50 Cent News

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Viewers Choice Posted August 25 by Webmaster
Eminem & 50 Cent are up for the MTV Viewers Choice Award. Make sure you vote for both as much as possible, every day!

Vote Now! - Eminem & 50 Cent

VMAs Posted August 21 by Webmaster
50 Cent snagged 5 VMA Nominations for his "In Da Club" Video. He'll be Performing Live on the VMAs Aug. 28th. Here's what he's up for:

VIDEO OF THE YEAR
BEST MALE VIDEO
BEST NEW ARTIST IN A VIDEO
BEST RAP VIDEO
VIEWER'S CHOICE
 

G Unit Clothes Posted August 5 by Webmaster
He's got the album, the DVD, the mixtapes, the tour, the videos, the shoe line — and now 50 Cent's got the clothes. In the ever-expanding 50 empire, the superstar rapper has launched his G-Unit clothing label in partnership with Ecko Unlimited. The first line — available now for the fall season — consists of five T-shirts emblazoned with different G-Unit logos

50 Nominated for 5 VMAs! Posted July 29 by Webmaster
50 Cent snagged 5 VMA Nominations for his "In Da Club" Video. Here's what he's up for: VIDEO OF THE YEAR BEST MALE VIDEOBEST NEW ARTIST IN A VIDEOBEST RAP VIDEOVIEWER'S CHOICE

Roc The Mic Mixtape Posted July 23 by Webmaster
After hearing that they'd signed on to tour together and seeing their Reebok commercial, you kind of got the feeling it would only be a matter of time before 50 Cent and Jay-Z put their brains together for more collaborations.

While you probably don't want to start camping out at your favorite retail store awaiting an official LP, it might not be a bad idea to check in with your local bootlegger during the next few weeks, because a Rock the Mic mixtape is in the works.

"We always put out a mixtape 'cause you gotta keep your presence in the street," 50 said a couple of weeks ago in Cleveland, having just stepped out of the vocal booth on his G-Unit studio tour bus. "A lot of artists' houses are built on toothpicks, but the street is the foundation. [The fans] got a little attention span, so if you don't stay in front of them, the next guy can come [and take your spot]."

Besides G-Unit material, 50 said he has seven tracks for the mixtape from Young Hova and the Roc-A-Fella family, which includes the State Property clique and Memphis Bleek. And if you ask Snoop Dogg, who rocked the mic a couple of weeks ago, the self-proclaimed "Prime Minister" of the West Coast is also ready to make some more music with his magic stick-wielding homey.

"We talked about it yesterday as a matter of fact," Snoop said of collaborating again with 50 and some of his other Rock the Mic tourmates. "We was in 50's dressing room watching the ['P.I.M.P.' remix] video for the first time and it was like, 'Man, we need to go and do something.' I was like, 'I wanna make a movie.' We just need to make something happen. We just love each other so much we should do it instead of talking about it. That's what a lot of us don't capitalize on — we wait until we're dead and gone or either we have bad times. We're all havin' fun right now. This is the best time to capitalize on it, when everybody is loving each other."
 

50 Cent Joins DMX, Aligning Against Common Foe On 'Shot Down' Posted July 22 by Webmaster
considers championship-caliber, hip-hop's human canine has deemed himself worthy to be likened to the highest pedigree of dog, a Grand Champ. The streets will decide when the LP drops on September 9, but while listening to the album, it's clear that X doesn't care what anybody thinks. In his heart he knows that he's still rap's most compelling MC on the mic.

"Shot Down" is still awaiting a verse by LOX member Styles before it's complete, but X has already recorded vocals with 50 Cent.

"I'm a G-Unit soldier boy," 50 melodically brags over bass that sounds like bubbling water. "Some say I'm gangsta, some say I'm crazy/ If you ask me, I'm what the 'hood made me," he later rhymes in his verse.

After threatening all who oppose him, 50 continues to warn wankstas.

"If you don't live that, you shouldn't say that," he hisses on the chorus. "What comes out your mouth will get you shot down."

In DMX's verse, the Yonkers MC is upset because there's "nothing but a handful of men still standin' " in the rap game. Darkman also relives his early days as an MC when he and 50 would rhyme in ciphers with Onyx.

While X and 50 shared mutual associates back in the days, they also harbor ill will towards a common enemy in the rap game today, Ja Rule. On Grand Champ, X finally releases the long-anticipated dis record towards his former friend.

"You done f---ed up," DMX starts. He then calls Ja his "son" because he feels Rule borrowed from his rap style.

"I'm the type of father that'll give a kid a toy," he continues. "Put my foot in his ass if he's a boy." X also questions Ja's sexuality and chastises him for "cheating the fans" and making fans "think New York is soft."

DMX shows a softer, less jagged side of himself as he contemplates on "The Rain." He continually sings amidst bass and violins, "Now I know, only I can stop the rain." Among the aspirations he expresses is a desire to find peace with Lord and the ability to determine wrong and right without an inner struggle.

"I wanna be able to walk out of my front door without worrying about running in conflict with the law," he barks.

X is at his most vulnerable on "A' Yo Kato," which is a tribute to his recently murdered friend Kato.

DMX shot the video for "A' Yo Kato" and "Where the Hood At" on July 11 in his hometown of Yonkers. "Where the Hood At" relies on X's performance and then segues into "Kato." In that clip, X reflects on his relationship with his homie.

X is done recording his portions of Grand Champ and he is waiting for two of his guest stars to get in the booth in the next few days so the album can be complete. Eve is slated to rap on "We're Back" along with Jadakiss, while Patti LaBelle will bring her legendary blowing to "Thanks You."

One number that will not be making the cut is the long-discussed rock track "Here I Come," a Rick Rubin-produced song featuring Bazaar Royale and Audioslave.

No reason was given by DMX's camp as to why the track would be omitted.
 

BET Awards Night Belongs To 50 Cent Posted June 27 by Webmaster
HOLLYWOOD — Tuesday's third annual BET Awards proved an accurate reflection of what's truly hot in urban culture lately — 50 Cent, 50 Cent and 50 Cent.

The red-hot rapper not only won two of the ceremony's most coveted trophies — Best Male Hip-Hop Artist and Best New Artist — he opened the show with a sizzling medley featuring guest appearances by Missy Elliott and Nate Dogg.

It's no wonder all anyone could talk about on the red carpet leading into the Kodak Theatre was Mr. "P.I.M.P." himself. (Click for photos from the red carpet.)

Not many of the headliners (Jay-Z, P. Diddy, Ashanti, et al) visited the 100 or so reporters lined up along Hollywood Boulevard, but those who did, including Snoop Dogg, Rakim and Kelly Rowland, sang praises of 50 Cent for bringing a new level of excitement to hip-hop.

"50 Cent, like Eminem and Nelly before him, is exposing hip-hop to a wider audience than ever before," St. Lunatics' Murphy Lee said. "By selling so many albums, he's opening the door for guys like me to come in and get recognized."

With his two BET Awards, 50 Cent tied B2K, who won Best Group and, for the second year in a row, the Viewer's Choice Award (beating out 50 Cent and the producer behind the group's latest single, R. Kelly).
 

Coming To A Theater Near You Posted June 25 by Webmaster
There were some cool battle scenes and a couple of exciting fights in Eminem's "8 Mile," but only one dude got shot and that idiot shot himself.

The upcoming 50 Cent movie, by comparison, should be far more pulse-pounding. After all, 50 has been shot nine times, and that averages out to about once every 12 minutes of the movie.

Obviously staring death in the eye is no laughing matter and so appropriately, 50's camp has commissioned a real gangster expert to tell the tale.

The film is being developed with "The Sopranos" writer Terry Winter, according to a spokesperson for the 26-year-old rapper, and will chronicle 50 Cent's life from his impoverished upbringing in Queens, New York, to his emergence as an international rap superstar. The movie will likely include scenes about the death of his mom when he was just 8, his introduction to crack dealing at age 12, his years as a thug and his foray into hip-hop.

50 decided he wanted to create a biopic after the rampant success of "8 Mile," which made $116 million at the box office and earned Eminem a top-charting soundtrack and a Grammy for the song "Lose Yourself."

There is no title yet for the 50 Cent movie and neither representatives for the rapper nor the writer would speculate on when production will begin.

Over the next few weeks, 50 Cent plans to work with Snoop Dogg to shoot a video for the "P.I.M.P." remix. Additionally, the two rappers will hit the road with Jay-Z this summer on the Roc the Mic Tour.
 

Summer Jam On TV Posted June 23 by Webmaster
Don't miss 50 Cent on Fuse "Hot 97 Summer Jam Special",

Tuesday 6/24 @ 9:00pm & 2:00am and Saturday 6/28 @ 5:00pm.

Vote & Watch Posted June 23 by Webmaster
Vote for 50 Cent's "In Da Club" for 'Video Of The Year' @ the BET Awards. Goto www.bet.com/viewerschoice/ and click "Vote Now". Don't forget to watch 50 perform at the awards airing Tuesday June 24 @ 9 p.m. ET/PT.

50 & Snoop P.I.M.P.s? Posted June 18 by Webmaster
Can 50 Cent Handle A Pimp Cane? Snoop Himself Can Now Judge

50 Cent says that he can work his "Magic Stick" for hours, but how good is he with handling a pimp cane?

We'll probably get to see before the summer is over. According to sources from both 50 and Snoop Dogg's camps, tentative plans are underway for the rhyme kingpins to shoot a video for the "P.I.M.P." remix in the next few weeks.

"P.I.M.P.," of course, first appeared on 50's Get Rich or Die Tryin' before a remix of the track featuring Snoop rhyming about being a "C.R.I.P." hit the mixtapes earlier this year. A second remix of the song has just surfaced, containing a verse from 50 off the original mix, Snoop re-rapping his lyrics off the first remix and new vocals by G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Young Buck.

