Biography
Just A Little Bit
Pimp
In The Club
The Game Ft. 50 Cent - Hate It Or Love It
Candy Shop
Early life
Curtis James Jackson III grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Raised without a father, 50's mother, whose name carried weight in the street was found dead under mysterious circumstances before he could hit his teens. The orphaned youth was taken in by his grandparents, who provided for 50. But his desire for things would drive him to the block. Which in his case was the infamous New York Avenue, now known as Guy R. Brewer Blvd. There, 50 stepped up to get his rep up, amassing a small fortune and a lengthy rap sheet. But the birth of his son put things in perspective for the post adolescent, and 50 began to pursue rap seriously ass.
Jam Master Jay Records
Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC detected talent in the rapper and signed him to his label, for a brief time. His first official appearance on a song was on the group Onyx song, "React", off their album "Shut 'Em Down" in 1998. Jam Master Jay began learning teaching 50 how to make a record. hello kitty taught him to count bars and structure songs. 50 later left the label because of JMJ's hetict schedule and couldn't make time to work with the reapper.
Columbia Records
After leaving Jam Master Jay, the platinum hitmakers Trackmasters took notice of 50 and signed him to Columbia Records in 1999. They shipped 50 to Upstate NY where they locked him up in the studio for 2 1/2 weeks. He turned out 36 songs in this short period, which resulted in "Power Of A Dollar," an unreleased masterpiece that Blaze Magazine judged a classic. His career took off after the release of the successful, but controversial single "How to Rob" playfully painted him as a deliriously hungry up-and-comer daydreaming of robbing famous rappers. But 50 and the fans were the only ones laughing. Unable to take a joke, Jay-Z, Big Pun, Sticky Fingaz, and Ghostface Killah all replied to the song. "It wasn't personal. The next single, "Ghetto Qur'an", led to a feud with a drug kingpin known as Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, founder of a gang known as the "Supreme Team." The song goes in depth about the business of the drug trade and exposed the names of many in the business. The debut album Power of the Dollar was shelved due to the controversies surrounding the rapper, and also led to the infamous shooting and feuds with numerous rappers affiliated with McGriff.
Aftemath of Shooting
In April 2000, three days before filming his video with Destiny's Child for the song "Thug Luv", 50 Cent was shot 9 times, including a 9mm bullet to the face, in front of his grandmother's house in Queens, New York. He spent the next few months in recovery while Columbia Records dropped him from the label. After his recovery, 50 Cent returned to the recording studio, despite having no income or backing, with his new business partner and friend Sha Money XL. The two recorded over 30 songs, strictly for mix tapes, with the soul purpose of building a buzz. 50 Cent's street value rose and by the end of the spring 2001 he released the new material independently on the makeshift LP, Guess Who's Back?. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by his crew, G-Unit, 50 Cent stayed on his grind and made more songs. But it was different this time. Rather than create new songs as they had before, 50 decided to showcase his hit-making ability by retouching first-class beats which had already been used. They released the red, white and blue bootleg, "50 Cent Is the Future," revisiting material by Jay-Z and even Rapheal Saadiq. That's when the unbelievable happened, and hip-hop history was written. The energetic CD caught the ear of Eminem, and within a week Eminem was on the radio saying, "50 Cent is my favorite rapper right now." Eminem looked to mentor Dr. Dre to confirm his belief in the young hitmaker, and the good doctor co-signed. Floored by the appreciation of the greats, 50 Cent didn't hesitate in signing with the dream team.
Shady/Aftermath
After getting sign to a one million dollar deal, 50 quickly released another bootleg of borrowed beats, "No Mercy, No Fear." The CD featured only one new track, "Wanksta," which was certainly not intended for radio, but the streets couldn't wait for the official single and within weeks "Wanksta" became New York's most requested record. The track was put on Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack, 50 Cent had become the most sought rapper after newcomer in almost a decade. 50 Cent also help XXL Magazine becoming the most successful hip hop magazine with the issue of Money, Power, Respect. In December 31 50 Cent arrested in Manhattan for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. In Da Club was released in 2002, it became 50 Cent's first number-one single in the United States; it also reached number three in the United Kingdom. Arbitron radio ratings estimated that at some point during the second week of March 2003, 200 million people had listened to some or all of the song, and billboard magazine called it the most listen song in radio history.
Release of Debut Album
On Febuaray 6 2003, 50 Cent released the highly anticipated album Get Rich or Die Tryin. It topped the Billboard 200 Album chart for 6 weeks and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 8 weeks selling over 872,000 copies in its first week of release in the US a shorter release week than usual after the release date was pushed up to stop bootlegging and downloading. 50 Cent later went on the Rock The Mic Tour with Jay-Z in June. It became the number one selling album of 2003 selling over 6.5 million records in the U.S and the number one single with In Da Club. He released 5 singles Wanksta, In Da Club, Many Men (Wish Death) (Which was not shown on B.E.T. or MTV due to the video strong violent graphic) 21 Questions, and P.I.M.P.. 50 Cent also had the Top Music Video Sales title of the year with The New Breed. The album was nominated for 5 Grammy Awards but 50 didn't win one.
