50 Cent

Background information
Birth name Curtis James Jackson III
Born July 6, 1975 (1975-07-06) (age 31)
Origin New York City, New York, USA Flag of United States
Genre(s) Hip hop
Occupation(s) Rapper, actor, entrepreneur
Years active 1998 – present
Label(s) Jam Master Jay, Columbia, Shady/Aftermath/G-Unit/
Interscope
Associated
acts G-Unit, Eminem, Dr. Dre, Mobb Deep
Website www.50cent.com

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975)[1] is an American rapper commonly known by his stage name 50 Cent. He rose to fame following the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre. 50 Cent achieved multi-platinum success with both albums, selling over twenty million records worldwide.[2]

Born in South Jamaica, Queens in New York, 50 Cent began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s' crack epidemic.[3] After leaving drug dealing in favor of pursuing a rap career, he was shot nine times in 2000. After the release of his mixtape compilation Guess Who's Back? in 2002, 50 Cent was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre—who produced his first major commercial successes—he became one of the highest selling rap artists in the world. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which has signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo. 50 Cent has engaged in numerous feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, The Game, and Fat Joe.

50 Cent has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005 and the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006. He is planning to release two solo albums by February 2008.[4]


Biography

Early life

50 Cent, born Curtis James Jackson III, grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City. He grew up without a father and was raised by his mother Sabrina Jackson, who gave birth to him at the age of fifteen. Sabrina, who was a cocaine dealer, raised Jackson until the age of eight, when she was murdered. At the age of twenty-three, she became unconscious after someone drugged her drink. She was then left for dead after the gas in her apartment was turned on and the windows shut closed.[5][6] After her death, Jackson moved into his grandparents house with his eight aunts and uncles.[1][7][8] He recalls, "My grandmother told me, 'Your mother's not coming home. She's not gonna come back to pick you up. You're gonna stay with us now.' That's when I started adjusting to the streets a little bit."[9] Jackson grew up with his younger cousin, Michael Francis, who earned the nickname "25 Cent" in reference to being his younger counterpart. Francis currently raps under the stage name "Two Five".[10]

Jackson began boxing around the age of eleven. In the mid 1980s, he competed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur boxer. He aspired to fight in the Golden Gloves boxing tournament, but was too young to compete. He recounts, "I was competitive in the ring and hip-hop is competitive too... I think rappers condition themselves like boxers, so they all kind of feel like they're the champ."[11] Jackson began dealing narcotics at the age of twelve when his grandparents thought he was at after-school programs.[12] He also took guns and drug money to school. In the tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School. He later stated, "I was embarrassed that I got arrested like that... After I got arrested I stopped hiding it. I was telling my grandmother [openly], 'I sell drugs.'"[9]

On June 29, 1994, Jackson was arrested for helping to sell four vials of cocaine to an undercover police officer. He was arrested again three weeks later when police searched his home and found heroin, ten ounces of crack cocaine, and a starter gun. He was sentenced to three to nine years in prison, but managed to serve six months in a Shock Incarceration boot camp,[1][13] where he earned his GED.[14] Jackson said that he did not use cocaine himself, he only sold it.[14] He adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change".[15] The name was derived from Kelvin Martin, a Brooklyn robber in the 1980s who was known as "50 Cent". Jackson said: "I took the name 50 Cent because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means."[16]

Early career

In 1996, a friend introduced 50 Cent to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC who was organizing his label Jam Master Jay Records. It was the first time 50 Cent entered a studio. Jay taught him how to count bars, write choruses, structure songs, and make a record.[17][18] 50 Cent's first official appearance was on a song titled "React" with the group Onyx on their 1998 album Shut 'Em Down. He credited Jam Master Jay as an influence who helped him improve his ability to write hooks.[11] He produced 50 Cent's first album, however it was never released.[5] In 1999, after leaving Jam Master Jay, the platinum selling producers Trackmasters took notice of 50 Cent and signed him to Columbia Records. They sent him to a studio in Upstate New York, where he produced thirty-six songs in two weeks.[6] Eighteen were included on his unofficially released album, Power of the Dollar in 2000.[19] He also started a record company with former G-Unit member Bang 'Em Smurf called Hollow Point Entertainment, which is now defunct.[20][21]

