Before I Self Destruct - Background

Background

Initially, Before I Self Destruct was planned to be 50 Cent's 2007 album, for which he confirmed he had already completed twelve songs. However, he decided to release Curtis instead, and thus Before I Self Destruct's release date was originally pushed back to 2008.

In a red carpet interview 50 Cent stated that while he was working on the album, he wrote, produced, and directed his first film saying that the release of the film would coincide with the release of the album.

Though a tracklist appeared in early January 2009, 50 Cent later stated he reworked much of the album.

Another track stated to be on the album, though not officially confirmed as a single, entitled "Crime Wave" was released in late October 2009.

The album's release date was initially announced to be February 4, 2008, but later moved to March 2008, due to the release date of Curtis being pushed up to September 2007. However it was later revealed, in an interview with G-Unit members Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks, that the album was scheduled to be released during the 4th quarter of 2008, with 50 Cent himself later stating that the album was due to be released December 9, 2008.

MTV later reported that the album will instead be released in 2009, with February 3 being the date 50 Cent himself confirmed. Though it was later pushed back to March 2009, with March 24 being set as the day, until he later confirmed that mentor and labelmate Eminem's album, Relapse, was going to be released before his own. 50 Cent then told MTV that he would release the album in June, with the date being changed once again as he decided to retool parts of the album once Eminem's Relapse was completed. However, the album was pushed back to a Fall 2009 release, with September being the specific month. On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, 50 Cent stated that the album will be out "second week of September, I'll be back on the streets baby", with the date later stated to be specifically September 11, which at the time, was the release date of Jay-Z's The Blueprint 3. However, these reports were later contradicted by MTV, when they stated that 50 Cent exclusively confirmed the release date as September 29, 2009. The album was later officially confirmed to have been pushed back again by 50 Cent, who claimed November 3, 2009 as the newly confirmed release date, but this was once again changed to November 17, 2009. However, in October 2009, the album was pushed back a week to make the release date November 24, 2009. Universal has pushed several albums forward to November 23, 2009, including Before I Self Destruct.

50 stated that because the album leaked and the good response it got, he will release the album a week earlier, on November 16. The album was released exclusively on the iTunes Store on November 9 at 12:00am, while the physical copy was released in stores on November 16. Since the album was released digitally a week ahead of the physical copy, Interscope records requested that Billboard and Nielsen SoundScan uphold a rule instituted in 2008 where a label may ask Nielsen SoundScan to hold the digital sales count of an album for up to one week, and for Billboard to delay charting that album, when a leak results in a digital album beating its physical counterpart to brick and mortar stores.