Curtis Jackson who is better known as rap artist “ ” was born in Jamaica Queens, New York and has lived in New York City his entire life. 50 Cent was raised by his grandmother and grandfather since the age of eight years old after his father was nowhere to be found and his mother was shot and killed. His mother, Sabrina Jackson was only 15 years old when she gave birth to 50 Cent on July 6, 1976. She began to deal drugs to support herself and her son and soon became known as one of the most feared drug dealers in Queens, New York. Because his grandmother had nine other children in her care 50 Cent grew up mostly in the streets. He bought his first gun at age 15 and by age 19 he was known as the drug kingpin in his neighborhood. He was raking in around $150,000 per month. 50 Cent soon dropped out of high school and spent a lot of time in jail. At this time he was also starting to write his own raps. He was influenced by rappers such as KRS-1, Rakim, and Run DMC. When 50 Cent became a father to his son Marquise, that’s when he decided to stop dealing drugs and to try to make it big in the music business.

Before 50 Cent had even signed with a recording label some DJ’s had released two “Best of 50 Cent” mixtapes. He became popular quickly in the underground hip-hop realm. 50 Cent emerged big with his track “How to Rod an Industry N***a” and ever since then he has had on ongoing war with bootleggers, back stabbing labels, and violent threats from other artists.

In 1999 50 Cent signed a deal with Columbia Records and was given $65,000 in advance. His album Power of the Dollar was heavily bootlegged in 1999 and because of this was never released. 50 Cent’s first single was called Thug Love and featured Destiny’s Child. He was shot nine times, three days before filming the video for Thug Love. That night he was shot twice in the head. One of the bullets struck 50 Cent in the face and he carries the scar as a reminder. Trackmasters was not comfortable with 50 Cent being involved in the streets in this way and 50 Cent’s shooting led to Columbia Records dropping 50 from the label. 50 Cent still rapped over a Trackmasters produced remix of J-Lo’s song I’m Gonna be Alright, however 50 Cent had rivals at Murder Inc. who cut 50 Cent from the track.

Things all changed for 50 Cent after rapper Eminem mentioned him on a radio show. Eminem stated that “50 Cent is definitely my favorite rapper right now; he’s the only one keeping it real.” After these words 50 Cent was signed to Eminem’s label Shay/Aftermath. 50 cent soon blew up with fame after being produced by Dr. Dre and Eminem. 50 Cent made his debut album entitled Get rich or Die Tryin. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ found great success in the hip hop world and he began to live the Hollywood lifestyle. In October 2003 he purchased the $4.1 million dollar house that was previously owned by former boxer Mike Tyson. He also purchased a fleet of bulletproof SUVs.

50 Cent has been known to say that he wears a bullet proof vest everyday as a precaution as well does his son. No matter how successful 50 Cent still takes pains to protect himself and family from his past. Though 50 Cent does not seem to be changing his gangster persona with violent and explicit lyrics, he says that his name, “50 Cent” is actually a metaphor for change.