50 Cent Article

Screw a Dollar, All You Need is 50 Cent!

It was the night of 50 Cent’s biggest concert to date, a sold out crowd of 15,000 in Long Island's Nassau Coliseum. It was almost time to go onstage, so he slipped on his bulletproof vest and pulled the Velcro straps tight. 50 Cent is wealthier and more successful than he has ever been in his life, yet he’s not so great in everybody’s eyes. "Niggas out there sellin' drugs is after what I got from rappin',” he said. Marquis, the mother of 50 Cent’s baby boy, appeared and held up a tailor-made kiddie-sized navy-blue bulletproof vest that her son was going to wear while onstage. There's something cute and playful about it, but it is worn for more than just looks.

If you have listened to any of the major hip hop stations or have tuned in to MTV or BET, then you have undoubtedly heard of 50 Cent. His name seems to be all over the music industry. His album “Get Rich or Die Trying,” whose title defines his life, has sold over two million copies in three weeks, and is currently number one on the Billboard charts.

Even with all this success 50 Cent doesn’t seem overwhelmed at all. He still possesses the same modest look on his face that is illuminated by his bright smile and his giant diamond-studded silver medallion. He talks slowly and in a mellow voice but his words are far from that, as depicted when he explained that he is a missing a tooth from one of his few shooting incidents.

Life for 50 Cent has not been full of happiness and success. It’s more so been filled with violence, tragedy, and failure, that 50 Cent has had to overcome to get to where he is today.

50 Cent, birth name Curtis Jackson, has been surrounded by violence from the time of his birth. He was on born on July 6th, 1976 in Jamaica, Queens. The area is notorious for bloodshed and drugs, (especially crack). One resident of the area said, “A lot of niggas dumped bodies on that side of town."

50 Cent never knew his father nor does he care to. "Don't you even dare crawl your ass out this way,” said 50 Cent in an interview with Rolling Stone. “I don't wanna know the nigga." His mother, Sabrina Jackson was only 15 years old when he was born. She was a local drug dealer. “My moms was tough-tough, like man-tough,” he said. Sabrina was hardly ever around for her son. "She used to substitute finances for time," 50 Cent remembered. "Every time I seen her, it was somethin' new for me. Christmas every day. She put jewelry on me early."

Tragedy hit home when 50 Cent was eight years old. One night somebody went home with his mother. Something was slipped into her drink that left her unconscious. The windows were closed and the gas was turned on. She was found dead a few days later. "Had to be something to do with the drugs," 50 Cent said. "Her body was all f--ked up."

After that catastrophe, 50 Cent moved in with his grandparents. They tried to guide him in the right direction, but 50 Cent was a product of the streets, and the streets he could not escape.

50 Cent followed in the infamous footsteps of his mother and became a drug dealer himself when he was 12. 50 Cent attended high school but only lasted until 10th grade. His name was known infamously all over the streets. By age 18, 50 Cent was making $5,000 a day selling crack. With his drug money he bought himself a Land Cruiser and a Mercedes-Benz. "He's always been known for doing something crazy and wild," said Sha Money XL, a longtime friend and co-worker.

50 Cent is not proud of all the things he did growing up, but he is not sorry for them either. “Try tellin' a kid that's twelve years old, 'If you do good in school for eight more years, you can have a car.' And let a kid's curiosity lead him through his neighborhood and find somebody who got it in six months on that strip. It don't seem like one of the options, it seem like the only option. I provide for myself by any means… I really don't have intentions to hurt nobody. I don't expect everybody to understand."

After being arrested twice more, 50 Cent realized that his music career could be his opportunity to get out of the drug game and into the rap game. Once I focus on something, it gotta work for me," he said. "I won't turn off from it. I convince myself it's gonna work and then no one can convince me that it's not."

In 1996, a friend introduced 50 Cent to Jam Master Jay, who was then organizing his label, JMJ Records. Jay produced 50 Cent's first album, but it was never released.

In 1999, platinum hitmakers “Trackmasters” took notice of 50 Cent and signed him to Columbia Records. They put together the album “Power of the Dollar,” which was also never released in stores, only on the streets. 50 Cent’s main attraction on the album was a song called “How to Rob.” The song depicts 50 Cent robbing famous rappers in a humorous way. "It wasn't personal. It was comedy based on truth, which made it so funny," said 50 Cent.

In 2000, 50 Cent was shot 9 times in front of his grandparents’ house in Queens. He was hit in the hand, hip, chest and face. While he was spending the next few months recovering, Columbia Records dropped him from the label. 50 Cent teamed up with Sha Money XL and recorded over 30 songs. The songs were distributed to DJ’s throughout the area to build a “buzz.”

In Spring of 2001, 50 Cent independently released another album titled “Guess Who's Back?" This album grabbed the attention of famous rappers Dr. Dre and Eminem. The two were so impressed by 50 Cent’s work that they signed him to their current label Interscope/Aftermath/Shady Records.

We have definitely not heard the last of 50 Cent. When asked what his plans will be in five years, 50 Cent responded, “Ah Man, I’m gonna have a huge company in 5 years. Record company, all different kinds of companies. I want to make investments. I want to look to places where there’s nothing there, then imagine something and put them there buildings, kinda like Bugzi Seagal and the flamingo.” With dreams of being on top of not only the rap game, but also the world, and a troubled past that might come back to haunt him, 50 Cent just might Get Rich or Die Trying.