50 Cent, Arena Birmingham - review

He’s the last of a certain breed, in my opinion, of the rappers from the mid-to-late 90s and early 2000s who just have that particular flow and vibe to their songs.

From the very first beat he got the crowd jumping and the packed arena lapped up everything he threw at them as he took us all on a wonderful trip down memory lane.

The tour is to celebrate 15 years since the rapper released his smash-hit album Get Rich or Die Tryin'.

After the album sold more than 800,000 copies in the first week, the New Yorker has simply never looked back.

As well as adding a stellar acting career, clothing range, vitamin drink and even a computer game to his list of achievements, the entrepreneur is still at his best when on stage.

Armed with G-Unit he belted many of his classic tracks. What Up Gangsta began the call and response with the crowd as the whole venue started bopping.

White, black, Asian, young, old – the crowd was an eclectic mix but they all enjoyed the gig the same. It says a lot about how far the rap genre has really come.

It doesn’t matter what you’ve heard about Fifty, but he’s a P.I.M.P – one of his better known tracks, which is as controversial and great as the rest.

But he raps about his background, his upbringing and what he knows. Losing his mother aged eight, dealing drugs by 12 and then being locked up for six months in this early life, it was music that saved him from a probable life in the cells or even an early grave.

Growing up in Queens, his skills as a rap artist also brought him problems, which came to a head when he released How to Rob Someone with Columbia records and was then shot nine times – but survived.

It led to a change of direction and it was when Eminem and Dr Dre took him under their wings his career really took off.

How We Do again got the crowd dancing and then he went straight into Hate it or Love it, the sublime track he recorded with The Game, before that relationship also turned sour.

However, the song is superb thanks to the beat, lyrics and backing vocals.

Many Men (Wish Death) saw him return to his more raw, angry lyrics as he recalled being shot and how he survived.

As well as being a top rapper, Fifty is also a respected actor these days. He pretty much plays a version of himself in Netflix series Power – if you haven’t seen it I would highly recommended giving it a whirl – and it showed how many members of the crowd also followed the series when he performed the shows' opening track to loud cheers.

There was lots of reminiscing and rightly so – he more than deserves to bask in his limelight these day, Just a Little Bit anyway, which is another of his best tracks.

Candy Shop followed which, again, is another Dr Dre-led classic that just gets everyone dancing, and there was even time for a cover of Bob Marley’s Is This love and a rendition of She Wants It, a song he originally duetted with Justin Timblerlake, which was when he went a bit more mainstream, to mixed reviews.

If you had 21 Questions, he was able to answer them all through his duet with the late Nate Dogg, and then it was time for us all to simply Shake That Ass.

And then he was gone, only to return with Get in My Car and, finally, the track he is best known for In Da Club as part of his encore.

We certainly partied like was our birthday and we just hope we don’t have to wait another 15 years to see 50 Cent live.