Life has been very tough for Curtis Jackson better known as 50 Cent. He grew up as an orphan child because his mother was shot dead in front of him for she was a drug dealer. It took great efforts to emerge as an important figure in the rap music. His life was totally rapped up by drugs, crimes, imprisonments, stabbings, and most infamously of all, shootings -- all of this before he even released his debut album. With the hardcore rapper look his music crossed over to numerous key markets, appealing to both those who liked his roughneck posturing and rags-to-riches story as well as those who liked his knack for churning out naughty singalong club tracks.
The first break came for him when he met Run-D.M.C.'s Jam Master Jay in 1996. He gave him a tape of beats and asked him to rap over it. Jay signed the aspiring rapper to his JMJ Records label. But this did not impress 50 at all and he affiliated himself with Trackmasters, a commercially successful New York-based production duo known for their work with such artists as Nas and Jay-Z. Trackmasters signed the rapper to their Columbia sublabel and began work on his debut album, Power of the Dollar. A trio of singles preceded the album's proposed release: "Your Life's on the Line," "Thug Love" (featuring Destiny's Child), and "How to Rob.". Success first touched 50 Cent when Eminem signed him to a seven-figure contract in 2002 and helmed his quick rise toward crossover success in 2003.
But success came with attempts to take 50's life. The first brush with death came when he was stabbed at the Hit Factory studio on West 54th Street in Manhattan. On May 24, 2000, just before Columbia was set to release Power of the Dollar, an assassin attempted to take 50's life on 161st Street in Jamaica, Queens, shooting him nine times with a 9mm pistol while the rapper sat helpless in the passenger seat of a car.
For the next two years 50 was busy making a career for himself. He formed a group called "Collective". While working with the producer Sha Money XL he brought many mixtape tracks. This brought the much wanted reputation for the rapper. It was here when Eminem was also very much impressed by him. Eminem signed 50 in a joint deal with Shady/Aftermath -- the former label Em's, the latter Dr. Dre'sin 2002 and helmed his quick rise toward crossover success in 2003. 50 worked closely with Em and Dre, who would co-executive produce his upcoming debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin', each of them producing a few tracks for the highly awaited album. Before Get Rich dropped, though, Em debuted 50 on the 8 Mile soundtrack. The previously released "Wanksta" became a runaway hit in late 2002, setting the stage for "In da Club," the Dre-produced lead single from Get Rich. The two singles became sizable crossover hits -- the former peaking at number 13 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart, the latter at number one -- and Interscope had to move up Get Rich's release date to combat bootlegging as a result.
50 made headlines everywhere. He was tied to Jam Master Jay's shooting in October 2002, the F.B.I.'s investigation of Murder Inc's relationship to former drug dealer Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, and the shooting incident at the offices of Violator Management. Furthermore, he made more headlines when he was jailed on New Year's Eve 2002 for gun possession. When Get Rich finally reached out to the masses 50 cent became a very popular figure int he music industry.
In 2003 was released "Beg for Mercy". The G-Unit Radio, introduced new tracks by the crew along with cuts from Lloyd Banks and Young Buck, who would both release albums in the coming years with 50 as executive producer. Rapper the Game would become a member of G-Unit in 2004, but by the time his solo album came out in early 2005, things had gone sour with 50. On February 28 as their collaboration "How We Do" was climbing the charts, 50 announced the Game was out of G-Unit on New York's Hot 97 radio station. After the revelation, members of 50's entourage clashed with members of the Game's outside the radio station. Shots rang out and one of the Game's crew took a bullet in the leg. As this was all taking place, leaked copies of Get Rich's follow-up were flying across the Internet, forcing Interscope to push the album's release up by five days. The Massacre was to officially hit the shelves on March 3, but street-date violations were reported on March 1. This increased the sale of album at a furious pace. |
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