50 Cent Says Nas, Rakim & The Notorious B.I.G. Influenced "Animal Ambition"

When he began being influenced heavily by Hip Hop, 50 Cent says that it was important to have a distinct style of Rap.

“It was more important that you had your own style than you being able to master a version of Rakim or a version of another artist’s style,” he says in a recent interview with Vibe. “Nobody does that better than [Rakim]. Even with new content that flow is still his flow. Nas is [also] one of those guys…he has his own. Even if some people make comparisons that was just Queensbridge, man. That period for me…Mobb Deep, Prodigy is in his own class in my mind.”

These emcees provided an influence for his work on the upcoming Animal Ambition album, according to Vibe. 50 Cent says the upcoming collection is also about the success he’s experienced in the entertainment industry and compares it to subject matter that another New York emcee once rhymed about.

“Animal Ambition is about prosperity and the effects of it,” he says. “A lot of people think about how successful you are doing when it comes to prosperity, but the envy connected to it like, ‘Damn, niggas wanna want to stick me for my paper.’ That was [The Notorious] B.I.G. rapping after Ready To Die when he actually made some money and felt new energy from people that he didn’t feel before with the success he had at that point…It’s going to be really interesting because some of [Animal Ambition] is written from a slightly warped perspective…But it’s all about prosperity.”