A Hustler's Ambition: The Life of 50 Cent

From street orphan to America's favorite hip-hop artist.

In the pantheon of hip-hop artists, none holds a more preeminent place than Curtis Jackson, better known to the world by his stage name: 50 Cent. 

Growing up on the rough streets of South Jamaica, Queens, the young 50 faced the wrath of violent drug kingpins, who marked him for death. But through a miracle, Curtis survived an assassination attempt of nine bullet wounds. 

Against all odds, he rose from being a hopeless crack dealer into becoming the world’s greatest hip-hop megastar! 

A Tragic Life

“If you believe in God, you believe God got a plan for you, and that you’re not in control of everything.” 

—50 Cent

Like something out of Greek tragedy, the man who would become 50 Cent was born into a life of suffering, poverty, and despair. He was the son of a teenage mom. Sabrina was her name, and she turned to selling drugs to support her fatherless child. 

The eight-year-old Curtis was horrified when he learned of his mother’s murder by drug dealers in 1983. “She was everything to me,” 50 would recall painfully. “She was like my mother, my father. Everything.” 

With his mother gone, Curtis now felt he had nothing left to lose. To survive on the streets, he learned some essential skills: boxing, armed robbery, and drug dealing. But at his high school, the young Curtis was caught by metal detectors for bringing drugs and deadly weapons. 

In 1994, Curtis was arrested on drug charges. Now, he faced a fateful choice: either clean up his life, or else end up dead or locked away. To avoid prison time, Jackson opted to spend six months in boot camp and obtain a GED degree.

Becoming a Rapper

Curtis began to explore something new: rap. In 1996, at a friend’s house, he began experimenting with some hip-hop beats and lyrics. Then and there, he found his life’s calling! 

Taking the name “50 Cent,” Curtis was inspired by a local Brooklyn robber named Kelvin Martin. “It says everything I want it to say,” he later explained. “I’m the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means.” 

Through his connections with Run DMC, 50 Cent learned the tricks of the music trade. A natural talent, Curtis took quickly to making music. He began performing in front of live audiences, and produced a demo tape in 1997 called “The Glow.” Demo tape after demo tape, it became blindingly clear that 50 was destined for musical greatness! 

Signing on with Columbia Records, 50 fired off like a bullet with his provocative debut single: “How to Rob.” It created the stir he wanted. All of a sudden, our rap hero was on the charts and in the headlines. 

Nine Shots

Due to a dispute over allegedly stolen jewelry, 50 would have a falling out with his old mentor Ja Rule. Conflict boiled over into legal troubles. A hit was placed on 50’s head. 

On May 24, 2000, Jackson’s life would change forever. Around 12 pm, he was waiting outside his grandmother’s old house. Suddenly, a gunman pulled up and fired off nine shots at close range with a 9mm. 

Curtis frantically scrambled for his own gun, but was unable to fire back. “It happens so fast that you don’t even get a chance to shoot back,” he remembered later. “I was scared the whole time. I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, ‘Oh shit, somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.’”

Our rapper’s body was riddled with bullets! His chest, arm, hand, and legs were all shot through. Notably, his left cheek was shot, resulting in a swollen tongue and a lost tooth—giving him his characteristically slurred voice. 

Rushed immediately to the hospital, 50 spent the next two weeks recovering from his wounds. But miraculously, he would survive this brush with fate. After about five or six months, 50 Cent recovered from the terrible incident. But due to the bad publicity, Columbia Records dropped him. His debut album, Power of the Dollar, was left unreleased. 

Comeback

Blacklisted from the music industry, 50 vowed to once again turn his life around. Losing fat from the injuries, he began to develop a lean bodybuilder’s physique. To promote his music, 50 handed out free mixtapes to the public.

In 2002, the rapper dropped his debut mixtape: Guess Who’s Back? It featured leftovers from Power of the Dollar, mixed in with some brand new songs. On his song “F*ck You,” he addressed his shooting in song-form for the very first time. 

Through some mutual connections, 50 befriended Eminem, a titan of the rap industry. Curtis signed on with Shady Aftermath and Interscope Records for a million dollar deal. This was a blessing for 50 Cent, since no studio in New York wanted anything to do with him. Against Eminem’s warnings, 50 released a diss track against Ja Rule, which became his first major hit: Wanksta. 

Get Rich or Die Tryin’

Finally, 50 got the break he needed. It became his masterpiece: 2003’s Get Rich or Die Tryin’. On January 6, he dropped the album’s first single: “In Da Club.” It was an instant smash hit! A month later, on February 6, the artist released his legendary debut album. Within days of its release, 50 Cent became an overnight hip hop sensation. 

The album became an instant classic. It broke records for being the fastest hip hop album to date, selling over 872,000 copies in the first week and peaking at number one on the charts. CD stores literally sold out of the album. The album’s gritty gangsta hits included some of his most famous songs, including “P.I.M.P.,” “Many Men,” and “21 Questions.” In its second week, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ sold another 822,000 copies, becoming the best selling hip hop album of all time. 

Using his street-tough persona, coupled with his boundless creativity, the myth of 50 Cent was born. Now, he was more than just a rapper; he was a pop culture phenomenon. Companies such as Coca Cola and Reebok were now selling products under the 50 Cent brand. 

50’s inspirational life story captured the heart of America. Growing up in the tragic circumstances of a street orphan, he went from living in his grandmother’s basement into one of the world’s most successful hip hop superstars. He had finally done it. He was rich…and still alive!