How to Rob
"How to Rob" is a hip hop song by American rapper 50 Cent (born Curtis Jackson), featuring The Madd Rapper and production by Trackmasters, released on August 10, 1999, as his major-label commercial debut single.[1] It appears on the soundtrack for the crime thriller film In Too Deep, starring Omar Epps and LL Cool J, and was intended as the lead single for 50 Cent's unreleased debut album Power of the Dollar.[1] The track is notorious for its satirical and aggressive lyrics, in which 50 Cent humorously outlines hypothetical robberies targeting prominent figures in the music industry, including rappers like Jay-Z and DMX, as well as singers such as Mariah Carey (in an original lyric later removed).[2] This bold approach, blending bravado with comedy, immediately drew widespread attention and backlash, with Mariah Carey reportedly demanding the removal of a line referencing her and her then-husband Tommy Mottola, and Jay-Z publicly responding during his performance at Hot 97's Summer Jam 1999.[1] The controversy amplified 50 Cent's visibility in the hip hop scene, positioning him as a provocative newcomer amid the late-1990s East Coast rap landscape dominated by established artists.[1] Despite its buzz, the song's success was overshadowed by 50 Cent's real-life shooting in May 2000 outside his grandmother's house in Queens, New York, which led Columbia Records to shelve Power of the Dollar and drop him from the label.[1] However, "How to Rob" laid the groundwork for his comeback, influencing the mixtape era and contributing to his eventual signing with Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment, culminating in the blockbuster 2003 album Get Rich or Die Tryin', which sold over 12 million copies worldwide.[1] The song remains a seminal example of 50 Cent's early style, characterized by sharp wit, street credibility, and unapologetic disses that defined his rise to superstardom.[1]Creation and Release
Background and Development
"How to Rob" originated in 1999 as a satirical track conceived by 50 Cent, then a 23-year-old rapper from Queens, New York, who drew from his street background and financial struggles to craft a provocative concept about robbing high-profile hip-hop artists and celebrities.[3] Inspired by The Notorious B.I.G.'s earlier satirical song "Just Playing (Dreams)," 50 Cent aimed to generate buzz in the competitive New York hip-hop scene by directly naming over 25 figures, including Jay-Z, DMX, and Lil' Kim, in a bold move to differentiate himself from artists who used subliminal disses.[3][4] This approach was intended to create an immediate impact on radio and mixtape circuits, as 50 Cent later explained: "They always wrote subliminal shit. That’s the sucker way to do it."[4] The song emerged during 50 Cent's early association with Trackmasters and Columbia Records, to which he had signed earlier that year after building a local following through mixtapes and features like Onyx's "React" in 1998.[1] Positioned as his debut single, "How to Rob" was tied to his anticipated album Power of the Dollar, a project that remained shelved due to label issues and later events in 50 Cent's career.[4] It also appeared on the soundtrack for the film In Too Deep, providing an initial commercial outlet in August 1999.[1] The track's development emphasized its humorous edge, with Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie, performing as The Madd Rapper, contributing a comedic hook—"This ain’t serious, being broke can make you delirious"—to underscore the satirical intent and lighten the aggressive tone.[3][4] Initial buzz for the song built rapidly in New York's mixtape circuit starting in the spring of 1999, fueled by white-label distributions and airplay on stations like Hot 97, where it quickly gained traction among DJs such as Kid Capri and Doo Wop.[3][1] This underground momentum, driven by the song's audacious content, helped elevate 50 Cent's profile ahead of his formal major-label debut.[4]Production and Recording
The production of "How to Rob" was handled by the duo Trackmasters, consisting of Poke (Jean-Claude Oliver) and Tone (Samuel Barnes), who crafted the track at Soundtrack Studios in New York City during 1999.[5] The beat features a simple, looping piano sample drawn from George McCrae's 1974 funk track "I Get Lifted," layered with additional interpolations including The Notorious B.I.G.'s "Just Playing (Dreams)" from 1994 and elements from Cam'ron and Mase's "Horse & Carriage" (1998), creating a playful yet gritty foundation that underscores the song's satirical edge.[6] This minimalistic arrangement, built around the core sample without heavy percussion or orchestration, allowed 50 Cent's verses to take center stage, emphasizing his sharp, narrative flow.[7] Key personnel included 50 Cent as the lead rapper, delivering his verses with a raw, street-inflected cadence honed from his Queens background, and Deric "D-Dot" Angelettie as The Madd Rapper, who performed the comedic hook to inject humor into the track.[2] Recording engineer Jason Goldstein handled the session capture at Soundtrack Studios, while the mixing occurred at The Hit Factory in New York City, with mastering by Chris Gehringer also at The Hit Factory.[2] During the process, Trackmasters noted that an early version of the song felt overly serious in tone, prompting revisions such as removing certain provocative rhymes (e.g., references to Mariah Carey) and incorporating The Madd Rapper's exaggerated persona to balance the explicit content with levity, ensuring it aligned with the intended parody. The track's explicit lyrics, detailing fictional robbery scenarios targeting celebrities, necessitated the creation of a clean radio edit by censoring profanity and sensitive lines, a common practice for hip-hop singles at the time to broaden airplay potential.[5] Finalization for release focused on adapting the track for the vinyl single format, pressed as a 12-inch, 33⅓ RPM record on Columbia Records through Sony Music Soundtrax, Track Masters, and Dimension Records.[5] The A-side featured "How to Rob" in both explicit and clean variants, backed by the non-album B-side "Rowdy Rowdy" (produced separately by Kid Capri), with the pressing optimized for club and radio DJ use through clear track separation and durable vinyl mastering at The Hit Factory to maintain audio fidelity during playback.[5] This configuration allowed the single to circulate effectively in underground and mixtape scenes before its soundtrack placement.Single Release and Formats
