G-Unit – "Beg For Mercy" Review

I’m tired of you ni–as with your maybe beef; We gonna be here forever, you’re temporary like baby teeth – Lloyd Banks

2003 – the year of G-Unit. Any hip hop fan who paid attention during that year would easily agree with that sentiment. Once 50 Cent‘s classic Get Rich Or Die Tryin dropped in February of 2003, the rap world was fully introduced to him and his crew – Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck. Who was on MTV and BET seemingly every day? 50 Cent and G-Unit. Who performed at concerts all around the world to millions of fans? G-Unit. Every kid in New York City would utter the “G-G-G-G-G-G UNIT!” found at the beginning of every song; it was a movement, and a rapid one at that.

8 months after 50’s debut album was released, it was time for G-Unit to show what they were capable of; that they wouldn’t be an example of either one man running everything (in 50) and that they wouldn’t be living off of 50’s success. November 14th, 2003, would be that date – the day that G-Unit’s debut album, Beg For Mercy would be released to the mainstream.

Executive produced by the legendary Dr. Dre, Beg For Mercy was primed for much success; would it measure up to Get Rich or Die Tryin’s 872,000 copies in the first four days? Probably not, but based on the fact that it was a 50 Cent album produced by Dr. Dre and receiving co-signs by Eminem, thinking that the album would bomb was a foolish thought in the eyes of many.

In an age before complex hip hop covers that were difficult to understand, Beg For Mercy had a relatively simple one – the members of G-Unit standing together in G-Unit apparel, with 50 Cent fittingly in the center (note: Tony Yayo, who at the time was imprisoned, did not appear with the rest of his contemporaries. Rather, a photo of him was placed on the brick wall that’s on the album cover).

The album opens up with the title track “G-Unit”, which allows Young Buck and Lloyd Banks to show their lyrical talents early on. The second song, “Poppin’ Them Thangs”, produced by Dr. Dre and Scott Storch, is where we really hear that 2003 50 Cent vibe; the gangsta brand mixed with a catchy hook and lyrics focusing on how well off they are in terms of money. “Cut the grass around my crib so I could see these snakes; You see ’em back in the hood, it’s cause I see they’re fake,” 50 rhymes in the first verse, while Young Buck calls out ‘studio gangstas’ by rapping “You ain’t a Crip like Snoop, you ain’t no Blood like Game“. “My Buddy” is unique in the fact that it’s a love song but it doesn’t have to do with a woman. Rather, it’s their love for a gun!

G-Unit – the premier rap group in 2003 (BET)

“I’m So Hood”, produced by the Shady duo of Eminem and Luis Resto, sounds like a GRODT leftover, as 50 raps both verses and the hook; while that’d be normal on any album, it seemed weird to have on a group album, especially considering that it was 50 Cent – the most successful of the four at the time. “Stunt 101” is similar to “Poppin’ Them Thangs”, while “Wanna Get To Know You” is the necessary song about getting women in the bed, and evidently they’re quite successful, considering Lloyd Banks can ‘make a forty year old feel like a young lady’.

“Groupie Love” features Tony Yayo in one of his only two songs on the album, and it’s actually quite catchy! Had Tony Yayo not been in jail at the time, it’s likely that this would have been a single with a music video. “Betta Ask Somebody”, while a fair track, is the type of song you’d expect near the beginning; the chorus is “If you don’t know who I be, you betta ask somebody about me”. Personally, I would have placed this as either the intro track or the second track.

“Footprints” is a duet between 50 and Buck, and again, “Eye For Eye” is all three rappers on the same track. The next track, “Smile” actually lets Lloyd Banks’ lyrical talents shine, which is why it was used as a ‘promotional single’ of sorts for Banks’ June 2004 album The Hunger For More. But, let’s not get ahead of ourselves!

“Baby U Got” is yet another track talking about the ladies and sex, but “Salute U” and “Beg For Mercy” are easily highlights of this album, notably the latter track. Everything about the track “Beg For Mercy” stands out to me – the lyrics, the banging beat, and truth be told, it’s one of the few songs on the album that the trio of Banks, 50, and Buck form together at once to create an excellent track.

Speaking of excellent tracks, it’s quite possible “G’d Up” is the best track on the entire album; it sees 50, Banks, and Buck visit their past, talking about the experiences that they dealt with including drugs, guns, and a lack of parenting. Combine that with the emotional beat in the background (a Dr. Dre production), and you have maybe Beg For Mercy’s top song.

“Lay You Down” is a great track as well, including featuring a catchy hook and several name drops (Snoop Dogg, Dr. Dre, Diddy, Lil Wayne); Lloyd Banks drops the ball on this one, however, with a weak verse with corny lines such as “I light up trees like every day’s Christmas” and comparing himself to Dr. Pepper. “Gangsta Shit” is, as you’d expect, another song displaying how hardcore these three gentlemen are – it sounds like a later 50 Cent track, though. Kind of feels like something you’d see on The Massacre or Curtis. The album ends with “I Smell Pussy”, a diss track aimed at Irv Gotti and Ja Rule, two longtime enemies of the G-Unit crew (at the time). 

All in all, while far from the level that Get Rich or Die Tryin was on, Beg For Mercy was both a commercial success (selling 377,000 first week and over 3 million copies across the globe) and a success to listeners. In June of 2004, Lloyd Banks would drop his debut album The Hunger For More to much acclaim, probably because of what he contributed on this album. Over ten years after this album hit stores, G-Unit has disbanded; 50 Cent has left Shady Records and the crew is, by all means, dead.  But, for a second, we can remember the awesomeness that G-Unit’s 2003 album created, while also accepting the fact that the days of G-Unit being a major player in the rap game once more are over.