How to Rob
| "How to Rob" | |||||||||
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| Single by 50 Cent featuring The Madd Rapper | |||||||||
| from the album Power of the Dollar and In Too Deep (soundtrack) | |||||||||
| Released | 10 August 1999 in New York City (unofficially) | ||||||||
| Format | 12" | ||||||||
| Recorded | 1999 | ||||||||
| Genre | Gangsta rap | ||||||||
| Length | 4:25 | ||||||||
| Label | Columbia | ||||||||
| Writer(s) | Angelettie, Barnes, Casey, Jackson and Olivier | ||||||||
| Producer(s) | Trackmasters | ||||||||
| 50 Cent singles chronology | |||||||||
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"How to Rob" is the debut single by American hip hop recording artist 50 Cent.
The song serves as the lead single from his album Power of the Dollar. The song, produced by Tone & Poke of Trackmasters, features D-Dot, also known as The Madd Rapper. The song was also included on the soundtrack to the film In Too Deep, and on The Madd Rapper's 2000 debut album, Tell 'Em Why U Madd.
The song features statements in quick succession about robbing and mugging numerous prominent figures in the R&B and Hip Hop music scene. After giving "R.I.P." shout-outs to Notorious B.I.G. and Tupac Shakur, 50 Cent talks about robbing, in order:
The song originally also had lyrics against R&B singer Mariah Carey and her ex-husband Tommy Mottola with the lyrics "I'll man handle Mariah like 'Bitch, get on the ground' / You ain't with Tommy no more, who gon' protect you now?". When the song was released, this line was replaced (because Mariah Carey threatened to leave the label if her name remained on the song) with the lyrics "I'll man handle Case like 'Duke, get on the ground' / You ain't with Mary no more, where you gettin' chips from now?", referencing R&B singer Case Woodard and his former girlfriend Mary J. Blige.
The song may have been a tribute to the infamous 1980s gangster Kelvin Martin, whose nickname "50 Cent" inspired 50 Cent's own name. Martin was infamous for robbing celebrities.
Emphasizing the humorous nature of the song, the song's own producers, the Trackmasters, are listed among the intended victims. Sticky Fingaz, who is also mentioned, had collaborated with 50 Cent the year before, as part of the group Onyx, on the song "React" from their 1998 album Shut 'Em Down. Sticky Fingaz also appeared in In Too Deep, which featured "How to Rob" in its soundtrack, as did another celebrity mentioned, Jermaine Dupri.
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