50 Cent's popularity started to increase after the successful but controversial underground single, "How to Rob", which he wrote in half an hour while in a car on the way to a studio.[15][22] The track comically describes how he would rob many famous artists. He explains the reasoning behind song's content as, "There’s a hundred artists on that label, you gotta separate yourself from that group and make yourself relevant."[15] Rappers Jay-Z, Big Pun, DMX, and the Wu-Tang Clan replied to the song.[22] Following the release of the single, Nas invited 50 Cent to travel on a promotional tour for his Nastradamus album.[8] The track was intended to be released with "Thug Love" featuring Destiny's Child, but two days before he was scheduled to film the "Thug Love" video, 50 Cent was shot and had to be confined to a hospital due to his injuries.[23] The next single, "Ghetto Qu'ran", dealt with the history of the drug trade in Queens, mentioning the names of individuals who were involved in the business during the 1980s.[24][25]

Shooting

On May 24, 2000, 50 Cent was attacked by a gunman outside his grandmother's house. He went into a friend's car, but was asked to return to the house to get jewelry. His son was in the house while his grandmother was in the front yard.[6] Upon returning to the back seat of the car, a car pulled up nearby. An assailant then walked up to 50 Cent's left side with a 9 mm handgun and fired nine shots at close range. He was shot nine times—in the hand (a round hit his right thumb and came out of his pinky), arm, hip, both legs, chest, and left cheek.[5][9][26] The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice.[8][9][27] His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to hospital where he spent thirteen days in recovery. The alleged shooter was killed three weeks later.[28]

50 Cent recalled the incident saying, "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back... I was scared the whole time... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh shit, somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'"[9] In his memoir, From Pieces to Weight: Once Upon a Time in Southside Queens, he wrote, "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone."[1] The recovery process took five months, and he used a walker for the first six weeks. His physical workout regimen helped attain his muscular physique.[5][9]

While in the hospital, 50 Cent signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records. However, he was dropped from the label and "blacklisted" in the recording industry after it was discovered he had been shot. Unable to find a studio to work with in the U.S, he traveled to Canada.[24][29] Along with his business partner Sha Money XL, he recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes, with the purpose of building a reputation. 50 Cent's popularity rose, and in early 2001, he released material independently on the mixtape, Guess Who's Back?. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by G-Unit, 50 Cent continued to make songs. They released the mixtape, 50 Cent Is the Future, revisiting material by Jay-Z and Raphael Saadiq.[19]

Rise to fame

In 2002, Eminem listened to a copy of 50 Cent's Guess Who's Back? CD. He received the CD through 50 Cent's attorney, who was working with Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg.[23] Impressed with the album, Eminem invited 50 Cent to fly to Los Angeles, where he was introduced to Dr. Dre.[5][17][23] After signing a one million U.S. dollar record deal,[17] 50 Cent released the mixtape, No Mercy, No Fear. It featured one new track, "Wanksta", which was put on Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack. He was also signed to Chris Lighty's Violator Management and Sha Money XL's Money Management Group.

On February 6, 2003, 50 Cent's commercial debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin' was released. All Music Guide called it "the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade."[30] Rolling Stone noted the album for its "dark synth grooves, buzzy keyboards and a persistently funky bounce" with 50 Cent complementing the production in "an unflappable, laid-back flow."[31] The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 872,000 copies in the first four days.[32] The lead single, "In da Club", which The Source noted for its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps"[33] broke a Billboard record as the 'most listened-to' song in radio history within a week.[34]

Interscope then granted 50 Cent his own label, G-Unit Records in 2003.[35] He signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck as the established members of G-Unit. The Game was later signed under a joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment. On March 3, 2005, 50 Cent's second commercial album, The Massacre was released. The album sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days (the highest in an abbreviated sales cycle)[32] and peaked at number one on the Billboard 200 for six weeks.[36] He became the first solo artist to have three singles on the Billboard top five in the same week with "Candy Shop", "Disco Inferno", and "How We Do".[37] Rolling Stone noted that "50's secret weapon is his singing voice - the deceptively amateur-sounding tenor croon that he deploys on almost every chorus."[38]

After the departure of The Game, 50 Cent signed singer Olivia and rap veterans Mobb Deep to G-Unit Records. Spider Loc, M.O.P., and Young Hot Rod later joined the label.[39][40] 50 Cent expressed interest in working with rappers outside of G-Unit, such as Lil' Scrappy of BME, LL Cool J from Def Jam, Mase from Bad Boy, and Freeway of Roc-A-Fella, some of whom he has recorded with.[41]

