Former boxer 50 Cent already has a bloody history, having been stabbed in his studio in 2000 and shortly afterwards shot nine times while sitting in a parked car.

There’s no sense of community on this unapologetic throwback to straight-assed songs about guns, girls and drugs which has already sold nearly a million copies in America.

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Musically, the standout is the Dr Dre-produced “In Da Club,” which, with its grim, joyless concentration on pleasure echoed by the death knell of its orchestral sample, could be the converse of Nelly’s anthemic “Hot In Herre”.

His macho stance sits oddly with his vocal resemblance to Bill Withers (“Many Men”), though “21 Questions” suggests some vulnerability.