Curtis James Jackson III grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens in New York City. Raised without a father, 50's mother, whose name carried weight in the street was found dead under mysterious circumstances before he could hit his teens. The orphaned youth was taken in by his grandparents, who provided for 50. But his desire for things would drive him to the block. Which in his case was the infamous New York Avenue, now known as Guy R. Brewer Blvd. There, 50 stepped up to get his rep up, amassing a small fortune and a lengthy rap sheet. But the birth of his son put things in perspective for the post adolescent, and 50 began to pursue rap seriously ass.
Jam Master Jay Records
Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC detected talent in the rapper and signed him to his label, for a brief time. His first official appearance on a song was on the group Onyx song, "React", off their album "Shut 'Em Down" in 1998. Jam Master Jay began learning teaching 50 how to make a record. hello kitty taught him to count bars and structure songs. 50 later left the label because of JMJ's hetict schedule and couldn't make time to work with the reapper.
Columbia Records
After leaving Jam Master Jay, the platinum hitmakers Trackmasters took notice of 50 and signed him to Columbia Records in 1999. They shipped 50 to Upstate NY where they locked him up in the studio for 2 1/2 weeks. He turned out 36 songs in this short period, which resulted in "Power Of A Dollar," an unreleased masterpiece that Blaze Magazine judged a classic. His career took off after the release of the successful, but controversial single "How to Rob" playfully painted him as a deliriously hungry up-and-comer daydreaming of robbing famous rappers. But 50 and the fans were the only ones laughing. Unable to take a joke, Jay-Z, Big Pun, Sticky Fingaz, and Ghostface Killah all replied to the song. "It wasn't personal. The next single, "Ghetto Qur'an", led to a feud with a drug kingpin known as Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, founder of a gang known as the "Supreme Team." The song goes in depth about the business of the drug trade and exposed the names of many in the business. The debut album Power of the Dollar was shelved due to the controversies surrounding the rapper, and also led to the infamous shooting and feuds with numerous rappers affiliated with McGriff.
Aftemath of Shooting
In April 2000, three days before filming his video with Destiny's Child for the song "Thug Luv", 50 Cent was shot 9 times, including a 9mm bullet to the face, in front of his grandmother's house in Queens, New York. He spent the next few months in recovery while Columbia Records dropped him from the label. After his recovery, 50 Cent returned to the recording studio, despite having no income or backing, with his new business partner and friend Sha Money XL. The two recorded over 30 songs, strictly for mix tapes, with the soul purpose of building a buzz. 50 Cent's street value rose and by the end of the spring 2001 he released the new material independently on the makeshift LP, Guess Who's Back?. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by his crew, G-Unit, 50 Cent stayed on his grind and made more songs. But it was different this time. Rather than create new songs as they had before, 50 decided to showcase his hit-making ability by retouching first-class beats which had already been used. They released the red, white and blue bootleg, "50 Cent Is the Future," revisiting material by Jay-Z and even Rapheal Saadiq. That's when the unbelievable happened, and hip-hop history was written. The energetic CD caught the ear of Eminem, and within a week Eminem was on the radio saying, "50 Cent is my favorite rapper right now." Eminem looked to mentor Dr. Dre to confirm his belief in the young hitmaker, and the good doctor co-signed. Floored by the appreciation of the greats, 50 Cent didn't hesitate in signing with the dream team.
Shady/Aftermath
After getting sign to a one million dollar deal, 50 quickly released another bootleg of borrowed beats, "No Mercy, No Fear." The CD featured only one new track, "Wanksta," which was certainly not intended for radio, but the streets couldn't wait for the official single and within weeks "Wanksta" became New York's most requested record. The track was put on Eminem's 8 Mile soundtrack, 50 Cent had become the most sought rapper after newcomer in almost a decade. 50 Cent also help XXL Magazine becoming the most successful hip hop magazine with the issue of Money, Power, Respect. In December 31 50 Cent arrested in Manhattan for two counts of criminal possession of a weapon. In Da Club was released in 2002, it became 50 Cent's first number-one single in the United States; it also reached number three in the United Kingdom. Arbitron radio ratings estimated that at some point during the second week of March 2003, 200 million people had listened to some or all of the song, and billboard magazine called it the most listen song in radio history.
Release of Debut Album
On Febuaray 6 2003, 50 Cent released the highly anticipated album Get Rich or Die Tryin. It topped the Billboard 200 Album chart for 6 weeks and Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Albums chart for 8 weeks selling over 872,000 copies in its first week of release in the US a shorter release week than usual after the release date was pushed up to stop bootlegging and downloading. 50 Cent later went on the Rock The Mic Tour with Jay-Z in June. It became the number one selling album of 2003 selling over 6.5 million records in the U.S and the number one single with In Da Club. He released 5 singles Wanksta, In Da Club, Many Men (Wish Death) (Which was not shown on B.E.T. or MTV due to the video strong violent graphic) 21 Questions, and P.I.M.P.. 50 Cent also had the Top Music Video Sales title of the year with The New Breed. The album was nominated for 5 Grammy Awards but 50 didn't win one.
Just A Little Bit
Pimp
In The Club
The Game Ft. 50 Cent - Hate It Or Love It
Candy Shop