Personal life

In 1997, 50 Cent's then-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins gave birth to a son, Marquise Jackson.[3] The birth of his son changed his outlook on life, "[w]hen my son came into my life, my priorities changed, because I wanted to have the relationship with him, that I didn’t have with my father."[42] He credited his son for inspiring his career and being "motivation to go in a different direction."[43] 50 Cent has a tattoo of "Marquise" with an axe on his right bicep. "The axe is 'cause I'm a warrior. I don't want him to be one, though,"[29] he explains. He also has "50", "Southside", and "Cold World" inscribed on his back because "I'm a product of that environment. It's on my back, though, so it's all behind me."[29] 50 Cent dated actress Vivica A. Fox in 2003. After a few months, he announced their split up on the The Howard Stern Show when pictures from a photo shoot they did together ended up on the cover of Today's Black Woman magazine without his knowledge.[44][45]

50 Cent expressed support for President George W. Bush in 2005 after rapper Kanye West criticized him for the slow response in assisting the victims of Hurricane Katrina.[46] If his felony convictions did not prevent him from voting, he claimed that he would have voted for Bush.[47] In 2006, 50 Cent was recognized for his wealth by Rolling Stone, placing him second behind Diddy in the rap industry.[48] He resides in Farmington, Connecticut, in the former mansion of ex-boxer Mike Tyson.[49] 50 Cent put the mansion for sale at $18.5 million in order to move closer to his son who lives in Long Island with his ex-girlfriend.[50]

Ventures

50 Cent has established himself in a wide variety of fields off the stage. In November 2003, he signed a five year deal with Reebok to release a G-Unit Sneakers line as part of his G-Unit Clothing Company.[51][52] He also provided the voice-over as the protagonist in the video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof, which was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the PlayStation Portable. He has worked with glacéau to create and market low-calorie, natural drinks called Formula 50. He also launched a condom line and plans to donate a part of the proceeds to HIV awareness.[53]

In 2005, 50 Cent made a cameo appearance on The Simpsons episode Pranksta Rap, in which he makes light of his legal troubles. The same year, he starred alongside Terrence Howard in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin'. He also starred in the 2006 film Home of the Brave as a soldier returning home from the Iraq War, traumatized after killing an Iraqi woman.[54] Currently, 50 Cent is working on a role as a fighter in an Angola State Prison in The Dance alongside Nicholas Cage, and is set to star opposite Robert De Niro in 2008's Righteous Kill, a movie regarding a police death.[55] He also started a production company called G-Unit Films.[56]

Shortly before appearing in Get Rich or Die Tryin', 50 Cent released a memoir about his life leading up to his success titled From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens. On January 4, 2007, he launched his G-Unit Books imprint at the Time Warner Building in New York.[57] He also co-wrote The Ski Mask Way, a novel about a small-time drug dealer who attempts to rob his employers, which is expected to be turned into a film before the end of 2007.[53] 50 Cent also said he was reading The 33 Strategies of War by Robert Greene and is currently working with the author on a book titled The 50th Law, an urban take on The 48 Laws of Power.[53][58]

Feuds

Murder Inc.

Before signing with Interscope, 50 Cent was engaged in a well-publicized dispute with rapper Ja Rule and his label Murder Inc. Records. The rappers engaged in numerous mixtape "disses". 50 Cent claimed the feud began in 1999 after Ja Rule spotted him with a man who robbed him of his jewelry.[44] However, Ja Rule claimed the conflict stemmed from a video shoot in Queens because 50 Cent did not like seeing him "getting so much love" from the neighborhood.[59] In March 2000, while at The Hit Factory studio in New York, 50 Cent had an altercation with associates of Murder Inc. Records. He was treated for three stitches after receiving a stab wound.[44][60] Rapper Black Child claimed responsibility for the stabbing, saying he acted in self-defense because he thought someone was reaching for a gun.[61]

An affidavit by an IRS agent suggested that the label had ties to Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a New York drug lord who was suspected of being involved in the murder of Jam Master Jay and the shooting of 50 Cent. An excerpt of the affidavit read:[24]

The investigation has uncovered a conspiracy involving McGriff and others to murder a rap artist who has released songs containing lyrics regarding McGriff's criminal activities. The rap artist was shot in 2000, survived and thereafter refused to cooperate with law enforcement regarding the shooting. Messages transmitted over the Murder Inc. pager indicate that McGriff is involved in an ongoing plot to kill this rap artist, and that he communicates with Murder Inc. employees concerning the target.

