
50 Cent and Jorja Smith have joined Parklife Festival's 15th anniversary lineup
The Manchester festival's 15th anniversary lineup features 50 Cent, Charli xcx, and Jorja Smith headlining alongside electronic, pop, and hip-hop acts.
About This Track
Released in November 2002 as the third single from the '8 Mile' soundtrack, 'Wanksta' became one of 50 Cent's breakthrough tracks, reaching number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100. Produced by Sha Money XL and John 'J-Praize' Freeman, the song arrived ahead of his debut album 'Get Rich Or Die Tryin'' and helped establish the confrontational persona that would define his early work.
The track is built around a simple accusation: the difference between genuine street credibility and empty posturing. 50 Cent coined the portmanteau to describe what he calls 'a gangster that doesn't progress', and the chorus hammers the distinction home with repetitive force. Across three verses, he contrasts his own criminal history (parole since 1994, he notes) with targets who talk but never act, who visit dealerships but never buy, who hustle but accumulate nothing.
The production is spare and menacing, leaving space for 50's delivery to carry the threat. Lines about running up with a nine and making people 'press rewind' sit alongside more mundane boasts about women and money, the whole thing underpinned by a casual violence that reads as matter-of-fact rather than theatrical. It's a calling card, and it worked.
"Wanksta" is a single by 50 Cent, released 2002. The track is 3:39 long. Full lyrics are available below. Dork has published 1 article about 50 Cent.
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The Manchester festival's 15th anniversary lineup features 50 Cent, Charli xcx, and Jorja Smith headlining alongside electronic, pop, and hip-hop acts.

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