Before I Self Destruct (film)

Before I Self Destruct[1] is a 2009 American direct-to-video crime drama film[2] starring Curtis Jackson, who also served as writer, director, producer and executive producer that is included with his fourth studio album of the same name. It was released on November 23, 2009, two weeks after the release of the album.

Before I Self Destruct
Directed byCurtis Jackson
Produced byCurtis Jackson (also executive producer)
J. Jesses Smith
Ken Kushner
Frank Mosca (associate producer)
Written byCurtis Jackson
StarringCurtis Jackson
Clifton Powell
Elijah Williams
Gabriel Ellis
Sasha Delvalle
Music byCurtis Jackson
Ky Miller
Victor Bruno
Stephen Tubin
Edited byStephen Franciosa Jr
Ned Silhavy
Jimmy Higgins (co-editor)
Vilan Trub (post-production supervisor)
Production
company
Kreative Film Empire
Distributed byCheetah Vision
Release date
  • November 23, 2009 (2009-11-23)
Running time
79 Minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

The film is about Clarence Jenkins (Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson), who lives with his mom and his gifted brother Shocka (Elijah "Strong-E" Williams). Clarence loves basketball and had dreamed on making the pros in the championship. However, due to a knee injury, his basketball career ended before it begins. With no way to earn a living he works in a supermarket where he longs after pretty girls that he feels are beyond his reach as a stock person, where he also checks out a woman named Princess (Sasha Delvalle).

After his mother, Donna Jenkins (Kar) was accidentally shot and killed by a gunman named Tiny (Shorty Red) in a drive-by shooting, Clarence has no idea what he can do to take care of his brother and prevent him from going into foster care. He is fired from his job after getting caught stealing a can of cookies. He is stuck trying to find a way to take care of Shocka, who had already been accepted to all eight Ivy League universities.

In anger and frustration, he finds Tiny and kills him with a revolver that he finds beneath the bed at his hotel room, after coming back to find an eviction notice on the hotel door. Clarence visits Sean (Clifton Powell), who is the local crime boss, to inform him that he killed Tiny who had previously worked for Sean. Sean decides that he likes Clarence's style and way he carries himself, so he hires Clarence to be his new hitman.

After obtaining financial success from his newly found criminal lifestyle, he runs into Princess, the beautiful woman from the supermarket. Now that he makes hundreds of thousands of dollars and can support his brother, life is easier and so is the money, once he gets past his original shock at being a hired gun. He begins to develop a close bond with Princess and believes she feels the same. However, he is unable to see Princess' true motivations, as she is using him. Clarence bestows gold, diamonds and payback when Princess's ex-boyfriend Rafael (Gabriel Ellis) gets released from prison.

Rafael tracks her down by using her mom's phone to call Princess and she answers the phone while in bed with Clarence pretending it is her mom. Rafael asks her where is the money he gave her for safekeeping and says he wants his "paper". She meets up with him and has sex and when he again asks her for his "paper" Princess stays silent. When Rafael gets angry and demands an answer, the only thing she says is "Clarence", implying that she gave Clarence Rafael's money.

Rafael thinks that Clarence has taken his money from Princess so he has her call Clarence and ask him to come to her mom's house to help move furniture. Princess and Rafael wait in his car across the street from her mom's house. As soon as Clarence steps out of the car, Rafael starts shooting Clarence with a USP (Standard), leading to a slow, painful death.

When Princess arrives and steals all of Clarence's paper out of the drawer, Shocka realises what's going on. He tells Princess he will find her if it's the last thing he does if she hurt his brother, kind of hinting that Shocka may also follow the wrong path to seek revenge for Clarence.

Cast
  • Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson as Clarence Jenkins, Shocka's elder brother and the main protagonist in the film
  • Clifton Powell as Sean, Clarence's local crime boss
  • Elijah "Strong E" Williams as Shocka, Clarence's 13-year-old brother
  • Gabriel Ellis as Rafael, Princess's ex-boyfriend
  • Sasha Delvalle as Princess
  • Shorty Red as Tiny, a gunman who shot Clarence's mother
  • Angel as Mona
  • Anthony 'Treach' Criss as Cedrick
  • Michael Wright as the first victim who got killed in a lift
  • Lloyd Banks as Shocka's school teacher
  • Gabrielle Casseus as Freddie
  • Kar as Donna Jenkins, Clarence and Shocka's mother
  • Jaquan K.R. Cobb as Bobby, Shocka's best friend at school
  • Taquan K.R. Cobb as Kevin
  • Eve Lora as Mrs. Ortiz, Princess's mother
  • Joanne Read, Princess's Friend

Music

The music for the film is composed by G-Unit frontman 50 Cent and Ky Miller (who both also served as music supervisors; Miller also served as ADR recordist and record producer) along with Victor Bruno (who also served as an ADR recordist; he also did the audio mix and design, and the sound design with Tom Gambale) and Stephen Tubin who composed and arranged the score. The first hit single "Ok, You're Right" from 50 Cent's fourth studio album of the same name was contributed to, and played in, Before I Self Destruct. The first single from the album was produced by Dr. Dre (who also served as 50 Cent's executive producer for the album).

Tony Yayo, another member from G-Unit, contributed his solo rap song "Face Off" (produced by Dream Team) in the film. Other contributed songs in the film include the following Ky Miller-produced tracks: "Come With Me" by Mass Hysteria, "It's Going Down" by Mike Knox, "Tell Me" by American female R&B singer Taryn Fouche, "All Night" by American rapper Smitty, and "Pray for Me" by R&B singer Gasner Hughes.

Prodigy contributed the song "Murder Murder" for the film, which produced by The Alchemist. 50 Cent also contributed three more rap songs in the film, such as the non-album single "Get Up" (produced by Scott Storch), which was replaced by the album's second single "Baby by Me" for the album of the same name, "Try Me" and "Cold Blooded" (both produced by Ky Miller).

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See also

References
  1. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1625762/50-cent-screens-before-i-self-destruct-film-new-york.jhtml
  2. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1310569/
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