50 Cent to release 'Before I Self Destruct' next spring

By: Yves Erwin Salomon

G-Unit general 50 Cent is working on his third album, Before I Self Destruct, which he plans to release next spring. The rapper offered a simple explanation for the album's title. He told MTV.com, "Because it could potentially happen."

50 Cent added, "I show more vulnerability on this record than on others. I'm in a space where I can experiment a little bit. I mean, I felt a lot of pressure between each one of my projects. And they don't say, 'Do you think 50 can make a good record?'They say, 'Do you think he can do it again?'And that means (if I will) have the same success as I've had on each one of those projects. They don't care whether the state of the music business is changing; they'll say I've failed if I don't do what I did on the first two projects."

The rapper further explained that digital downloading has changed the music business. He said, "So 11 million records on my first album and 9.5 on my second album. And when I'm getting ready to go into this project, considering that Apple is selling millions of iPods and Microsoft is coming out with competing products and Sony -- everybody has something that encourages people to download material instead of purchasing the actual CD. The general public will still take advantage of it and say that I'm becoming less of an artist."

In related news, 50 Cent's latest movie, Home of The Brave, hits theaters next month. The film also stars Samuel L. Jackson and Jessica Biel. 50 Cent explained how his minor role in the film expanded. He said, "My character was actually a lot smaller (originally). Irwin (Winkler, the director) kept expanding the character based on my performance. He wanted to see more from me in the film, so he just kept on adding scenes for me."