50 and Snoop will spend plenty of time together this summer away from the video set as well. Snoop joins the Queens MC and Jay-Z on the Roc the Mic Tour starting July 9 in Cincinnati.

Summer Jam News Posted June 5 by Webmaster
EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey — Around 50,000 hip-hop fans proved their love for the music Tuesday night through the drizzle and then downpour that fell on Giants Stadium and Hot 97 Summer Jam performers 50 Cent, Eminem, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous, Nelly, Lil' Kim, the Clipse, Sean Paul and Nas.
 

As Jay-Z warned two years ago during his last performance at Summer Jam, you do not want to be the next contestant on the Summer Jam screen. The object of Jay's scorn was Mobb Deep's Prodigy, and this year (in 2002 the screen took a rest because headliner Nas was a no-show) 50 Cent made Ja Rule a super-sized object of ridicule.
 

The Southside Jamaica, Queens, rapper started his set with a special public service announcement that played on the three screens hanging above the stage. 50, who sat at a computer during the PSA, could barely be heard over the crowd's screams as he said it had been brought to his attention that some of the fans could not identify a "bitch ass n---a." He then showed a clip from the "Mesmerize" video where Ja tells Irv Gotti that he's giving up the streets for Ashanti. The words "bitch ass n---a" were displayed below Ja and Irv, and people started laughing.
 

50 then brought out other "exhibits," including the videos for "Rainy Dayz" and "I Cry." He said that he knew that what he was showing on the screen was not hip-hop, Ja knew it was not hip-hop and Irv knew it was not hip-hop.
 

The MC's G-Unit crew was then showered with cheers and rain, taking the stage while the instrumental of Black Rob's "Whoa!" played. "Where's my little n---a?" 50 asked, beckoning for his young son to join him onstage. "We breed gangstas," he boasted as the boy came on, dressed like his dad in a Yankees cap, jeans and a miniature bulletproof vest covering his tiny frame.
 

"What the f--- is going on?" the tyke asked, putting on his deepest voice. "Geeeee-Uniiit!"
 

"Gotta Make It to Heaven" and "Wanksta" kicked off the set, with 50 running around the stage and throwing his Yankees fitted cap to the crowd. He turned his attention back toward his lyrical foe with "Back Down" as he and the crowd rocked from side to side.
 

After "High All the Time" and the follow-up blow "In Da Club," the chiseled MC stood on a speaker and whipped the crowd into a tribal frenzy for "What Up Gangsta," spitting: "What up, blood?/ What up, cus?/ What up, blood?"
 

"I'm just a P.I.M.P.," 50 later rapped, donning a white hat with a feather and matching overcoat. His son came on dressed like his dad, and reformed real-life pimp Bishop Don "Magic" Juan made his second appearance of the night, adding more flavor to the atmosphere.
 

Tyson Beckford came out later to stand in the background for "21 Questions," but the most high-powered collaboration for 50 would be with his boss. Enter Eminem.
 

"If ya patiently waiting to make it through all the hating/ Debating whether or not you can even weather the storm," Em rapped as he walked onstage, providing an instant adrenaline rush for "Patiently Waiting." "Unless you lie on the table they operating to save you/ It's like an angel came to you sent from the heavens above/ They think they crazy but they ain't crazy, let's face it."
 

50 left Eminem to perform his own set. After "Business," Em brought out D12 to again address Ja on "Do Re Mi." When the song was finished, Slim Shady called Rule a "pu---" and "punk" among other things and warned that the Hollis, Queens, MC had better never talk about his daughter again.
 

The height of Em's disdain would come later in the show when he had Obie Trice bring out his 2002 Source Award for Lyricist of the Year. Slim talked about his battle with the magazine and its co-owner, Ray Benzino. "Take your mutha----in' award back," he yelled, slamming it to the ground. Almost as soon as the trophy smashed, the guitar riff from "Lose Yourself" came on, commencing another of the night's feverish moments. The next record, "8 Mile," was equally energetic.
 

The grand finale of Summer Jam 2003 brought Em and 50 back together with additional support from Busta Rhymes on the "Hail Mary" freestyle dis of Murder Inc.
 

"I got a head with no screws in it/ Mutha----as think that they can stop 50, they losing it," 50 rhymed, with Em bopping and mouthing the words with even more vehemence. The usually amiable Busta Rhymes closed the song out with his verse, which included the line "You let the streets down, n---a/ Apologize to your fans."
 

As the record closed out and the rain started to fall more heavily, Busta said his career was not built on beefing but that he felt obligated to come back at Ja after Rule dissed him on a record. 50 laughed and told everyone that he loved the beef and that he was never going to stop.
 

Earlier, Busta's set showed why he's hailed by many as hip-hop's greatest performer when he made the crowd lose control with his party classics. The audience followed instructions on "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Could See." The energy level and screams were consistent throughout Busta' set, which also saw him bring out Lumidee for the remix of her hit "Never Leave You" and Sean Paul for the remix of "Make It Clap."
 

The adoration for Busta continued when he brought out another guest, Bone Crusher, for "Never Scared." It seemed like everyone in the stadium was screaming "I ain't never scared" at the top of their lungs.
 

Oddly enough, Bone going topless wasn't the biggest spectacle Busta brought with him. That honor goes to Don "Magic" Juan, who came out in a Gucci sombrero and matching coat for "Pass the Courvoisier." P. Diddy, replete with his umbrella-holding manservant, also made a cameo, trading lines with his friend and sporting sunglasses despite it being nighttime and raining.
 

Bussa Bus' chorus line of guests didn't stop there; he continued to steal the show by bringing out Mariah Carey and the Flipmode Squad for "I Know What You Want."
 

Surprisingly, a couple of hip-hop's biggest names were met with unflattering boo birds. Nas started off his set on a throne, rhyming "The Cross." After a medley of tunes like "Get Down," he gave the legendary KRS-One time to shine, performing "The Bridge Is Over" and "South Bronx."
 

While the blast master was able to get some love with his battle records, Nas couldn't get the overwhelming support he probably would've gotten at last year's Summer Jam if he had performed. The king of Queensbridge heard an undercurrent of boos during his dis of Jay-Z on "Ether," but most of the crowd fought off the jeers with their cheers.
 

Nelly wasn't as lucky during one of his biggest songs, "Dilemma." Although the gold-toothed platinum rapper did have the crowd on his side for most of his set, many in the audience became audibly weary.
 

No one, at least among the males in the audience, was becoming tired of Lil' Kim. Besides bringing out Mobb Deep for the "Quiet Storm" remix, Kim gave an eyeful as she struggled with her bikini top. "My t---y's poppin' out," she giggled as the tiny top refused to keep her covered.

Reebok Deal Posted June 4 by Webmaster
CANTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 3, 2003--Whether he is "In Da Club" or asking "21 Questions," hip-hop phenom 50 Cent has made all the right moves. Today, he and Reebok announce another one: A long-term partnership that includes a signature collection of athletic footwear called the "G-Unit Collection by Rbk." The initial launch of the collection takes place this fall with a limited distribution. This will be followed with a major launch in early 2004.

The collection will feature clean, court-inspired designs that reflect 50 Cent's style and flavor. "Reebok's Rbk Collection is the real thing when it comes to connecting with street and hip-hop culture," says 50 Cent. "I want to be part of it and use my name and attitude to help influence the feel and vibe of the gear."

50 Cent and Reebok are currently developing an integrated marketing and advertising campaign to promote the "G-Unit Collection by Rbk." The initial marketing launch may include a special 50 Cent CD single with the purchase of the shoe for a limited time.

50 Cent will be debuting his signature Reebok kicks when he performs in a pair during the upcoming 2003 MTV Movie Awards. He will also promote the collection while on stage performing during this summer's "Rock The Mic" music tour co-sponsored by Reebok.

"Reebok's partnership with 50 Cent is the latest and perhaps the most groundbreaking fusion of sports and music, a formula that has been creating a great deal of heat and energy in the marketplace," says Micky Pant, Reebok's chief marketing officer. "50 Cent has earned his reputation as the hottest MC out right now and Reebok is excited to partner with an artist who has achieved his level of success in the music industry."

"The footwear we create with 50 Cent will meet the high standards and expectations of everyone involved," says Todd Krinsky, Reebok's vice president of Rbk. "We're excited to bring aspirational product to the marketplace that offers a hip-hop feel to complement its namesake."

Born Curtis Jackson, the Jamaica, Queens, New York native has long been recognized as one of the underground's best MCs. His debut album, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," launched at No. 1 on the charts this past February and, after 16 weeks on the chart, it is currently ranked No. 5. His two hot singles, "21 Questions" and "In Da Club," are currently ranked No. 1 and No. 9 respectively on the Billboard chart.

50 Cent becomes only the second non-athlete to have a signature athletic footwear collection. Earlier this year, Jay-Z and Reebok formed an unprecedented partnership which includes the design and marketing of the "S. Carter Collection by Rbk," which launched at retail on April 18, 2003.

Reebok International Ltd. (NYSE:RBK), headquartered in Canton, MA., is a leading worldwide designer, marketer and distributor of sports, fitness and casual footwear, apparel and equipment under the Reebok, Rockport and Greg Norman brands and footwear under the Polo Ralph Lauren brand. Sales for 2002 totaled approximately $3.1 billion. Reebok can be accessed on the World Wide Web at www.reebok.com.
 

MTV Movie Awards Posted May 15 by Webmaster
50 Cent, Pink and T.A.T.U. have signed on as performers for this year's MTV Movie Awards. Mark Wahlberg, Kate Hudson, Luke Wilson, Amanda Bynes, Brittany Murphy, P. Diddy and Hilary Duff have been lined up as presenters for the show, which airs on June 5.

L.A.'s A Different World For 50 Posted May 8 by Webmaster
It's the late fall of 2002 and 50 Cent is in the streets of Los Angeles shooting his new video for "Wanksta." For residents in his hometown of New York, it seems like you cannot walk two blocks without hearing some kid sing out, "Damn homie, in high school you was the man, homie," or hearing the song itself blast out of a car radio or home stereo.