"How to Rob" was released as a single on August 10, 1999, through Trackmasters and Columbia Records, marking 50 Cent's commercial debut.[8][5] The track served as the lead single from his anticipated debut album Power of the Dollar, though it also appeared on the soundtrack for the film In Too Deep.[5] The single was primarily distributed in a 12-inch vinyl format, pressing both explicit and clean versions of "How to Rob" alongside the B-side tracks "Rowdy Rowdy" in their explicit and clean variants.[5] Promotional efforts included CD-R copies circulated to industry insiders and radio stations to generate early buzz.[9] To amplify its reach in New York's competitive hip-hop scene, 50 Cent personally promoted the record via the underground mixtape circuit, leveraging DJ networks to build street-level hype ahead of broader label backing. The song gained further exposure when included on 50 Cent's 2002 mixtape Guess Who's Back?, released independently on Full Clip Records, as well as various later compilations featuring his early work.[10] However, the single's momentum was disrupted by 50 Cent's shooting on May 24, 2000, after which Columbia Records terminated his contract and indefinitely shelved Power of the Dollar.[11]Content and Composition
Musical Style
"How to Rob" is a quintessential example of late-1990s East Coast hip-hop, blending gangsta rap aesthetics with hardcore influences through its raw, confrontational sound. Produced by the New York-based duo Trackmasters (Poke & Tone), the track embodies the gritty urban edge typical of the era's New York rap scene, where producers crafted beats to underscore street narratives with menace and intensity.[5] The song operates at a tempo of 97 beats per minute, adhering to a straightforward verse-hook structure punctuated by The Madd Rapper's comedic, skit-like interlude that adds a layer of satirical flair to the proceedings. Its instrumentation features a heavy, pulsating bassline and sparse, hard-hitting drums, anchored by a looped sample of the funky riff from George McCrae's 1974 disco-funk single "I Get Lifted."[12] This sampled foundation, combined with minimalistic percussion, evokes the boom bap production style prominent in 1990s East Coast rap, creating an ominous, stripped-down atmosphere that amplifies the track's predatory theme without overwhelming the vocals.[13] 50 Cent's vocal performance delivers an aggressive, street-hardened flow, marked by rapid pacing and effusive speech patterns that generate intricate, irregular rhythms suited to the song's bold content.[13] This intense delivery, with its gritty timbre and unyielding energy, mirrors the raw, visceral style of hardcore rap contemporaries like DMX and Ja Rule, who similarly harnessed confrontational urgency to dominate the East Coast soundscape in the late 1990s.[14]Lyrical Themes
The song "How to Rob" centers on a satirical narrative outlining a humorous blueprint for robbing dozens of prominent hip-hop and R&B artists and celebrities, with exaggerated scenarios customized to each target's persona, such as snatching Jay-Z's Bentley keys or raiding Missy Elliott's studio for beats. This central theme emerged from 50 Cent's own financial struggles, transforming the concept of robbery into a comedic vehicle for asserting street dominance while poking fun at industry excess.[4][1] The lyrical structure unfolds in two main verses with mixed male and female targets, the first verse including figures like Lil' Kim, Puff Daddy, Whitney Houston, and Jay-Z, and the second featuring Master P, Missy Elliott, DMX, and others, often incorporating innuendos tied to their public images. The Madd Rapper's interludes provide comedic relief through warnings like "This ain't serious," underscoring the track's playful tone and preventing misinterpretation as literal threats.[4][15][2] 50 Cent has described the satirical intent as a strategic ploy to name-drop over two dozen high-profile names in one track, generating instant notoriety and buzz in an era when rappers avoided direct call-outs, blending bold bravado with self-aware comedy to market himself aggressively. He likened it to The Notorious B.I.G.'s similarly provocative "Just Playing (Dreams of Fuckin' an R&B Bitch)," stressing that the song was never meant as serious beef but as exaggerated fantasy born from hunger and ambition.[4][1] Recurring motifs include street credibility, portrayed through the narrator's cunning outmaneuvering of wealthy targets to reclaim power; materialism, evident in repeated references to stealing luxury items like jewelry, cars, and cash stacks that symbolize hip-hop success; and subtle industry critique, highlighting rappers' fear of explicit confrontations by doing the opposite—naming names unapologetically. The track's provocative edge is amplified by explicit language and sexual innuendos, such as lines implying assaults on artists' entourages or personal vulnerabilities, which fueled its underground appeal and backlash alike.[4][15]Commercial Performance
Chart Positions
"How to Rob," released in 1999 as 50 Cent's debut single under Columbia Records, achieved moderate success on specialized hip-hop charts but saw limited entry on broader mainstream rankings. The track, featuring The Madd Rapper, debuted amid a late 1990s hip-hop landscape dominated by established East Coast and Southern acts like DMX, Jay-Z, and Master P, where underground diss tracks often built buzz without immediate commercial dominance on pop-oriented charts. Its provocative lyrics targeting prominent artists contributed to radio play in urban markets, yet the song's underground appeal and subsequent label turmoil restricted wider penetration. The single performed best on rap-specific charts, reflecting its niche appeal within the genre. On the U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, "How to Rob" peaked at number 24 and spent 12 weeks in the ranking, debuting on September 4, 1999.[16] It also entered the U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart, reaching a peak of number 62 in 1999 and maintaining a presence for approximately 10 weeks, underscoring its traction in R&B and hip-hop radio formats despite not crossing over to the Billboard Hot 100.[17]| Chart | Peak Position | Year | Weeks on Chart |
|---|---|---|---|
| U.S. Billboard Hot Rap Songs | 24 | 1999 | 12 |
| U.S. Billboard Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs | 62 | 1999 | ~10 |