50 Cent

Curtis James Jackson III born July 6 1975 known professionally as 50 Cent is an American rapper actor and television producer Born in Queens a borough of New York City Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996 In 19992000 he recorded his debut album Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records however he was struck by nine bullets during a shooting in May 2000 causing its release to be cancelled Jackson is to be dropped from the label His 2002 mixtape Guess Whos Back was discovered by Detroit rapper Eminem who signed Jackson to his label Shady Records an imprint of Dr Dres Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records that same year His debut studio album Get Rich or Die Tryin 2003 was released to critical acclaim and commercial success Peaking atop the Billboard200 it spawned the Billboard Hot 100number singles In da Club and 21 Questions featuring Nate Dogg It received nonuple platinum certification by the Recording Industry Association of America RIAA That same year he launched the record label GUnit Records the namesake of a hiphop group he formed two years prior the labels initial signees were its members fellow East Coast rappers Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo His second album The Massacre 2005 was met with similar success and supported by his third numberone single Candy Shop featuring Olivia He adopted a lighter further commercially oriented approach for his third and fourth albums Curtis 2007 and Before I Self Destruct 2009both were met with critical and commercial declinesand aimed for a return to his roots with his fifth album Animal Ambition 2014 which was met with mixed reviews He has since focused on his career in television and media having executiveproduced and starred in the television series Power 20142020 as well as its numerous spinoffs under his company GUnit Films and Television Inc Jackson has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and earned several accolades including a Grammy Award a Primetime Emmy Award thirteen Billboard Music Awards six World Music Awards three American Music Awards and four BET Awards In his acting career Jackson first starred in the semiautobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin 2005 which received critical panning He was also cast in the war film Home of the Brave 2006 and the crime thriller Righteous Kill 2008 Billboard ranked Jackson as 17th on their 50 Greatest Rappers list in 2023 and named him the sixth top artist of the 2000s decade Rolling Stone ranked Get Rich or Die Tryin and In da Club in its lists of the 100 Best Albums of the 2000s and 100 Best Songs of the 2000s at numbers 37 and 13 respectively Description above from the Wikipedia article 50 Cent licensed under CCBYSA full list of contributors on Wikipedia