Get Rich or Die Tryin’ is full of dramatic action-movie atmosphere, standard-bearing production from Dr. Dre (including the standout “In da Club”), and typically witty bars from 50 Cent. In ’03, nothing was more captivating than a Queens-based rapper, produced by Dre, having beef with other MCs (i.e., Ja Rule)— a shot (nine times!), stabbed and jailed former drug dealer to boot. 50 Cent’s classic debut formed a foundation for G-Unit, four more studio albums, and his 2005 biopic of the same name.

– Miles Marshall Lewis