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| 50 Cent Picture | |
| Name | 50 Cent |
| Birthday | July 6, 1976 |
| Place Of Birth | in the Jamaica district of Queens, New York |
| Category | Singer |
| Real Name | Curtis Jackson |
| Family | His mother was 15 when he was born. She was a local drug dealer and was murdered in mysterious circumstances when 50 was just 8-years-old. His father had already left home and 50 was sent to live with his grandparents. |
| Description | 50 is the new King of hardcore hip-hop and doesn't just pay lip-service to the concept of "keepin' it real." 50 keeps it real in a way that, Steps for instance, didn't. 50's put-downs of every major figure in the rap game has made him something of a controversy magnet and a multi-million pound industry. "I'm from the bottom," he says. "When you're from the bottom you have nothing to lose so you say what you gotta say and don't worry about the consequences." But the consequences, thus far, have resulted in a one-man, multi-million pound rap factory. His debut album Get Rich Or Die Tryin', released on Eminem's record label, Shady Records, has sold 4m copies to date (it sold 872,000 copies in its first week in the US making it the highest selling debut of a major artist ever) and with a brace of awards, including a 2004 Brit for International Breakthrough Artist, sales show no signs of slowing. Mr. Cent is the most talked about rapper since Tupac and Notorious BIG. Then one night in April, 2000, 50 was shot nine times outside his grandmother's house in Queens. The media speculated that it was a disgruntled rival rapper behind the shooting. But 50 was more philosophical. "I look at it like karma," he says. "What goes around comes around. I've been in some situations where I've done bad shit. I've shot people. But I don't fear anything I have no control over." The attendant controversy surrounding 50 did nothing to harm his major label album debut, Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. Released in February 2003 the album sold nearly 1.5m copies in its first 10 days of release in the US, reaching No.1 and spawning the hit singles In Da Club, 21 Questions and P.I.M.P. With contributions and production from Eminem and Dr. Dre, the album utilises gangsta imagery and thug-life and sets it to a series of dark grooves with a funk bounce, topped off with 50's laidback rap drawl. |
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| 50 Cent Picture | |