In L.A., where 50 is putting together the visuals to coincide with the music, the story is different. His buzz hasn't taken over the West Coast yet. 50 is so underneath the music radar that hardly any people are in the streets while 50 is filming and the models that are in the clip practically had to be begged by director Jessy Terrero to participate. The budget is so small, they can't afford the women's regular prices.

Six months later, 50's status has skyrocketed and people are lining the streets of downtown LA. to see the rapper as he films scenes for his latest video, "Many Men."

"The world changed, we was joking about it on set," Terrero said last week in L.A. about filming "Many Men." "I was like, 'Damn, look what six months could do.' "

Terrero said that the models he had to persuade to be in the "Wanksta" clip kept blowing up his phone to be down with the "Many Men" shoot, but he had to decline. "I was like, 'Be easy. This one is not for the ladies, it's for the thugs.' "

Terrero spent up a bunch of his celly minutes talking to guys — first with 50 and crew to conceptualize the project, then with the actors he wanted to appear in the clip.

"I got a call from them and they all were collectively on the phone — 50 Cent, Paul Rosenberg, guys from Violator," he detailed. "50 wanted something that was hard. Something street-driven that kind of went along with what he was saying. ['Many Men'] was my favorite song on the album, I already had [the concept] in my mind. I listened to that song a hundred times already.

"I think a lot of people are caught up in his story; how he got shot, who might have done it and that type of vibe," he added. "I went off that. I wanted to create a mini-movie based on not necessarily a reality, but some of the things that might have happened in his life. Try to do it in a cinematic way. Place these two guys in the video [who set him up] as rap artists. I knew people know he has some problems in the industry. I played off that to cause a little more controversy."

In the video, 50's friends put a contract out on his life and he's gunned. The leader of the G-Unit, however, survives the hit, regains his health and exacts revenge with help from a hitman played by Mekhi Phifer.

"I got on the phone and called every actor I knew to do me a favor for free," Terrero said. "Mekhi was already affiliated with 50 through Eminem. He wasn't a hard phone call. When I called Mekhi, he had 50 on his cell phone. It wasn't a hard sell to any of the artists. Everybody loves 50."

Terrero said that plenty of thespians, including Omar Epps and Larenz Tate, wanted to act alongside 50 in the video, but had to pull out for scheduling reasons. "Tiny" Lister, Gabriel Casseus, Henry Simmons of "NYPD Blue" and Adam Rodriguez and Rory Cochrane of "CSI Miami" are among the actors who did make the video.

"I think that he's definitely grown," the director said of 50 Cent. "I think 50 is super confident. 50 is the kind of guy that will try whatever."

Before the shoot was over, 50 was performing all of his own stunts, which included hitting a fence and the ground 10 times in a row.

"If you tell him something, he'll listen and he goes at it without insecurities," Terrero continued. "Some rappers have insecurities and they get a little nervous. I didn't find that with him. I could tell him something once and he got it. He was so much at peace. All his hard work and all these years of everything he went through paid off."

Terrero is hoping that his hard work pays off, not only in the original version, but in a new, cleaner version of the clip he's submitting to MTV. The director said that he had to tone down the gunplay in the clip so it could be more suitable to air.

"There are no gun references," he said about the possible MTV version. "Right now we put it to a place where hopefully it is the cleanest we have to make it. We shot it in a cinematic way, we shot it with class. We didn't shoot it in a ghetto way. Everybody already knows 50 got shot, so if anybody should be able to do a video where somebody gets shot, it should be him."

Besides "Many Men," Terrero also helmed the new clip by Disturbing Tha Peace's Chingy, "Right Thurr," and has a movie in the works called "Soul Plane." He described it as an urban version of the '70s comedy "Airplane."

To read more about the "Many Men" video shoot, how 50 is coping with stardom and why he differs from Dr. Dre and Eminem, check out our new 50 Cent feature going up on Friday.
 

Still #1 Posted May 7 by Webmaster
An appropriate 50 weeks after Eminem's The Eminem Show entered the Billboard albums chart, the rapper's protégé 50 Cent has tied his mentor's six-week occupation of the #1 slot.

50 Cent's debut full-length LP, Get Rich or Die Tryin', sold nearly 128,000 copies, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (May 7). Since its February 6 release, the record has sold more than 4.5 million copies. His new album/DVD hybrid, The New Breed, dropped 11 slots to #21, selling more than 46,000 copies.

Even though 50 reclaimed the top spot after holding the #2 position last week, Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold fewer copies than it has in any other week since its release and 14,000 fewer than last week.
 

50 is Sued for 5 Posted May 6 by Webmaster
There's no question that the hit "In Da Club" is helping 50 Cent remain in the public eye. The mystery is which club the star rapper will appear in on any given date.

Canceled shows and radio appearances and a gig that turned out to be a scam have disappointed fans in recent weeks and prompted a lawsuit. Hip-hop promoter Solomon Hatcher is seeking $5 million because 50 Cent backed out of a May 11 concert in Boise, Idaho. 50 is playing Miami on May 10 and Seattle on May 12, and he found it too difficult to sandwich Boise in between.

The rapper returned the $50,000 contract payment to promoters, but Hatcher's lawyer said the promoter's costs far exceed that amount. "My client began lining up vendors and advertisers and selling tickets months ago," said attorney Norman St. George. "That's all lost now."

But the big bucks sought in the suit come from George's claim that the cancellation irreparably harmed his client's business. "His name is associated with this event. And when the event is shut down because the artist doesn't want to perform, it damages my client's name indefinitely. I don't know that someone would take him seriously next time he wants to promote a big concert."

50 Cent was also booked for a May 9 show at the Sound Factory in New York. That concert's not gonna happen either, but it's not 50's fault. Show promoters who booked the venue were fooled by a man pretending to be the rapper's booking agent, who ran off with a $12,000 deposit. Not realizing they had been duped, the promoters printed up thousands of fliers for the show and were surprised to be hit with a cease-and-desist order from 50 Cent's label and booking agency.

A spokesperson for the club said it was completely uninvolved, adding that it neither advertised nor promoted the concert.

50 Cent's legal frustrations aren't limited to unplayed shows. The rapper is also being sued by a New York doctor who operated on him after he was shot in May 2000. In a suit filed Monday in the Supreme Court of New York, an attorney for Dr. Nader Paksima alleges that the doctor treated 50 for gunshot wounds and provided X-rays and post-surgical follow-up for months but hasn't even received 50 cents for his efforts.

After sending numerous bills to the rapper, Paksima decided to take legal action for the $32,511.87 owed to him.

Tour Dates Posted May 1 by Webmaster
Now that Jay-Z and 50 Cent have all their logistical bases covered, they'll be ready to hit the road together in less than two months.

On Thursday Def Jam released the tour dates for their Roc the Mic Tour, which will kick off on June 25 at Hartford, Connecticut's ctnow.com Meadows Music Centre.

The tour, which will include different lineups of opening acts such as Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes, Fabolous, Sean Paul, Snoop Dogg and Lil' Mo, ends August 5 at the Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre in Atlanta.

In the meantime, 50 will continue on his own road show. The Queens rhymesmith is hitting up theaters with the Clipse until the middle of this month, and then he'll head overseas with Eminem for a few dates before he and Hova kick things off.

Roc the Mic Tour dates, according to Def Jam:
6/25 - Hartford, CT @ ctnow.com Meadows Music Center
6/26 - Saratoga Springs, NY @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center
6/27 - Mansfield, MA @ Tweeter Center
6/28 - Scranton, PA @ Montage Mountain Amphitheater
6/29 - Buffalo, NY @ Darien Lake Amphitheater
6/30 - Toronto, ON @ Molson Amphitheatre
7/2 - Burgettstown, PA @ Post Gazette Pavilion
7/3 - Philadelphia, PA @ Tweeter Center
7/5 - Virginia Beach, VA @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
7/6 - Bristow, VA @ Nissan Pavilion
7/7 - Long Island, NY @ Jones Beach Theater
7/9 - Cincinnati, OH @ Riverbend Music Center
7/10 - Columbus, OH @ Polaris Amphitheater
7/11 - Cleveland, OH @ Blossom Music Center
7/15 - Moline, IL @ Mark of the Quad Cities
7/16 - Chicago, IL @ Tweeter Center
7/17 - Minneapolis, MN Target Center
7/18 - Milwaukee, WI Bradley Center
7/19 - St. Louis, MO @ UMB Bank Pavilion
7/20 - Kansas City, MO @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
7/22 - Englewood, CO @ Fiddlers Green Amphitheater
7/23 - Salt Lake City, Utah @ West Valley Amphitheater
7/24 - Boise, ID @ Idaho Center
7/25 - Sacramento, CA @ Sleepy Train Amphitheater
7/26 - Mountain View, CA @ Shoreline Amphitheatre
7/27 - Las Vegas, NV @ Thomas & Mack Center
7/28 - Phoenix, AZ @ America West
7/29 - Albuquerque, NM @ Tingley Coliseum
7/31 - Dallas, TX @ Smirnoff Music Centre
8/1 - San Antonio, TX @ Verizon Wireless Amphitheater
8/2 - Houston, TX @ Cynthia Woods Pavilion
8/3 - Beaumont, TX @ SE Texas Entertainment Complex
8/4 - New Orleans, LA @ New Orleans Arena
8/5 - Atlanta, GA @ Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheatre
 

Many Men Video & MORE! Posted April 30 by Webmaster
Download the 50 Cent - 2Pac Street Anthem "THE REALEST KILLAZ 2" for FREE and get an EXCLUSIVE First View of The "MANY MEN" Video with your "50 CENT THE NEW BREED" DVD. FIND OUT HOW HERE! http://bonus.50cent.com.
 

50 Cent & Others On 'Bad Boys 2' Soundtrack Posted April 28 by Webmaster
It's only right that the first Bad Boy album to be released off of P. Diddy's new distribution deal with Universal Records be called "Bad Boys."

