50 Cent

Dropping gory yet imperturbably cool rhymes, commanding attention with a massive media presence and turning the bulletproof vest into a hot fashion accessory, 50 Cent established himself as the most lovable hip-hop villain in years when his major-label debut arrived in early 2003. Curtis Jackson was born in New York's Jamaica, Queens, to a teenaged, cocaine-dealing mother who was murdered when he was eight. He soon took up his mother's trade, becoming a crack salesman at age 12 — his grandparents, who raised him after his mother's death, thought he was going to after-school programs until he was arrested when metal detectors at his school revealed he was carrying a gun to class. In high school he boxed and began to rhyme, taking the name 50 Cent from a legendary Brooklyn criminal. At 19, Jackson was busted for selling cocaine to an undercover cop, and was arrested a third time less than a month later, when his house was raided (drugs and a gun were found). Sent to prison for three to nine years, Jackson returned home six months later after a rough boot camp.

By 1996 Jackson had been penning rhymes for several years, and he met Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., who was starting a label. Jay became 50's mentor, giving him studio time and helping him hone his songwriting. By 1999, 50 was signed to a deal with Columbia Records, for whom he recorded the ultimately unreleased Power of the Dollar, which included "How to Rob," in which the MC described how he would, if necessary, rid his microphone rivals of their worldly goods. The song caused a minor uproar, and on May 24th, 2000, as the album's release date neared, 50 Cent was shot nine times with a 9mm, allegedly by Darryl "Hommo" Baum, who himself was killed three weeks later. (One bullet lodged near 50's mouth, giving him a slurry flow.)

Amazingly, 50 not only survived the gunshots, he recovered fully in five months. Columbia, however, had second thoughts about becoming entwined with someone so dangerous and dropped him from the label. With a renewed sense of purpose, 50 decided to create his own fame by making his own records, recording dozens of songs for street-level DJ mixtapes, then putting out his own, most famously Guess Who's Back? and 50 Cent Is the Future. Eminem, impressed with Guess Who's Back? (Number 28, 2003), soon signed 50 to his new label, Shady Records. 50 Cent's "Wanksta" (Number 13, 2003) appeared on the soundtrack to Em's movie, 8 Mile, and built anticipation for 50's first major-label album.

Get Rich or Die Tryin' (Number One, 2003) was that rare thing in the mid-'00s: a genuine blockbuster. The LP, rooted in spacious, synth-heavy funk and menacing rhymes, was anchored by the inescapable "In Da Club" (Number One, 2003) and produced two more huge hits, "21 Questions" (Number One, 2003) and "P.I.M.P." (Number 10, 2003); even the non-single "If I Can't" earned enough airplay to push it to Number 76. Right before the end of 2003, Beg for Mercy (Number Two, 2003) by G Unit — 50 Cent, Lloyd Banks, Young Buck and Tony Yayo — was released on the rapper's own G Unit Records, followed by solo albums by Banks, Yayo and Young Buck, which all featured several guest appearances by 50.

In 2005, The Massacre went straight to Number One in much the same manner as Get Rich. For much of March 2005, 50 Cent appeared on three of the country's Top 10 singles: "Candy Shop" (Number One), "Disco Inferno" (Number Three) and the Game's "How We Do" (Number Four). Other charters from The Massacre include "Just a Lil Bit" (Number Three, 2005), "Piggy Bank" (Number 88, 2005), "Window Shopper" (Number 20, 2005) and "Hustler's Ambition" (Number 65, 2005). An expanded version featured a remix of "Outta Control" featuring Mobb Deep (Number 6, 2005). Maybe most effective was "Hate It or Love It" (Number 2, 2005), another Game which featured 50 on the chorus, chanting as insouciantly as anything he's ever done. November 2005 saw the release of 50's cinematic debut, unsurprisingly titled Get Rich or Die Tryin', complete with a mega-selling soundtrack.

Throughout his enormous success, 50 Cent continued to talk trash about other rappers, notably feuding with the Game (mere months after Game's The Documentary was released on 50's label) and Cam'ron (a flurry of battle records from both sides arrived in early 2007), but his most commercially successful war of words was with Kanye West. Both men had new albums coming out in September 2007: When West moved his release date so Graduation would directly compete with Curtis on September 11th, both men played it for all the publicity it was worth (50 declared he would retire from music if he finished second). On September 11th, 2007, West's Graduation went to Number One (selling nearly a million copies) and Curtis (Number Two, 2007) was runner-up, with 680,000 sold. That album's hits include "Ayo Technology" with Justin Timberlake (Number Five, 2007), "Straight to the Bank" (Number 32, 2007) and "I Get Money" (Number 20, 2007). 50 Cent has not actually retired from music-making, but his heat has cooled and he has started focusing on his off-the-charts business ventures. In 2005 he bought into Vitamin Water; when Coca-Cola purchased the company in 2007, he reportedly collected $100 million.

rollingstone.com