Dre, Red Spyda, No I.D., Megahertz, and Midi Mafia. For two, G-Unit get a wide array of fresh beats from a legion of up-and-comers, along with a few former collaborators: Dr.

For one, 50 and his cohorts (Lloyd Banks, Young Buck, and on two long-ago-recorded songs, an incarcerated Tony Yayo - with no guests whatsoever) are sky-high on confidence here - brash as hell, taunting the world and absolutely reveling in their newfound celebrity. Of course, when you deflate the album of its hype, it's not quite as exciting as it probably sounded fresh out of the cellophane first thing in the morning on November 14, but it's still a considerably exciting listen nonetheless. It's thus difficult to distance yourself from the aura of hype surrounding Beg for Mercy and evaluate it as music rather than as an event. All of this made the eventual release of Beg for Mercy a real event - and all the more so because Murder Inc had announced that they would simultaneously release a new Ja Rule album and go head to head, sales-wise (though they wisely reconsidered), and because Interscope bumped up the release date of Beg for Mercy to November 14 (citing bootlegging concerns) so that G-Unit could contentiously go head to head with Jay-Z and his much-anticipated Black Album. The plan paid off in spades as G-Unit worked the mixtape circuit, releasing one after another, while 50 in turn blew up in 2003 with his solo debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', yet maintained his street cred with his well-bred posse, touring extensively and releasing still more mixtapes. Following 50's unsuccessful stint with Columbia Records during the late '90s, he returned to the streets and willfully assembled a backing posse, with himself as the superstar and his cohorts as his street-level representatives, thereby ensuring himself future street credibility and enough firepower for entire mixtapes. Though backing posses had become de rigueur for commercially successful rappers by the early 2000s, 50 Cent's posse, G-Unit, is somewhat exceptional, as showcased on its album debut, Beg for Mercy.

Beg for mercy