P.D. called upon some of his buddies to hand in tracks for the soundtrack to "Bad Boys 2," which like the first film stars Will Smith and Martin Lawrence. According to a source in the Bad Boy camp, in addition to new songs by Puff and some artists on his label like Loon, Carl Thomas, Cherri Dennis and Black Rob, 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake, Fat Joe, Nelly, Lenny Kravitz, Beyoncé Knowles, and the Neptunes will all appear on the album, as will the Notorious B.I.G.

The first single is set to be Jay-Z's "La, La, La (Excuse Me Again)," which is a sequel to "Excuse Me Miss." Loon's duet with Kelis, "How You Want That," is slated to be the B-side offering. Both songs are currently being played on the radio and have videos on tap. A director for Jay's clip is still being secured, while Lil' X is locked in to direct Loon and Kelis.

Elsewhere on the LP, 50 Cent's duet with Notorious B.I.G., "The Realest N---as," will finally find an official home. There will also be a 50 and G-Unit posse cut on the soundtrack.

Speaking of mic collaborations, tag-teaming seems to be a popular concept on the soundtrack. Diddy joined St. Lunatics Nelly and Murphy Lee on a track that is still untitled, and he linked with Lenny Kravitz and Pharrell Williams for "Show Me Your Soul." The crooning Neptunes producer is said to rap on his verse. Not to be left out, Foxy Brown guest stars on Mario Winans' "Pretty Girl Bullsh--."

Beyoncé and Justin Timberlake opted to go the solo route, contributing "Keep Givin' Your Love" and "I Love You," respectively. Rounding off the soundtrack will be the club smash "Uh Oh," by 19-year-old newcomer Lumidee, who just signed to Universal/Motown Records, and "Girl, I'm a Bad Boy" by Fat Joe.

While the "Bad Boys 2" soundtrack, due July 15, will be the first release from Bad Boy this year, other albums aren't far off. Dream will drop their sophomore LP on August 12 and Loon's self-titled debut is due August 26. "Bad Boys 2" hits theaters July 18.
 

New Video Exclusive Posted April 28 by Webmaster
50 Cent is giving his fans yet another bonus.. Find Out What!
Starting Wednesday, fans who purchased The New Breed DVD will be able to access a "Value Added Package" which will include a 50 Cent download and an exclusive "directors cut" world premier of the video "Many Men". In addition, cell phone users can enter their phone number to get an exclusive freestyle by 50 Cent delivered to their mobile phone. Come back to 50cent.com on Wednesday (4/30) for more information on how to Crack The Code.
-50cent.com

One More Diss... Posted April 26 by Webmaster
When a war of words is becoming too dramatic for the Drama King himself, maybe the situation is getting out of hand.

"If you have some other drama, I ain't gonna front, I'mma hit it," DJ Kay Slay said during his "Double Drama Hour" show on New York's Hot 97. "But this beef in particular with Ja Rule and 50, this is it for me."

The rivalry between Ja Rule and 50 Cent recently elevated on Slay's show, and if the mixtape don has his way, it will end on his show.

Three weeks ago, Slay premiered Ja's freestyle, which the streets have dubbed "Loose Change." In it, Rule comes at the Shady/Aftermath camp, Busta Rhymes, Lil' Mo and manager Chris Lighty. A retaliation came the next week via the Em and 50 freestyle "Hail Mary." Last week the saga continued when Kay played a new Benzino dis record aimed at Shady/Aftermath as well as Ja's abrasive retort "Guess Who Shot Ya."

Now Slay is saying enough is enough.

"I'm putting it out there for them, have one [more record apiece] made and take it out that way," Slay suggested. "There's no other way. People are harboring feelings and they need to put everything they got to say and feel on one last record. Get everything out and then just keep it moving. How many more ways can Ja Rule dis 50? How many more things can 50 Cent say about Ja Rule? Most of them records kind of channel through me, and I feel like they need to cut it out now."

What has Kay and other DJs, including Hot 97's Funkmaster Flex, raising their eyebrows is the harshness of the battle and the history between Ja and 50. Some of 50's lyrical low blows include calling Ja, Irv Gotti, Blackchild and Caddillac Tah "pu--ies" on "I Smell Pu---" and rhyming, "Any living thing that cannot coexist with the kid/ Must decease existing/ Little n---a, now listen/ Yo mami, yo papi, that bitch you chasin'/ Ya little dirty-ass kids/ I'll f---in' erase them" on "Back Down."

Obviously the Inc. isn't absolved from levying disrespect.

"0-3 muthaf---as/ D.I.E. muthaf---as," Irv Gotti chants with the beat on Ja's "Guess Who Shot Ya." Ja later rhymes, "Your heart ain't cut for the code of the streets/ You're wondering, 'Is it Murder who shot me?' " over the same beat Notorious B.I.G. rapped to for his "Who Shot Ya." Rule recorded the song the night before he laid his vocals down for "Loose Change," on which he implies that Eminem's daughter, Haile, might grow up to be a "slut" like her mother.

"Everybody was pretty much like, 'Damn, when is [Ja] going respond to what's going on?' "said Slay. "So when I heard it, I said, 'OK, this might be a little interesting.' It's only two Ja Rule responses, but 50 done made about 50 records about Ja over the course of time. As far as a battle, it's now just starting to transpire, 'cause Ja Rule is just starting to strike back."

"Ja wasn't trying to get into all that," said Blackchild, who came at 50 and the G-Unit late last year with "You Da Wanksta." "He was trying to focus, get his money and relax. It's only but so much a person can take. That's why on the first song he's wilding out on everybody, 'cause he never said nothing through the whole situation. It got to the point where he was just frustrated and went in there and vented."

50 said Ja's backlash of barbs should have just been focused on him. "He should be talking about me, [not Eminem and Dre and] everybody else," 50 told MTV News recently. "He'll lose, he knows that. The route that he has to take is the 'I'm a mad gangsta' hardcore route, and ain't nobody gonna believe him."

Busta Rhymes, who's signed to the same management firm as 50 and Lil' Mo, agrees with the Southside, Queens, native. "Specifically my concern was, number one, me and Ja Rule were friends, or we were cool," Busta said. "We worked in the same studio, kicked it over the phone, go to clubs, pop bottles, do shows. If there was a problem he could have reached out to me."

Adding to the animated MC's hurt pride was the fact that one of his sons asked him why he was being inserted into the Inc. vs. Shady/Aftermath conflict. "Where would Ja find it in himself to talk about putting me in a coroner van? The only thing you put in a coroner van is dead people. You talking about killing me, homie? I attempted reaching out several different times — didn't have no luck. So ultimately I felt like I had to address it myself in some kind of way."

Unlike Busta, 50 has a longstanding feud with Murder Inc. If you ask 50, their beef started in 1999 shortly after Ja was robbed of a chain. According to 50, Ja later saw him hanging in a club with the chain thief and took offense.

The Inc. says the beef started to brew when 50 came to the set of Rule's video for "4 Life," which was shot on Jamaica Avenue in Queens, a center point between both of their neighborhoods of Southside Jamaica and Hollis.

"I guess he expected us to greet him with open arms," Blackchild said. "Ja just hit him with a 'Wassup?' and kept it moving. And he felt like we didn't show him enough love on the set. And from that point on, he started hating."

The underground song "Life's on the Line" followed, in which 50 accused the Inc. of being false tough guys. The two sides later had a scuffle in while staying at the same hotel in Atlanta, where 50 and Ja were both booked on the same bill. The violence hit its zenith in 2000 when 50 suffered minor stab wounds at New York's Hit Factory studio when the Incsters rushed him. Blackchild claimed responsibility for the stabbing, claiming he acted in self-defense because he thought someone was reaching for a gun.

Years later, Ja and 50 — who grew up living less than 20 minutes from each other and knowing many of the same people — are two of music's major superstars with seemingly everything one could dream of. But listening to their music, some people are afraid they may be risking their fame and fortune by bringing up bad blood from the past. Black shrugs it off.

"I don't know why everybody's worried," he said. "It started on the streets and evolved to being lyrical. Most times they say it's lyrical, it's going to escalate to the streets. This one is totally different. It couldn't stay in the streets because somebody was gonna get hurt and the police was looking."

Learn more about the beef between 50 Cent and Ja Rule in a special edition of MTV News' "The Wrap," premiering at 9:30 p.m. Sunday on MTV2. "The Wrap" airs again on Monday at 10:30 a.m., Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., Wednesday at 12:30 p.m., Friday at 1 p.m. and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
 

50 Cent, Jay-Z Set To 'Roc The Mic' Posted April 24 by Webmaster
According to a representative at Roc-A-Fella Records, Jay-Z has confirmed his participation in a tour with 50 Cent this summer.

All the details and dates are still being finalized, however the label says the tour will be called Roc the Mic, and as 50 told MTV a couple of weeks ago, Jigga will be closing out the shows each night.

According to Roc-A-Fella, there will be different versions of the opening lineup in various cities, with Snoop Dogg, Busta Rhymes, Missy Elliott, Sean Paul and Fabolous all tapped to join the bill on select dates.

50 will be bringing G-Unit member Lloyd Banks onstage with him, and Beanie Sigel, Memphis Bleek and Freeway are slated to back up Jay on his performances. It is still unclear whether the trio's appearance on the Roc the Mic Tour will conflict with them going out on the Roc Army Tour, which is tentatively scheduled to ramp up at the end of May.
 

New LP - 04' Posted April 21 by Webmaster
With the sales of his Get Rich or Die Tryin' still soaring through the roof, 50 Cent has decided to delay the release of his next solo album until February 2004.

"I was thinking [this] November, but I'm gonna wait," 50 said on Monday. "[Get Rich or Die Tryin'] — I don't think it will be over by then. I still got records I could shoot visuals for. I don't want to get ahead of myself."

