50 Cent

Curtis James Jackson III, known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, television producer, record executive, and businessman. Born on July 6, 1975, in Queens, New York City, he was raised in the South Jamaica neighborhood by his mother, Sabrina. Following her death when he was eight years old, he was raised by his grandparents. Jackson began boxing around age 11 and started dealing narcotics at age 12. After a 1994 arrest for selling cocaine, he served six months in a boot camp and earned his GED. He later adopted the moniker "50 Cent," taking inspiration from 1980s Brooklyn robber Kelvin Martin.

Jackson began pursuing music in 1996, receiving mentorship from Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, who taught him how to structure songs and write hooks. In 1999, Jackson signed to Columbia Records and recorded his debut album, Power of the Dollar, while gaining industry attention for his single "How to Rob." On May 24, 2000, Jackson was shot nine times outside his grandmother's former home in South Jamaica. He survived after 13 days in the hospital and five months of recovery, but Columbia Records canceled his album release and dropped him from the label.

Unable to work in United States studios, Jackson traveled to Canada to release several independent mixtapes with Sha Money XL. His 2002 mixtape Guess Who's Back? was brought to the attention of Detroit rapper Eminem, who signed Jackson to Shady Records and Interscope Records in a $1 million deal. Jackson subsequently released the mixtape No Mercy, No Fear, which included the track "Wanksta."

Jackson achieved mainstream breakthrough success with his debut studio album, Get Rich or Die Tryin', released in February 2003. The album debuted at number one on the Billboard 200 and produced the Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles "In da Club" and "21 Questions." In 2003, he founded G-Unit Records, signing East Coast rappers Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. Jackson's second studio album, The Massacre (2005), also topped the Billboard 200 for six weeks and spawned the number-one single "Candy Shop."

He continued releasing music with his third album, Curtis (2007), which featured a highly publicized sales competition against Kanye West's album Graduation, followed by Before I Self Destruct (2009) and Animal Ambition (2014). Jackson gradually transitioned his primary focus toward media and television. Under his company G-Unit Films and Television Inc., he executive-produced and starred in the drama series Power from 2014 to 2020, as well as its related spin-off series.

In addition to television, Jackson starred in the semi-autobiographical movie Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2005), appeared in the films Home of the Brave (2006) and Righteous Kill (2008), and provided his likeness for the video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof (2005). Jackson has sold over 30 million albums globally and won a Grammy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, 13 Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and four BET Awards.