G-Unit - 'T.O.S: Terminate On Sight' (Interscope / G-Unit) Released 30/06/08

With only 102,000 copies of their latest album sold in its first week, some might say that it’s the end of the line for 50 Cent’s G-Unit crew. But while the numbers might not be there as they once were – the group’s debut offering ‘Beg For Mercy’ sold over 2 million copies, the music that they’re making still sounds good. Now while you’d be stupid to measure the quality of an album by its sales, especially when artists like Talib Kweli and Royce Da 5’ 9” rarely set a foot wrong but still sell ridiculously low amounts, it’s been drilled in to the heads of the music buying public that a small sales figure equals a dud.

Behind the cutthroat boardroom player that is 50 Cent there’s an artist who likes to have a bit of fun when he wants to. ‘T*O*S’ is an outlet in which he can achieve that certain level of satisfaction and enjoyment. Who wouldn’t like to hang out with their friends in a studio recording an album, especially when your friends include punchline King Lloyd Banks and loudmouth street hustler Tony Yayo? And admittedly, while ‘T*O*S’ isn’t the genre shattering LP that 50’s ‘Get Rich Or Die Tryin’’ was, it still displays a certain level of maturity that many of today’s albums just can’t reach.

Knocking beats and hardcore gangsta tales are again what you can expect on the menu. The album’s first single, ‘I Like The Way She Do It’, stands up as a pretty solid track and would eat any other record for breakfast when played in the clubs. Its electronic rhythm and thumping beat does a good job of giving the females something to strut their stuff to. It also allows the fellas to let loose and nod their head along to it. ‘Rider Pt.2’, which blew up and picked up a lot of spins on the mixtape circuit, is another cut that appeals to both the male and female listeners. 50’s been in the industry too long not to know what works and what doesn’t when it comes to grabbing a listener’s attention. Other standout moments include the diversely strange ‘Piano Man’, ‘No Days Off’ and ‘I Don’t Wanna Talk About It.