50 fans won't have to wait until next year, however, to hear him on a new LP. He's said the G-Unit's group album, Lock and Load, will drop in a matter of months.

"[It will come out in] late September, early October," said a smiling 50. "The G-Unit album [will include] me, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and Young Buck."

In addition to the upcoming album, the G-Unit are featured on DJ Green Lantern's Invasion Part II: Conspiracy Theory, which also contains several dis tracks from Shady Records' Eminem, Obie Trice and D12 aimed at Murder Inc.. What was once a beef between 50 and Ja has grown into a hip-hop version of the Hatfields vs. the McCoys, as the Inc. and Shady/Aftermath camps have been levying barbs at each other for the past few weeks.

50 said Ja's recent dissing of Em and Dr. Dre in a freestyle was a frantic attempt to hold onto stardom. "Right now he's desperate," 50 scoffed. "He should be talking about me, [not Eminem and Dre and] everybody else. ... He'll lose, he knows that. The route that he has to take is the 'I'm a mad gangsta' hardcore route, and ain't nobody gonna believe him."

The New Breed Posted April 16 by Webmaster
Here’s a cure for your post-tax-day hangover: 50 Cent’s making change for the music biz.

Change for the better, that is, as the Shady/Aftermath/ Interscope rapper’s The New Breed appears likely to sell nearly 300k in its first week, according to early reports from national accounts.

Interest in the new title’s out-of-the-box blast is high because it’s a new-concept DVD plus CD combo (as opposed to CD plus bonus DVD), packaged and merchandised as an album, and it comes just two months after 50 Cent’s huge debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin’. The early numbers for New Breed signal that it will be an easy #1 on next week’s chart.

-hitsdailydouble

 

21 Questions Posted April 16 by Webmaster
Make sure to vote for 50 Cent's new video "21 Questions" on MTV's TRL and BET's 106&Park!

MTV-TRL
http://www.mtv.com/onair/trl/votevideo.jhtml

BET-106&Park
http://www.bet.com/peoplepoll/1,,138,00.html

DJ Green Lantern Mix Tape Posted April 16 by Webmaster
50 Cent is one of many artists featured on the new mixtape from Shady Record's DJ Green Lantern, "Invasion PT.II / Conspiracy Theory". Other artists featured on the mixtape include Eminem, D-12, 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Busta Rhymes, 2Pac, Biggie, G-Unit, D-Block, Obie Trice & More! Click the link below for more information.

DJGreenLantern.com

50 Cent is also featured on the first Invasion mixtape, which you can also read about and purchase on the above website.
 

Jay-Z Will Unite Onstage, In The Studio Posted April 14 by Webmaster
Two of New York's superpowers are apparently coming together not only for a tour, but some collaborations in the studio as well. 50 Cent told MTV News on Monday that he and Jay-Z will be heading out on the road together, possibly starting in July.

"It's going to be off the hook," said 50, who's currently hitting smaller-sized venues on a string of dates with openers the Clipse. "That's when it really gets [to be a] tour ... when you start building sets and you start seeing things you don't see at the average club concert."

A spokesperson for Jay-Z could not confirm his participation in either the tour or the studio collaborations.

Despite 50's current status as the biggest record seller on the planet, he said it wasn't a battle of the egos with Jay when it came to deciding on who would be closing the shows.

"It's easy," 50 said. "I give him that pressure. Let Jay headline. He's got a string of records that have had their opportunity to have their moments. He can go on for a good 40 minutes with just the singles, so he should be headlining."

On Friday, Lil' Mo said that she had been tapped to open up on some of the tour's dates. In addition to the outings with Jay, 50 said he was looking forward to collaborating on some songs with Hova soon.

"We were going to do a remix for 'If I Can't' and it was going to be packaged with 'The New Breed' [DVD], but it was a whole bunch of miscommunication. [I] ended up doing the remix, but it was me and [Dr.] Dre. [Me and Jay-Z] are coming up with new ideas to make records together."
 

Lloyd Banks working on LP Posted April 10 by Webmaster
While followers of mixtapes definitely know his voice, and his name has been forever immortalized via 50 Cent's prop-giving on the most ubiquitous song of the year, "In Da Club," the masses are just now beginning to know his face.

"I'mma tell you what Banks told me, 'cause go 'head switch the style up/ If n---as hate, then let 'em hate/ Watch the money pile up," 50 rhymes of his friend and G-Unit group member Lloyd Banks.

"We're real close," Banks said of the conversation he had with 50 that sparked the rhyme. "[Before he signed to Shady/Aftermath] it was to the point where I was like, 'Why is nobody saying nothing
about the success of 50 and the G-Unit? Do they see what we're doing?' I was like, '50, never mind the haters, we just gonna do us. Switch the style up, do it your way. We ain't gotta cater to what everybody else is doing, that doesn't mean that what we're doing is not gonna sell records.' "

Obviously Banks' prophecy came true. 50's Get Rich or Die Tryin' is the biggest selling album of the year thus far, moving almost 4 million units, according to SoundScan. However, Banks said the G-Unit were shocked by how many records 50 sold in the first two weeks of release.

"My prediction — I'm not going to lie to you — it was 500,000," the baritone-voiced MC said of what he thought his partner would do his first week out. "Then when it came back 870,000 it was like a stamp, 'OK, they understand.' When it came back again the next week [with another 822,000], ah man, that's when it really set in. When you're working, you don't have time to think about the album sales. You're thinking about the next album. I don't think it set into 50 yet, what's really going on. You hear it, people tell you, but if you stop and enjoy your success before it's time, you're jinxing yourself."

The next album is one of the main focuses of the camp now that 50 officially has started up G-Unit Records through Interscope. There will be an album by the G-Unit group, which consists of 50, Banks and the imprisoned Tony Yayo. There are also plans for solo albums by Southern MC Young Buck, Banks and Yayo when he gets released.

Yayo has been in jail since New Year's Eve due to a weapons charge and prior warrants. He talks about being in prison on the upcoming 50 Cent DVD "The New Breed," which drops on Tuesday.

"I was on the run. BET, MTV, I was doing all that on the run," he said from Rikers Island on the DVD. "I was in the 'Wanksta' video, 'In Da Club' video, I was on the run. Nobody knew. I figured it was gonna catch up. I was gonna turn myself in after 50's album dropped. Basically my day-to-day life [now], I wake up, eat breakfast, eat lunch, just chillin', relaxing, minding my business. I done see kids get cut up and n---as get f---ed up for not minding their business. When I get home, that G-Unit album will be getting worked on immediately."

Yayo's incarceration has thrown a monkey wrench into the plans. Before he got locked up, the idea was to drop 50's record, then come with a G-Unit release. The trio even began recording a bunch of songs. However, since Tony is still a few months from being free, the squad is thinking about putting out Banks' solo LP as the next project.

"As far as my record, I don't have to rush," Banks insisted. "I'm 20 years old, I want to put out a classic [my first time around]. I don't want to put out 10 albums then get a classic.

"Productionwise it [varies]," Banks said. "I go through every [beat] CD. I don't knock anybody. I got three records with Eminem just sitting there. We ain't really been in the studio too much lately."

Before things started to pop off for the G-Unit, Banks would not let anything compromise his friendship with Yayo, who grew up across the street from Banks in Queens, and 50, who lived around the corner. When 50 got shot, the G-Unit were the only ones who stood by his side, and not too long after that incident, Banks found himself in need of some support. On September 10, 2001, he was caught in a crossfire of bullets.

"At that time I was doing little mixtapes and I was still running around the 'hood," he recalled. "I was in a club in Queens about five minutes from my house. It was a shootout. After the club, in my neighborhood you hear shots so much you grow a stubbornness. I'm like, 'Somebody is probably shooting in the air.' It might sound stupid, but I gotta feel something for me to turn into Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Just so happens those shots was hitting me. That's the way the ball bounces sometimes.

"I got shot and [a bullet] went through my liver," he continued. "I was leaking a lot of blood. I ran to the hospital myself, it was 10 blocks [away]. I got hit by a car on my way there. I woke up in the hospital and I'm seeing the [Twin Towers] fall. I'm thinking I'm watching 'Independence Day' or something. The nurses were running around acting crazy like, 'The buildings fell!' I'm like, 'Oh sh--, get me outta here then.' "

Now 100 percent healthy, the only place Banks is thinking about running to is the studio — that is, if he ever gets a break. He and Young Buck act as 50's hypemen during his current tour.

"I been on the road since October, I have so much material backed up in me," Banks said. "If I go to the studio, I'm gonna knock out five or six records at a time. I miss going to the studio every day, working 'til like three or four in the morning sometimes."

50 Inks Deal with Interscope Posted April 8 by Webmaster
Rap star 50 Cent, whose debut album is the best-selling release of the year, has inked a label deal with Interscope Records.

He will sign and develop artists under the imprint G-Unit Records. All G-Unit releases will be marketed and distributed by Interscope Records. The first release from the imprint will be a debut album from the label's namesake -- rap collective G-Unit, featuring 50 Cent, Tony Yayo and Lloyd Banks. The album will hit stores by year's end.

50 Cent's debut album, "Get Rich or Die Tryin" (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope), which was executive produced by Eminem and Dr. Dre, has sold more than 4 million copies since its Feb. 6 release.

50 Cent and Interscope also are set to release a bonus maxi-CD with previously unreleased songs to accompany the rapper's DVD "The New Breed," to hit stores April 15. The DVD includes an underground video for the song "Heat," an interview with G-Unit's Yayo from New York's Rikers Island Correctional Facility and live performance footage from 50 Cent, Eminem and D12.

"First I drop my album, and people pay attention," 50 Cent said. "Now that I got their attention, I'm gonna drop the next shit on them -- the G-Unit shit, both the label and the group. ... I'm not leveling the competition, I'm destroying it."

Said Jimmy Iovine, chairman of Interscope Geffen A&M: "When you have an artist like 50 Cent, you want to be in business with him on every level -- movies, video games, wherever he wants to go."

