Report: 50 Cent Is Losing His Appeal to Urban Market

By Erin T. McMillon

LOS ANGELES (RUSHPRNEWS) 08/30/08--50 Cent has built an empire off of his ability to market himself as a brand, as opposed to just a rapper. But Hollywood insiders are saying the G-Unit general is losing his appeal in the "urban market." To put it plainly: The hood is not checking for 50 Cent anymore.

Fans may have noticed that 50 has been missing from the promotional ads for his new movie "Righteous Kill" starring Al Pacino and Robert Deniro.

According to a report found on Woooha.com, 50's absence is due to the filmmaker's concerns that he is no longer appealing to the "urban market."

"The real reason the studio cut Curtis out of the campaign is because their research and exit poll information showed that 50 actually was not the urban or young demographic box office draw they were hoping for," read the report.

"50 basically can't draw in the core demographic that used to buy his albums by the millions. The box office let down of 'Get Rich Or Die Trying' should have been a hint of things to come."

"It's no secret in the music world that 50 Cent has lost some mainstream appeal, but in the film world you don't necessarily need multi-platinum albums to have a successful film career (Common, Mos Def, etc.) you just need to appeal to the urban demo. 50 clearly is losing that appeal."

At press time, the validity of the claims made in this report could not be confirmed.

- YO! RAPS MAGAZINE