New York rappers

Prior to releasing The Massacre, 50 Cent recorded a song, "Piggy Bank", which was leaked before the album's release. The song "disses" several rappers including Fat Joe, Nas, and Jadakiss.[62] Fat Joe responded with a song, "My Fo, Fo", accusing 50 Cent of taking steroids, hiding in his home, and being jealous of The Game. Jadakiss also responded with a song, "Checkmate", and said that 50 Cent was trying to "create a buzz for his new album".[63] The music video for "Piggy Bank" portrays animated caricatures of Jadakiss (as a Ninja turtle), Fat Joe (as an overweight boxer who receives a knockout), Nas (as a kid chasing a "milkshake" truck in a Superman costume), and also The Game (as Mr. Potato Head).[64]

50 Cent spoke negatively about Bad Boy Entertainment mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs and recorded a song, "Hip Hop", revealing the reasons behind his negative feelings: primarily, a contract dispute over Mase. In the song, he implied that Diddy knew about The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder and threatened to expose him through several former associates.[65] The feud has since been resolved, with Diddy and 50 Cent appearing on MTV's TRL and Sucker Free, respectively, stating that there are no longer problems between the two.[66]

On February 1, 2007, Cam'ron and 50 Cent had a live argument on The Angie Martinez Show on Hot 97 radio. 50 Cent commented that Koch Entertainment was a "graveyard", meaning major record labels would not work with their artists.[67] Cam'ron then ridiculed the record sales of G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Mobb Deep by stating that Jim Jones had outsold their albums despite being signed to an independent label and that his group, The Diplomats, had a distribution deal from several labels.[67] Both rappers released "diss" songs with accompanying videos on YouTube. 50 Cent suggested in "Funeral Music" that Cam'ron is no longer able to lead The Diplomats and that Jim Jones should take his place. Cam'ron responded with "Curtis" and "Curtis Pt. II", in which he makes fun of 50 Cent's appearance, calling him "a gorilla, with rabbit teeth".[68] 50 Cent responded by releasing "Hold On" with Young Buck.[69]

The Game

In early 2005, 50 Cent began a feud with The Game, whom he was close to before releasing his debut album The Documentary. When the album was released, 50 Cent felt The Game was disloyal for saying he did not want to participate in G-Unit's feuds with other rappers and even wanting to work with artists they were feuding with. He also claimed that he wrote six songs on the album and was not receiving proper credit for his work.[70]

50 Cent later dismissed The Game from G-Unit on Hot 97 radio. After the announcement, The Game, who was a guest earlier in the evening, attempted to enter the building with his entourage. After being denied entry, one of his associates was shot in the leg during a confrontation with a group of men leaving the building.[71][72] When the situation escalated, 50 Cent and The Game held a press conference to announce their reconciliation.[73] Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the albums the pair had just released.[74] Nevertheless, even after the situation deflated,[75] The Game's street credibility was criticized by G-Unit. The group denounced The Game and announced that they will not feature on his albums. During a performance at Summer Jam, The Game launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".[76]

After the Summer Jam performance, The Game released a track, "300 Bars and Runnin'", which addresses 50 Cent and G-Unit.[77] He continued his attacks with a DVD titled Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin'. After numerous songs aimed at G-Unit, 50 Cent responded to the The Game's rebuttals on mixtapes. One track, "Not Rich, Still Lyin'", imitates The Game, attacks his credibility, and mentions his feud with his brother, Big Fase 100.[78]

The Game also released images depicting the rap group in many parodies on mixtapes. After he displayed pictures of G-Unit dressed up as the Village People, 50 Cent posted a mixtape cover of The Game's head on the body of a male stripper.[79] Although he was signed to Aftermath Entertainment, The Game left the label and signed with Geffen Records in order to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit.[80]

Discography

* 2003: Get Rich or Die Tryin'
* 2005: The Massacre
* 2007: Curtis
* 2008: Before I Self Destruct

Awards

Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
2003 50 Cent: The New Breed himself Documentary DVD
2005 Pranksta Rap himself The Simpsons episode 16.9
Get Rich or Die Tryin' Marcus Motion picture debut
50 Cent: Bulletproof himself Video game, voice only
2006 Home of the Brave Jamal Aiken
2007 The Dance — announced
2008 Live Bet — announced
The Ski Mask Way Seven announced
Righteous Kill — pre-production

References

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