Come On, Man

*Quick Note- I aim to incorporate more pop culture into What's ill, hopefully you guys enjoy it*

Some news broke this morning from 50 Cent about his album in November.

Apparently, the album has been canceled and now Fif is threatening to leak a new Dr. Dre single in retaliation for Interscope not giving his project the publicity it deserves.

As a big 50 Cent fan, it's disappointing to see him drop to this level. It arguable that 50 is as influential as a Jay-Z, as mainstream as a Lil' Wayne, and as buzzworthy as Kanye West, but we haven't seen a 50 Cent album since 2009 and that album to many people didn't impress.

There have been many stops and starts to 50's fifth studio album and it always seems like Fif has more excuses than hot tracks.

The most recent 50 Cent track was a street single called 'Outlaw', it wasn't the best, but it was okay and was getting some radio play and now 50 cancels his album because of Interscope. When someone as famous as 50 complains about lack of support and publicity, no one buys it.

50 Cent is his own promotion, he has the resources to go and promote his album the way he sees fit, when someone like Lupe Fiasco talks about a lack of a push, it's reasonable because Lupe isn't as big a superstar as 50 is and needs well put together marketing campaigns to sell an album.

The real issue for 50 is the lack of a hit single, the same problem Game is going through with the Red Album. Rappers never look themselves in the mirror when it's time to realize that they aren't coming through for the label.

I can't remember the last 50 Cent single that's charted (you can't count Down on Me), and it's really sad to see Fif talk about trying to recreate 'Get Rich or Die Tryin' because it's at that point in time when rappers are done.

We've seen rappers like Fat Joe, Ja Rule and others try to recreate hit albums to no response and it's usually the tell-tale sign that people don't care about you.

Can 50 get back on top, yeah, because he has the fan base to make a comeback, but he has to stop taking L's and start making hits.

Kolb Didn't See This Coming

Andy Reid very rarely admits he was wrong, he'll always say he has to do better, but the words "I was wrong" won't emerge from Big Red's mouth often, but when he officially trades Kevin Kolb that is what he'll admit to the masses.

Reid drafted Kevin Kolb in the 2007 NFL Draft and no one thought that he would be the guy to replace Donovan McNabb because it was so clear that Donovan was Andy's guy and why would he waste a second round pick on a guy that was going to sit on the bench indefinitely?

Well, as time went along we could clearly see where Andy was looking and Kolb tickled Reid's fancy, he was a true gunslinger, accurate and a lunch box type guy that came to work and kept to himself.

After Donovan failed in his last playoff performance to date, Andy Reid saw his chance to finally insert the future QB of the Eagles.

Kolb had already impressed earlier in the season when McNabb was injured. Kolb threw for over 300 yards in his first two NFL starts and his hype was through the roof, so the confidence was definitely there by the organization and the coach.


Michael Vick was supposed to be the backup but it was clear that Vick was always the wild-card in the ascension of Kevin Kolb and once Kolb got hurt and Vick dazzled in last year's season opener, it didn't matter what Andy Reid said to the media about the job being Kolb's because in Andy's head the position now belonged to Vick.

Kolb had a chance to play last season when Vick went down, but the spark in the Eagles offense fizzled out when Kevin was under center and it was that and his teammates' assistance on Vick holding the position which buried Kolb.

Andy Reid believed in Kolb until he saw just how unready he was to be the guy for this franchise, whether it was nerves or whatever, Andy made the right decision, Kolb had his chance to win back the job in the early stages of last season but couldn't match the excitement and play making abilities of Vick.

The question now has to be, is Kevin Kolb ready to be that guy for any franchise. Kolb had all the offensive talent in the world surrounding him when he failed in Philadelphia last season.

There are teams right now that believe in Kevin Kolb leading their team, but will they still feel that way after Game 1 of the 2011 season?

McNabb to the Vikings

Another offseason, another team for Donovan McNabb. Donovan hasn't had a rumor free offseason in what seems like years and now he goes to his third NFL team in as many years, the Minnesota Vikings.

McNabb has a chance to rehabilitate his career in Minnesota, as he was put through the emotional gauntlet last year with the Washington Redskins.

There's no doubt that McNabb was terrible in Washington, but you can also argue that he wasn't the worst thing about that team last year, but because of the biggest and newest face in the Mike Shanahan regime, McNabb got more flack than he deserved.

If you take out his absurdly high number of interceptions, McNabb was putting together numbers that weren't appalling by any stretch of the imagination, they were average, but because of the high-profile off season trade, there had to be a fall guy for the Redskins' struggles and that was Donovan.

Donovan has been quite the controversial figure over the years and now has become an NFL nomad looking for a place where he can prove to the Eagles front office and all of his doubters that he can still play and win at a high level.

McNabb was nine playoff wins in his career, you can't scoff at that number no what he did in the Super Bowl. He can still be a good player in this league and he can still win games in the right situation and it was clear thanks to the coaching staff that Washington was not that spot.

Landing with the Vikings was the best possible spot for McNabb, as he will be surrounded by arguably the most talented team he's ever been around and for the first time ever, he'll have an All-Pro running back in his prime in the backfield to back him up.

I made a comment on Twitter that it'll be interesting to see what Donovan can do in comparison to what Brett Favre was able to accomplish in his first season with the Vikings.

Just because McNabb is out of Washington doesn't mean the pressure is off, in fact the expectations will be higher than ever given the current state of the Vikings and how they want to bounce back after a disappointing follow-up to their NFC Championship Game run. 

There's no doubt that Minnesota is good enough to make it back to the playoffs, but are they Super Bowl bound with McNabb under center? Because of his recent performance, one would say no, but I believe that Donny Mac has more left in the tank than anyone could imagine.

Photos Courtesy of the Associated Press