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Candy Shop

"Candy Shop" is the second single by rapper 50 Cent from his second commercial album, The Massacre (2005). It features Olivia and was written by 50 Cent and the song's producer, Scott Storch. The single was released through Interscope Records, Eminem's Shady Records, Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment, and 50 Cent's G-Unit Records.

"Candy Shop" peaked at number one on the Billboard Hot 100, becoming 50 Cent's third number one single and fifth top-ten single. It received mixed reviews from critics, with some calling it a retread of 50 Cent's collaboration with Lil' Kim on "Magic Stick" (2003). At the 2006 Grammy Awards, it was nominated for Best Rap Song, and at the 2005 MTV Video Music Awards, the music video was nominated for Best Male Video.

In an interview with XXL magazine, rapper Fat Joe claimed that he helped produce the track while working with producer Scott Storch. He stated:

"I'm pretty sure the world don't know we actually produced Candy Shop together. I produced it with him (Storch) ... Scott called me like 50 times, 100 times: 'Yo, you sure you don't want to use it? 50 Cent called me. 50 Cent want it.' I never had a problem with this dude. I was like, 'Go ahead.'"

When writing the song, 50 Cent stated:

"I attempted to be as sexual as possible, from a male perspective, without being vulgar or obscene."

"Candy Shop" is a mid-tempo dancefloor track. The song was produced by Scott Storch, who took influence from Middle Eastern music. The track samples The Salsoul Orchestra's "Love Break". The production was described by IGN as having a "Middle Eastern tinge" with synthesized strings that "unleash a darkly atonal whirl that sounds too much like something either Timbaland or The Neptunes or Mannie Fresh have concocted". The Guardian wrote that the production contains "wan-sounding imitations of the Neptunes' sparse, breathy funk". PopMatters described the bridge as being "relaxed yet faintly ominous" with 50 Cent and Olivia crooning: "Girl what we do (what we do) / And where we do (and where we do) / The things we do (things we do) / Are just between me and you (oh yeah)." Rolling Stone noted the chorus for 50 Cent's "amateur-sounding tenor croon".

The song received mixed reviews from critics. PopMatters described it as "dripping with sexual energy and cool" and is "sexy as hell, but contains a pretty unmistakable edge of hostility, macho swagger, and thunderous chest thumping." Entertainment Weekly wrote that it was an "appealing throwaway single" and lyrics such as "after you work up a sweat, you can play with the stick" are not seductions; "they're orders". MusicOMH wrote that the chemistry between 50 Cent and Olivia "is almost as explicit as the lyrics ... the bass line is made for grinding to". Author Ethan Brown, in a review of The Massacre, called the track "uninspiring" and "nearly identical" to his previous collaboration with Lil' Kim on "Magic Stick". He stated that 50 Cent seemed too content with his "hypersexual image" among other things and "not inspired enough to work beyond the same old attention-getting schemes." Pitchfork Media listed "Candy Shop" as a reprise of "Magic Stick" both "in beats and in timbre", and Stylus magazine said it was "more of the same" as his previous collaboration. Billboard wrote that 50 Cent "shows little growth lyrically" with the song being "typical playa-friendly fodder". The song was nominated at the 2006 Grammy Awards for Best Rap Song, but lost to Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone".

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