G-Unit: T.O.S.: Terminate On Sight

At this point, getting kicked out of G-Unit might

just be a better career move than hanging by 50 Cent's side. Since getting

rudely booted from the Vitamin Water pitchman's silly little clubhouse, The

Game and Young Buck have been ubiquitous in the hip-hop press, while the other

guy (Lloyd Banks) and the other other guy (Tony Yayo) bombed with solo albums

and are widely seen as little more than 50's loser sidekicks. The

once-fascinating, now-tedious gangsta-rap superstar's creative losing streak

continues with G-Unit's dreary new posse album Terminate On Sight.

An album-opening cover of "Straight Outta Compton"

titled "Straight Outta Southside" serves notice that fans seeking originality

and fresh ideas should look elsewhere—yet it emerges as one of the disc's

best tracks, largely by default. The disc's other standout track, "Rider Pt. 2,"

hops shamelessly onboard the Autotune bandwagon with 50's Vocoder-esque hook

and nifty second-generation G-funk production from Rick Rock. Otherwise, the

album alternates forgettably between derivative gangsta rap, labored humor, and

fatally unsexy sex jams. "Kitty Kat" is the worst offender, with its asinine

call-and-response between an anonymous hoochie whining "Owww, I need cash for

my kitty kat" and the fellas responding with "I get pussy for free, so I'm

hitting that." The title for 50's next solo album is reportedly Before I

Self Destruct,

but the increasingly predictable superstar doesn't seem in danger of imploding.

He's just gotten boring, which is a far worse crime in the personality-driven

world of gangsta rap.