50 Cent is a pretty big name, though best known by rap fans who like to watch music videos, but it wasn't always that way. Born Curtis Jackson III in 1975 to a fifteen year old cocaine dealer, he had every chance of ending up just another statistic. Like many in his neighborhood of South Jamaica in Queens, 50 Cent didn't even know his father.
In 1983, when Curtis was just 8 years old, he was orphaned and sent to live with his grandparents where he quickly began to hang out in the street. At the age of eleven, he began boxing, a pastime that would later lead him to compete in the Junior Olympics. Despite his promise in the area of boxing, Curtis took up his mother's profession, drug dealing, at the age of twelve and continued this for many years. His grandparents figured he was in after-school programs, when really he was out selling drugs on the street.
50 Cent began his rapping career in 1996 when he met Jam Master Jay through a friend and learned some valuable songwriting techniques. Over the next few years, he recorded an album with Jam Master Jay Records which was never released and continued to learn about rapping and recording. He was signed to Columbia Records in 1999 and went on to record 36 songs in two weeks for them. 18 of those were used on his very first publically released album, Power of the Dollar, which came out in 2000.
Interesting 50 Cent Trivia
The young man was arrested the first time for possession of a firearm in tenth grade and three weeks later, he was arrested again after a search turned up heroin, cocaine and a gun in his apartment. Rather than serve the 6-9 year sentence, Curtis was sent to a boot camp where he completed his GED.
He adopted the name "50 Cent" after a notorious robber in the 80's named Kelvin Martin. To him, the name symbolized the change he made after his arrests.
His son, Marquis Jackson, was born in 1997 and 50 Cent credits him with being the reason he changed his life.
In 2000, he was shot nine times at close range. He spent 13 days in the hospital recovering from gunshot wounds in his hand, arm, face, hip, chest and legs. The shooting caused Columbia Records to drop him like a hot potato and he was blacklisted in the industry. He also lost the chance to do some music videos while he recovered.
His mother was murdered at the age of 23 when 50 Cent was 8, after someone drugged her drink and turned on the gas in her house, shutting all the windows and leaving her to die.
The rapper is infamous for his dissing of other rappers. Piggy Bank is one of his many tunes that puts down others in his industry and despite reconciliation with some of them, he has no shortage of enemies. His notoriety in this area has caused many fans to download music videos of his infamous diss songs.
50 Cent didn't stop with rapping, he's branched out in a number of entrepreneurial pursuits, including vitamin water, a line of clothing called G-Unit Clothing, video games, body spray and condoms. He has also acted in several movies including one based on his song "Get Rich or Die Trying" and has written a memoir and co-written a novel.
From a kid from the 'hood' to a full blown entrepreneur and famous rapper, 50 Cent has come a long way. Though he has his detractors, no one can deny the man is driven!
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