I’ve recently come to a horrible realization. Someone who I trusted, who I held in very high regard, had hoodwinked me. Hoodwinked all of us. For years, in fact.
50 Cent—artist, entertainer, person with his own Smartwater flavor—did not ask a full 21 questions on his classic song, uh, “21 Questions.”
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I couldn’t believe it either. A song that I’ve been familiar with for close to 15 years now has what is quite possibly the most fraudulent song name ever.
Before we go further, let’s break it down:
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If I fell off tomorrow would you still love me?
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If I didn’t smell so good would you still hug me?
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If I got locked up and sentenced to a quarter century, Could I count on you to be there to support me mentally?
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If I went back to a hoopty from a Benz, would you poof and disappear like Some of my friends?
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If I was hit and I was hurt would you be by my side?
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If it was time to put in work would you be down to ride?
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If I ain’t rap ’cause I flipped burgers at Burger King Would you be ashamed to tell your friends you feelin’ me?
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In the bed if I used my tongue would you like that?
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If I wrote you a love letter would you write back?
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Now would you leave me if you’re father found out I was thuggin’?
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Do you believe me when I tell you, you the one I’m loving?
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Are you mad ’cause I’m asking you 21 questions?
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Are you my soulmate? ‘Cause if so, girl you a blessing
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Do you trust me enough, to tell me your dreams?
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If I was down would you say things to make me smile?
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If I was with some other chick and someone happened to see?
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And when you asked me about it I said it wasn’t me Would you believe me?
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Or up and leave me?
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How deep is our bond if that’s all it takes for you to be gone?
Over two verses, Mr. Cent only asks 19 questions. Nineteen! Nineteen is not 21! And while they are all good questions that could help in narrowing the field when it comes to searching for the person to spend your life with, dude, that’s not 21. What the fuck, 50? What happened? Why did you stop?
“But Trey,” you insist, “Nate Dogg [RIP] asks two questions on the hook, so that makes it 21.”
Yes, Nate Dogg asks two questions in the hook:
20) Would you love me if I was down and out?
21) Would you still have love for me?
BUT… If we’re going to mention those, then we have to include every question that Nate Dogg asks on the song. And on the outro he asks:
22) Could you love me in a Bentley?
23) Could you love me on a bus?
Bruh what the fuck is going on here? Is the song “19 Questions” or “23 Questions”? Cause it sure ain’t 21. I refuse to believe that all the smart and talented people involved in this song somehow missed this awful error. Even if it somehow got past 50 and Nate, Dirty Swift, the producer, didn’t see this? Dr. Dre mixed the song and somehow didn’t think to double check? Sha Money XL, too?
I’m not going to throw wild accusations and theories around cause I feel like this was an honest mistake. Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ is arguably the best rap debut album ever and you’ve got a lot going on when you’re making a classic. That being said, this needs to get rectified as immediately as possible. 50 owes us two more questions.
Honestly, I don’t care what they are at this point. I don’t care if they even have to do with love and relationships. But you owe us two questions, Mr. Jackson. We’re currently living in times when we need to be able to trust other people, to know that what is in front of us is the truth. Please do the right thing. One of the questions can even be the “The fuck is he talking about?” that you probably said to yourself when you saw that this article existed. Justice is important. Give us two more questions, 50. Society needs this now more than ever.
For more mathematical breakdowns of 15-year-old rap songs, follow Trey Smith on Twitter.
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