50 Cent Fights Tyson Beckford, Is Set Up By Mekhi Phifer Posted April 4 by Webmaster
He wasn't snitching like his longtime lyrical nemeses at Murder Inc. have accused him of doing, but last weekend 50 Cent did spend a lot of time cavorting with cops.

The platinum mixtape king was in L.A. filming videos for his next two singles, "21 Questions" and "Many Men (Wish Death)." One clip centers on his battles with the police, and the other features TV lawmen as guest stars.

According to a label spokesperson, in the clip for "21 Questions," which was helmed by Dr. Dre and Phillip Atwell, 50 is spending some quality time with his girl at home when the authorities surround his house. He's later carted off to federal prison where he has plenty of time to think about whether or not wifey will stick by his side now that the chips are down ("Girl ... It's easy to love me now/ Would you love me if I was down and out?/ Would you still have love for me?").

Radio personality Fatman Scoop and the song's hook singer, Nate Dogg, also appear in the video as inmates. Tyson Beckford plays the role of 50's incarcerated adversary, who does everything from impose on the rapper's phone time to attempt to hinder 50's conjugal visits.

The video ends with a plot twist that has 50 clearly seeing his situation for what it is.

Unfortunately in "Many Men," or at least in part of the video, 50's vision is impaired. There's blood in his eye and he can't see, as the song's lyrics go. Art imitates life as 50 is the victim of a hit. Gabriel Cassius ("Lockdown," "New Jersey Drive") and Mekhi Phifer ("8 Mile," "Paid in Full"), act as hired guns who set out to collect a $50,000 bounty on his head.

Surviving the gunshot wounds, on his road to recovery 50 is surprised to find out that one of the many men who want him dead is actually a close friend. The Southside Queens native then rounds up his troops, which include G-Unit member Lloyd Banks and "Tiny Zeus" Lister, to exact revenge.

Henry Simmons of "NYPD Blue" and Adam Rodriguez and Rory Cochrane of "CSI Miami" also make guest-starring appearances. Jessy Terrero, who directed 50's "In Da Club," also called the shots on "Many Men."

"Many Men" was shot mostly in downtown L.A., while the prison scenes in "21 Questions" were filmed at the closed Sybil Brand Institute Prison for Women.

Interscope said "21 Questions" will be the first of the two videos to be released, airing within the next two weeks. Meanwhile, 50 is putting out a DVD on April 15 called "The New Breed." Songs "In the Hood," "True Loyalty" and "8 More Miles" will be included, as well as concert footage and an interview with jailed G-Unit member Tony Yayo.
 

Sell Life Story? Posted April 1 by Webmaster
50 Cent is making the rounds right now among New York publishers, trying to sell the rights to his life story — the working title of which is "Number One With Nine Bullets."

The 26-year-old rapper is asking for a sum in the high six figures for his memoir, according to publishers who've taken meetings with his agent. The book is to be written in collaboration with XXL magazine scribe Vanessa Satten.

According to Satten and 50's four-page proposal, the book would be comprised of the rapper's dramatic life history, from his drug lord mother being gunned down when he was 8, to his own hustling past, to getting shot nine times, to hooking up with Dr. Dre and Eminem. The proposal says that his life would read "like a Donald Goines novel": "Murder. Drugs. The true thug life. Ghetto depression. Determination. Mad beats. Phat rap lyrics. All have found their way into the life of hip-hop's latest big thing."

In addition to 50's story, the proposal also promises to deliver the rapper's previously unpublished poetry as well as behind-the-scenes pictures. A minimum of 25 poems and lyrics would be shot directly from 50's rapbooks and scrapbooks. As for the photos, they would keep with the book's documentary feel.

The proposal estimates that the manuscript would be done by September in time for a holiday release.
 

Kim Forgives 50 Posted March 27 by Webmaster
It's a beautiful fall day in 2002 and everything is love. Everybody is politicking and Brooklyn is definitely in the house. But for once, BK bad girl Lil' Kim is in the place to be and she's not the main attraction. The Queen Bee, like her other industry peers, have traveled to Puerto Rico for the Fifth Annual Mix Show Power Summit. Such luminaries as the late icon DJ Jam Master Jay, Fat Joe, Keith Murray, Missy Elliott, Busta Rhymes and Redman have all made the trip to partake in the weekend's festivities, which include the premiere of "8 Mile" and the after-party where Kim is dancing with fervor.

She's extra hyped because two of her favorite MCs, Eminem and 50 Cent, are onstage with Obie Trice, filling a local club with their abrasive vocals. "There's a certain mystique when I speak, that you notice/ 'Cause it's sort of unique 'cause you know it's me," Em starts to rhyme, debuting the trio's "Love Me."

Things can't get better for Kim, who is looking on with a smile. She's reveling in the night, standing on a chair so she can get an eyeful as well as an earful as 50's part starts.

"I ain't gonna front, I thought R. Kelly was the sh--/ Let me find out he f----in 'round with Bow Wow bitch," 50 spits, getting wide-eyed looks from spectators who can't believe his audacity. "N----s eating popcorn, right, rewinding the tape/ Now shorty mama in precinct, hollering rape/ I'm convinced, man, something really wrong with these hoes/ I thought Lil' Kim was hot, 'til she start f---ing with her nose."

Hold up, wait a minute! The Queen Bee has just been dissed.

"Oh you muthaf----!" she blurts out under her breath, shocked by 50's words. Meanwhile fellow rapstress Trina, who is standing next to her, seems to be equally insulted, speaking obscenities aloud as well.

The Queen Bee, however, has thick skin to go along with her stinger. Vowing to keep it moving, seconds later she regains her composure and continues partying.

"I still was dancing, 'cause I don't trip off of stuff like that," Kim said three weeks ago about 50's concert performance last year. Not only was she able to roll with the punches, she also found room in her heart to forgive. She squashed things with 50 a long time ago and the southside Queens rap kingpin even made it onto Kim's first LP in three years, La Bella Mafia.

"He did call me and was like, 'Yo, I wanna do a record with you so bad,' " Kim recalled of a phone conversation the two of them had a few months back. "He said, 'Yo, I got this record that I think you'd love.' I had to think about it."

Kim made her choice to absolve 50 after he apologized and the two went out to dinner.

"It took a man to call me and say, 'Yo, sometimes I be tripping. I be having, like, four personalities inside of me,' " Kim said. " 'I be coming out saying things I don't really mean, like what I said about you. Every time I see you, you've been nothing but nice to me.' "

Obviously, the pair wound up recording La Bella Mafia's "Magic Stick," but the song was originally supposed to be on 50's blockbuster, Get Rich or Die Tryin'. Schedules and logistics got in the way, however, and the rappers couldn't get together in time to meet the deadline for 50's February 6 release date.

"I was out of town, he was out of town," Kim explained. "We just couldn't hook up. So he said, 'You know what, ma? You keep it.' "

Despite the song not officially being a single, "Magic Stick" is already getting play on the radio and in the clubs. A spokesperson for Kim said it still has not been determined what the next release off La Bella Mafia is going to be. Another source in Kim's camp said that there have been discussions about adding a verse by none other than Eminem to a possible "Magic Stick" remix.

50 and Eminem were unavailable for comment.
 

Lots of stuff Posted March 26 by Webmaster
GET A PREVIEW OF "50 CENT THE NEW BREED" DVD!!
Launch the Player Now to watch exclusive Clips of "THE NEW BREED" DVD Featuring the New Video for "Heat", Tony YAYO interview from behind bars, and an exclusive look into the life of 50 Cent. Also Includes CD with new Music By 50 CENT featuring the G-UNIT Crew!!

50 & EMINEM PERFORM "PATIENTLY WAITING"!!
"THE NEW BREED" DVD includes a complete Shady Records Roster Performance. Head Over to Launch.com and Watch 50 and Em's Performance of "PATIENTLY WAITING".

50's ON THE COVER OF ROLLING STONE MAGAZINE!!
ON STANDS NOW!! Rolling Stone calls 50 the "coolest new villain in hip-hop." Get the mag and read about 50's rise from a crack dealer with a price on his head to the hottest new MC in the country.
 

More 50 Tour Dates Posted March 20 by Webmaster
50 Cent, who still sits on top of Billboard's Top 200 Album's chart after 5 weeks out, is planning to take his show on the road.

50 announced that he will embark on a 29 date tour, starting April 1st in Denver, Colorado. The tour will wind down with two dates in Detroit, Michigan with fellow bad boy, Eminem.

Tour dates are below:

4/1: Denver, Fillmore Auditorium
4/2: Kansas City, Memorial Hall
4/3: St. Louis, The Pageant
4/4: Milwaukee, The Rave
4/5: Chicago, House of Blues
4/6: Cincinnati, Bogart's
4/7: Indianapolis, Murat Egyptian Room
4/8: Morgantown, WV, West Virginia University
4/10: N. Myrtle Beach, SC, House of Blues
4/11: Atlanta, TBA
4/12: Tallahassee, FL, Sheffield's Ranch
4/13: Birmingham, AL, Boutwell Auditorium
4/14: Memphis, International Shell
4/16: Valley Center, KS, Kansas Coliseum
4/17: Tulsa, OK, University of Tulsa
4/18: Springfield, MO, Shrine Mosque
4/19: Lincoln, NE, University of Nebraska
4/20: Minneapolis, Target Center
4/21: Grand Rapids, MI, DeltaPlex
4/22: Lexington, KY, University of Kentucky
4/23: Oxford, OH, Miami University
4/24: Brockport, NY, SUNY Brockport
4/25: Philadelphia, University of Pennsylvania
4/26: Storrs, CT, University of Connecticut
4/27: Binghamton, NY, SUNY Binghamton
5/3: Hartford, CT, Hartford Civic Center
5/16: Seattle, Northgate Theater
7/12-13: Detroit, Ford Field

source: BallerStatus

50 Don't Like Change Posted March 19 by Webmaster
50 Cent doesn't seem to like change.

After debuting at #1 with Get Rich or Die Tryin' and holding on for two weeks, he was briefly brushed aside by R. Kelly and Norah Jones. The short stint at #2 must've been about as comfortable as wearing a Kevlar vest on a muggy August afternoon, because the bullet-riddled rapper quickly reclaimed the top spot and stays there for a second week on the new Billboard 200 albums chart.

Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold another 279,000 copies last week, according to SoundScan figures released Wednesday (March 19), bringing his six-week total to more than 3.2 million copies. As long as "In Da Club" continues to be a staple in da clubs, 50 Cent's reign looks to be a lengthy one.

Jones continues to benefit from her Grammy sweep, holding on to #2 with Come Away With Me after selling more than 243,000 copies last week. R. Kelly, also capitalizing on his media attention, though in a different way, moves up a spot to #3 with Chocolate Factory. The LP's hit single, "Ignition," paved the way for another 128,000 in sales to bring the album past the 1 million mark.

Bay Area punks AFI probably aren't following the directive of their album Sing the Sorrow, since it's the chart's highest debut, landing at #5 with more than 96,000 copies sold. Having paid their dues since 1991, the melodic punks can attribute much of their success to the single "Girl's Not Grey" and fawning media accolades for their most accessible album yet, which was given a sheen by producers Butch Vig (Nirvana, Smashing Pumpkins) and Jerry Finn (Green Day, Blink-182).

Killer Mike, signed to Outkast's Aquemini imprint, brings up the rear of the top 10 with Monster, which sold more than 79,000 copies in its first week. Many fans got their first taste of Killer on Outkast's "The Whole World," which earned him a Grammy, while others simply like the fit of his hit single "A.D.I.D.A.S."

R&B group Blackstreet's first album in four years, Level II debuts at #14 (52,000), while Diamonds on the Inside by the funky and folky Ben Harper comes in at #19 (46,000).

The rest of the top 10 includes: the Dixie Chicks, whose backlash over Natalie Maines' derogatory comment about President Bush had just two days to impact sales of Home, at #4 (123,000); the soundtrack to "Chicago" up three spots to #6 (94,000) and likely to climb higher if the flick does well at Sunday's Academy Awards; Fabolous' Street Dreams slipping four to #7 (92,000); Kid Rock's Cocky at #8 again (92,000), pushing him past 3 million; and Evanescence down two spots from last week's #7 debut (91,000).

Other notable debuts include Evolve by D.I.Y. folk singer Ani DiFranco at #30; Everclear's first full-length in three years, Slow Motion Daydream, at #33; Christian pop-punkers Relient K's Two Lefts Don't Make a Right, But Three Do at #38; the latest two-disc retrospective from the Clash, Essential Clash, at #99; and the soulful, beat-bountiful A Little Deeper by Ms. Dynamite, who claimed the U.K.'s Mercury Prize in September, at #179.
 

50 on Rolling Stone Posted March 14 by Webmaster
50 Cent is on the cover of the new issue of Rolling Stone magazine. Some have suggested that it's other rappers who are trying to kill him, but 50 says hatred from his old competitors in crack dealing has multiplied because of his fame. "This ain't no rap war," he says. "This have nothin' to do with no rappers. The gangsters don't like that I do whatever the fu** I wanna do. I'm movin around, I'm all over the country, I'm makin' money, I'm a motherfu**in' star. That bothers a nig*a. The people that dislike me have nothin' to lose. I'm from the bottom. They're uneasy about still bein' on the bottom." The article goes on to talk about his life growing up, how he started in music, and more. Its a nice in depth article on 50. With the cover of Rolling Stone, no one can deny 50 has hit it big. Check out photos and a portion of the feature article by clicking here.

50 Still Number ONE! Posted March 12 by Webmaster
Now that the Grammy glow has started to fade, this year's winners have begun sliding back down the Billboard 200 albums chart, making way for Queens rapper 50 Cent to be king again.

His Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold nearly 360,000 copies last week to reclaim the top spot on the new chart, according to SoundScan data released Wednesday (March 12). Though those numbers reflect a sales dip of more than 50,000 copies from the previous week, it was more than enough to oust last week's #1, Grammy-sweeper Norah Jones.

New DVD Posted March 10 by Webmaster
50 CENT’s NEW DVD “THE NEW BREED” will hit stores on April 15th The Release will Feature a New Video for "Heat", an Interview with Tony YAYO from behind bars, and an exclusive look into the life of 50 Cent. A Bonus CD will also be Includes with brand new Music by 50 and G-UNIT!! (New Player Coming Soon with DVD Preview)

Eminem Losing Himself In The Studio With 50 Cent, D12 Posted March 6 by Webmaster
No wonder Eminem has only one major U.S. concert planned for 2003 — his studio schedule doesn't leave him any time to hit the stage.

Although Marshall Mathers' next solo album isn't due until the top of '04, he'll have plenty to keep him occupied in the interim. Em's been living in the lab for the past few months, making sure his Shady Records empire stays on top.

According to sources within his camp, Slim laid a good amount of the soundscapes for Obie Trice's spring debut and will soon be handing over the reins to Dr. Dre and Timbaland as that project, which also features Rockwilder beats, closes out.

Once production on Obie's LP is completed, Em will jump headfirst into D12's sophomore effort, due this summer. The plan is for Slim Shady to produce most of the tracks and put in time in the vocal booth as well.

Of course, Em will also be keeping an eye on Shady Records' latest phenomenon, 50 Cent. The Southside Jamaica, Queens, rapper isn't letting a couple of million records sold satiate his hunger. He's already got plans to follow up Get Rich or Die Tryin' with another record in November. Taking a cue from his boss, 50 will also be overseeing the crafting of one of his own artists on his own label. G-Unit member Lloyd Banks' debut, due in August, will drop on the Interscope-distributed G-Unit Records.

Not to be left out of the mix, Em's DJ and mixtape master Green Lantern, who's signed to Shady Records as well, is putting together a compilation album. No guests have been named, but according to the Shady camp, anybody who performs on the album will have to keep their tunes in tune with a special Green Lantern theme.
 

50 Article: How 50 Got Big? Posted March 4 by Webmaster
Over at Mtv.com, they have an article on how 50 Cent Blew up! Its a good article, so check it out at: http://www.mtv.com/bands/m/mixtape/news_feature_021003/

New Songs for New DVD Posted February 28 by Webmaster
He got a mil off his deal and he's still on the grind. Believe it or not, 50 Cent is headed back into the studio to work on a new release.

No, he doesn't have another album about to drop anytime soon; with his Get Rich or Die Tryin' flirting with a return to the #1 spot on the Billboard albums chart, he'll try to milk that for a while.

According to his spokesperson, 50 is cooking up tracks for a DVD he's going to drop on March 25. The home video, titled "The New Breed," will feature a tune that hasn't been recorded yet as well as remixes of "If I Can't" and "8 Mile Road." Concert clips, behind-the-scenes footage and an interview with incarcerated G-Unit member Tony Yayo (remember Eminem's "Free Yayo" T-shirt at the Grammys?) will also be included.

A headlining tour will get underway in a few weeks, starting March 12 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and ending April 27 in Binghamton, New York. No opening acts have been announced.

Meanwhile, G-Unit member Lloyd Banks, who acts as 50's hype man onstage, is working on his own debut, due in August.

50 Cent tour dates, according to Interscope:
3/12 - Lake Buena Vista, FL @ House of Blues
3/13 - Tampa, FL @ The Underground
3/14 - Jacksonville, FL @ DV8
4/1 - Denver, CO @ Fillmore
4/2 - Kansas City, MO @ Memorial Hall
4/3 - St. Louis, MO @ The Pageant
4/4 - Milwaukee, WI @ The Rave
4/5 - Chicago, IL @ House of Blues
4/6 - Cincinnati, OH @ Bogart's
4/8 - Indianapolis, IN @ Egyptian Room
4/8 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Metropol
4/9 - Richmond, VA @ Siegal Center
4/10 - Myrtle Beach, SC @ House of Blues
4/11 - Atlanta, GA @ Dekalb Center
4/12 - Tallahassee, FL @ Sheffield's Ranch
4/13 - Nashville, TN @ Municipal Auditorium
4/14 - Memphis, TN @ Overton Park Shell
4/15 - Oklahoma City, OK @ University of Oklahoma
4/16 - Valley Center, KS @ Kansas Coliseum
4/18 - Springfield, MO @ Shrine Mosque
4/19 - Lincoln, NE @ University of Nebraska
4/21 - Grand Rapids, MI @ Deltaplex
4/22 - Oxford, OH @ Miami University of Ohio
4/24 - Brockport, NY @ SUNY Brockport
4/25 - Philadelphia, PA @ University of Philadelphia
4/26 - Storrs, CT @ University of Connecticut
4/27 - Binghamton, NY @ SUNY Binghamton

source: Mtv News

WATCH 50 ON MTV2!! Posted February 22 by Webmaster
MTV2 "Hip Hop Albums To Watch" Featuring 50 CENT Saturday, 2/22 @ 4:00pm and 2/23-5:30pm

All Eyes On 50 Posted February 21 by Webmaster
MTV's "All EYES ON: 50 CENT" a NEWS SPECIAL is Featuring An Up Close Look At The Artist Himself. Catch it Today, 2/12 @ 8:00pm & 2:00am

It'll also replay on the following dates & times:

2/23-12:30am
2/24-5:30pm & 11:30pm
2/27-3:00pm
3/1-12:30pm

 

50's Impala Posted February 21 by Webmaster
First came the Funkmaster Flex Celebrity Car Show, then Flex's own line of rims and driving shoes. Now, the New York DJ is bringing his car obsession to the small screen. This fall, TNN will be airing six episodes of the "Funkmaster Flex Show," a celebrity car show which will include segments on 50 Cent's 1969 Chevy Impala and Ja Rule's car collection.

