About 50 Cent
Born Curtis James Jackson III, 50 Cent is an American born rapper who shot to fame with his song “In Da Club”. Like many great artists however, his fame was not acquired overnight. He went through a troubled childhood – he grew up fatherless, and his mother, a cocaine dealer, was murdered when he was twelve years old. Curtis James Jackson III, a.k.a. 50 Cent, then went to on to become a drug dealer himself, although he says he never used. He also has a son, Marquise Jackson, with former girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins.
In 1994 he was arrested for selling drugs to an undercover police officer, and arrested again three weeks later when a search of his home yielded up drugs. Although he was sentenced to three to nine years in prison, Jackson served in a ‘shock incarceration’ boot camp for six months, where incidentally, he also earned his GED.
From there he went on to rapping, and his early music career started. He met up with Run DMC rapper Jam Master Jay who eventually helped to produce his first album; it was never released. He then signed on to Columbia Records and produced thirty-six songs within a matter of two weeks. Eighteen of these songs were released in 2000 in an unofficial album, “Power of the Dollar”.
Unfortunately he was attacked outside his grandmother’s former home in Queens and laid up in hospital for a short while. While in hospital he signed a publishing deal with Columbia. However, he was subsequently dropped from the label (and blacklisted from the music industry) due to his controversial song “Ghetto Qu’ran”.
50 Cent then traveled to Canada where he released a mixtape of songs in 2002. It was at this point that he caught the eye of Eminem, who then introduced him to Dr. Dre. In 2003 – after signing a $1 million record deal – 50 Cent released his official debut album, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’ ”. The lead song, “In Da Club” was all that 50 Cent could have hoped for in terms of success, and the rest as say, really is history. In 2007 50 Cent was placed second wealthiest in the rap industry by Forbes (after fellow rapper Jay-Z).
