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[Roadtripping]
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50 Cent’s 1999 underground smash "How To Rob," in which he made off with the loot of a thousand platinum-plated MCs (and others: "I’m ’bout to stick Bobby for some of that Whitney money"), was a rare hip-hop beef track: it was so funny, the only stars who got offended were the ones who weren’t on it. But on the eve of his Columbia debut, the Queens rapper was shot twice, and the label, already spooked by rampant bootlegging of the disc, unceremoniously dropped him and recalled the album (see www.50cent.com, where Columbia’s promotional-campaign-in-progress remains eerily preserved). So 50 Cent headed back to the trenches, recording tons of indie singles, mix-tape appearances, conspicuous cameos, and freestyles; and the buzz came back hard, with Eminem’s Universal-distributed Shady Records ultimately winning what was reported to be a million-dollar-plus major-label bidding war this past year. This week, 50 Cent is basking in the chart-topping success of Em’s 8 Mile soundtrack (which includes two of his numbers), and he’s back with the headlining spot on a Slim Shady–less Shady Records tour to preview his Dre-and-Em-produced debut disc, Get Rich or Die Trying. The tour hits the Palladium (800-477-6849) in Worcester on Friday.

Well, old man Bob was just here a few weeks ago, and now Jakob Dylan is passing through with the Wallflowers: apparently father and son aren’t gonna sit down to a meal this Thanksgiving. But even if Jakob won’t get his, he will get Ours, a precious modern-rock outfit signed to DreamWorks who are opening this leg of the Wallflowers tour. Dylan the younger and pals are out in support of their new Red Letter Days (Interscope), with stops at Higher Ground (802-654-8888) in Winooski, Vermont, on Saturday; Avalon (617-423-NEXT) in Boston on Monday; and the Webster Theatre (860-525-5553) in Hartford on Tuesday.

Elsewhere this holiday weekend and beyond, blues great Taj Mahal — who, apropos of nothing, once did a mean Andre Williams impersonation on a children’s record called Shakin’ a Tail Feather — is at the House of Blues (617-491-BLUE) in Cambridge on Wednesday and at the Iron Horse (413-584-0610) in Northampton next Thursday, December 5. Kool Keith, who tends to be a mad hip-hop genius when he’s not putting us to sleep, hits Toad’s Place (203-562-5589) in New Haven on Tuesday, the Met Café (401-861-2142) in Providence next Thursday, December 5; the Asylum (207-772-8274) in Portland next Friday, December 6; and Pearl Street (413-584-0610) in Northampton next Saturday, December 7. Jazz-vocal hottie Jane Monheit follows up her Sanders Theatre (617-876-7777) show this Friday with two nights at the Iron Horse on Sunday and Monday. And Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor gives America something even scarier to ponder — an outfit in which he actually sings — when his other band, Stone Sour, hit Lupo’s Heartbreak Hotel (401-272-5876) in Providence on Sunday and Avalon on Tuesday.

Issue Date: November 28 - December 5, 2002
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