50 on TRL Posted February 20 by Webmaster
50 Cent will be on TRL again Monday February 24th @ 3:30 p.m. (ET/PT), 2:30 p.m. (CT) on MTV.
 

1.6 Million Sold Posted February 18 by Webmaster
Shady/Aftermath/Interscope rap sensation 50 Cent shot an arrow in the air, and it landed at #1, with remarkable second-week sales of 801k, a less than 1% drop from his huge opening, giving hip-hop’s newest superstar 1.6 million units moved in less than two weeks.

50 Negotiates G Unit Deal Posted February 17 by Webmaster
50 Cent became the highest debuting new artist of all time, moving 872,142 units last week of his album Get Rich Or Die Tryin.' After solidifying himself on New York's mixtape scene, he recently paid homage to the circuit that made him. "Mixtapes helped me. I think anybody who has been following 50 Cent…understands that there's a certain quality of music that I'm gonna come with everytime. I was just freestyling, exercising…. but my album is the material that was the good stuff."

50, who also bought his Guerilla Unit clique consisting of his boys Tony Yayo, Lloyd Banks, and Young Buck along for the ride, is also aspiring to be CEO of his new empire as well. "G Unit is a group at the moment but after my first week of record sales, it's gonna turn into a joint venture."

50 and his partner Sha Money XL are currently in heavy negotiations with several majors including Interscope to find a home for their label.

source: The Source

4 Stars In Rolling Stone Posted February 13 by Webmaster
50 Cent's debut album "Get Rich Or Die Tryin'" recieved 4 stars by Rolling Stone. Check out the article here.

Sales Posted February 13 by Webmaster
50 Cent “GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN” sales 875K it’s first 4 days. Bringing it to #1 on the Billboard 200 Charts, and the all time leader for a Rap Album Debut.

MTV Show Posted February 12 by Webmaster
MTV News goes beyond the hype and into the head of one of the hottest rappers in the business when "All Eyes On: 50 Cent" premieres Wednesday at 8 p.m. ET.

50 Cent "On Cloud Nine" Posted February 11 by Webmaster
50 Cent's Shady/Aftermath Interscope release, Get Rich Or Die Trying is predicted to go gold in the first week and claim the number one position on Billboard's Top 200 Albums chart this week.

The album was released five days before it's scheduled February 11 date to combat bootlegging and Internet piracy.

"The people that might wish I do bad are shocked," 50 Cent told AllHipHop. "I’m already doing better than people would expect me to do. So, I’m on cloud nine. I can only do better because of my space right now.”

50 also said that his current situation on Eminem's Shady imprint is much more lucrative than the deal he had when he was on Columbia.

"My deal with Columbia wasn’t a good deal. It was for $250,000," 50 continued. "I got $65,000 in advance, $50,000 went to Jam Master Jay, $10,000 went to the lawyers that negotiated that deal and that negotiated the release. I was left with $5,000. I was still selling crack."

The days of grinding in the streets for drug money are long gone for the rapper.

Interscope shipped 1 million units of Get Rich Or Die Trying and added an additional 400,000 shortly after the release to cover the strong demand.

The indie album that he released, Guess Who’s Back? also racked up almost 20k sales last week.

Industry analysts said that the album could sell as much as 750,000 units for the week and when it debuts on the Billboard chart next week, it will take the number one spot from the Dixie Chicks.

50 is currently touring to support the album. Here are few upcoming dates:

2/13/2003
Rhode Island College
Providence, RI United States

2/15/2003
Old Dominion College
Baltimore, MD United States

2/16/2003
Baltimore Arena
Baltimore, MD United States

New Pictures Posted February 11 by Webmaster
We have added 13 new pictures thanks to ImageDirect, check them out in our pictures section.

DVD Posted February 10 by Webmaster
As you already know, 50's recent release "Get Right Or Die Tryin" had an limited edition that came with a bonus DVD. This edition sold out online and sold out in many retail places such Best Buy and Circut City. Now 50 Cent will be releasing a DVD soon. It will include live performances from all over the world including Barcelona. Look for it soon!

-props to DirtyJIM

50 In New Film Posted February 10 by Webmaster
Busta Rhymes and 50 Cent Go After "Blood Money", click here for more information.

Bootlegging Won't Dent 50 Cent Posted February 8 by Webmaster
An abbreviated first-week sales cycle won't stop 50 Cent from cashing in at record stores, industry insiders say.

His Get Rich or Die Tryin' hit stores Thursday, five days early, in a move aimed at thwarting bootleggers. Despite a four-day first-week sales cycle — as opposed to the traditional six (Tuesday through Sunday) — most are predicting the album will top the Billboard 200 albums chart.

"The first week it'll sell between 500,000 and 600,000," forecasted Sonya Askew, urban music buyer for the Sam Goody/Musicland chain. She said she based her prediction on the high interest in 50, who signed a joint deal with Eminem's Shady Records and Dr. Dre's Aftermath imprint. "This is going to be very strong. It will sell 50 to 60 percent of what [The Eminem Show] did, which isn't bad."

Even higher figures, closer to a million copies, were predicted by others.

"This might be the biggest debut in hip-hop since DMX's It's Dark and Hell Is Hot [in 1998]," said Johan Gill, a clerk at Tower Records in New York's Lincoln Center. "It's huge. Practically every customer who came through the door today has been coming in for this record."

Unlike many hip-hop albums, which tend to debut high and then drop significantly, 50 Cent's disc isn't expected to depreciate drastically. Askew said the album should stay put at #1 for the next two or three weeks, perhaps until Fabolous' Street Dreams gives it a run for its money March 7. Even when it vacates the top slot, Get Rich or Die Tryin' isn't likely to descend into the chart's nether regions quickly, given the public's sheer fascination with 50 Cent.

"The album will definitely have staying power," said Paul Stokes, urban music buyer for George's Music Store in Chicago. "It's not just his music, but his life story, what he's been through."

50 Cent's Cinderella story is one of the most compelling in hip-hop. He went from being a teenage drug dealer to an underground rabble rouser to a high-profile rapper hooking up with Eminem and Dr. Dre. Along the way, he was stabbed and shot several times, including once in the mouth.

"It's his image," Stokes said. "People relate to the story. They're the main cats buying it."

Since bootleggers not only cut into the artist and label's profits, but also retailers', many stores are delighted when a label pushes up a hot album's release.

"As a buyer, I'm excited. It's giving retail the opportunity to make money," Askew said. "Lots of labels are afraid to pull the trigger. Interscope, [the parent of Shady/Aftermath,] is not. I would have been upset if I had to wait until [next] Tuesday to put it on shelves."

Interscope employed the same tactic last year with The Eminem Show, releasing it on a Sunday. In December, Columbia followed suit with Nas' God's Son, stocking store shelves four days early. Like The Eminem Show, legitimate copies of Get Rich or Die Tryin' will be bolstered with a DVD component absent from the illegal copies.

The trend of earlier than expected release dates is likely to continue, since bootlegging is only getting easier.

"As long as you can buy burners so cheap — you can burn 20 copies at a time, and [blank] discs are so inexpensive — it's not going to stop," said Violet Brown, a buyer for the Wherehouse chain. "There needs to be a crackdown. You see people in parking lots selling CDs. You can go into a CD store and they're selling bootlegs."

While the illegal practice is most prevalent in hip-hop, other genres are not immune. Highly anticipated albums by Limp Bizkit and Linkin Park may face a similar situation as their release dates near.

If there's a silver lining to this problem, it's the publicity. When Interscope announced the earlier release date, media outlets were quick to report it. So even for those unaware of the change, the news served as a reminder that the album was going to be available in just days.

"Controversy is always good, and publicity, any kind of publicity, always helps the record," Gill said. "With all the anticipation for 50 Cent's album, people were ecstatic that they could get the album earlier."

Album Out Now! Posted February 7 by Webmaster
The debut album is finally here. The cd includes a limited edition DVD with behind the scenes footage, interviews, live preformances and much more. Don't sleep on this album cuz its hot!! To order the album now click here

50 Taking over TV Posted February 5 by Webmaster
Watch for TRL and 106 & Park Appearances this Thursday! Find out how to attend the Live Taping of 50's Performance on Carson Daly's Last Call below, and stay locked to 50Cent.com for the latest news & updates!

COME SEE 5O PERFORM LIVE ON CARSON DALY'S LAST CALL!!
"50 Cent is headed to Last Call with Carson Daly on February 11th. The show tapes Tuesday evening at 30 Rockefeller Center.

Tickets are free but on a first come first serve basis so email now to reserve your priority seating. Our ticket email is lastcallaudience@nbc.com.

Please put "50 Cent" in the subject heading, give us your full name, age, and number of tickets you need to reserve(limit of 4). We will follow up with a
confirmation email.

You must be at least 16 years of age to be in our audience. Thanks and we look forward to seeing you at the show!"

Chat Live with 50 Posted February 5 by Webmaster
Log on to MSN.com next Monday Feb. 10th @ 8PM Eastern/5PM Pacific to CHAT LIVE with 50 CENT.

Release Party Posted February 4 by Webmaster
50 Cent Record Release with D-12 and Obie Trice
State Theatre, Detroit, Detroit, MI
Sun, Feb 09, 2003 7:30pm



-props to DirtyJIM

New Release Date Posted February 4 by Webmaster
THE STREETS COULDN'T WAIT!! 50 CENT'S "GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN" HITS STORES ON THURSDAY FEBRUARY 6th!!!
 

Interviews & Jimmy Kimmel Posted February 4 by Webmaster
AOL - Sessions - Interview (video)
Broadband | Dial Up

Jimmy Kimmel Live - 50 Cent Interview (audio)
Mp3 (right click, save target as)
 

Exclusive Video Posted February 4 by Webmaster
EXCLUSIVE: PREVIEW "GET RICH OR DIE TRYIN" ... THE MOVIE ON THE 50 CENT PLAYER NOW!!

http://www.bandbuilder.com/50cent/player.php