent signing Tennessee-based rapper Young Buck to G-Unit Records and subsequently adding him to the group. After the signing of Young Buck, G-Unit made their first major label appearance as a group on the remix to 50 Cent's single "P.
I. M. P.", which featured Snoop Dogg and Young Buck. In November 2003, the group released their debut studio album, Beg for Mercy; the album featured guest appearances from R&B singers Joe and Butch Cassidy, production was handled by high-profile producers such as Hi-Tek, Dr. Dre and Scott Storch, among several others. 50 Cent served as the album's executive producer. Due to Tony Yayo's incarceration, he only made two appearances on the album, both of which used pre-recorded material, his face is seen on the brick wall of the album cover because he could not be photographed on account of his jail sentence. Beg for Mercy went on to sell over 3.9 million units in the U. S. 5.8 million copies worldwide, has since been certified quadruple Platinum by the RIAA. During the production of Beg for Mercy, Los Angeles rapper The Game was discovered and placed into G-Unit by Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine of Interscope Records, their plan was to market The Game as a devotee, or a loyal member of 50 Cent's "camp". The Game made his first appearances as a member of G-Unit on Lloyd Banks and Young Buck's debut albums, The Hunger for More and Straight Outta Cashville.
Throughout 2004, The Game began working on his debut studio album, set to be executive produced by 50 Cent and Dr. Dre. In November 2004, the album's second single, How We Do featuring 50 Cent became a top 5 hit, as did the album's third single, Hate It or Love It, which peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100, being held back from the top spot by 50 Cent's single, Candy Shop featuring Olivia. Beginning in 2004, tensions began to rise between 50 Cent and The Game, shortly after the release of The Documentary, tensions escalated into a full-scale feud which led to 50 Cent announcing that The Game had been kicked out of G-Unit, with 50 Cent claiming he had not received full credit for writing 6 songs from The Documentary; the two held a press conference on March 9, 2005, calling a truce between the two of them and seeming to publicly squash the feud. However, shortly after, The Game and G-Unit continued to attack one another, releasing numerous diss tracks throughout 2005 and 2006. On April 7, 2008, in an interview with Shanna Leviste on New York's Hot 97 FM, 50 Cent stated that Young Buck was no longer a member of G-Unit, but was still signed to G-Unit Records.
50 Cent said problems involving excessive spending and Young Buck's public claim to not being paid royalty checks and "inconsistent behavior" from Young Buck, such as appearing on stage wi
