CD Review: 50 Cent, "The Massacre" (Interscope)

"The Massacre" is all about the O: machismo, bravado and Mafioso--in 50 Cent's charming gangsta sort of way, of course.

Less catchy, more sinister than "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," "The Massacre" opens with gunfire, but offers no shortage of natural-born bangers, reaffirming 50 Cent as party animal and gangsta kingpin du jour of today's hip-hop realm.

As its title implies, much of "The Massacre" is dark--at times even shocking. "Tie your arm up/Put that lighter under that spoon," from "A Baltimore Love Thing," sees 50 rap a monologue--from the point of view of heroin--to an ex-junkie, described here as a spurned lover: "You broke my heart, you dirty bitch/I won't forget what you did, " eliciting an unavoidable relapse.

Violence is this album's undercurrent. On "In My Hood," 50 Cent cruises concrete Southside streets where "you can be a victim or you can lock and load." Yet while the twitching riff of "My Toy Soldier" is chilling, 50 still knows how to chill out. "Ryder Music" is as mellow as a Sunday spliff. Inevitably, Teflon and Gats go from the street to the club, where 50 takes in a "Disco Inferno."

Tempered with sex, big nights and bigger fights, "The Massacre" is all things gangsta, painting 50 Cent as the ultimate O: Ghetto Desperado.