Curtis Jackson "50 Cent"

Rapper-turned-actor-turned-entrepreneur Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson not only typified the street thug persona in his music and film roles, he actually came from the New York streets where he sold crack, robbed street corner rivals and escaped attempts on his life. But without his checkered past, which he routinely mined for lyrics and self-promotion, Jackson might not have become a top-selling artist. As it turned out, Jackson parlayed his huge musical success into business ventures as a producer and founder of clothing and shoe lines. It was natural that the popular performer would try his hand at acting, and his first major outing in the fact-based autobiography "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (2005) was a moderate box office hit. He stuck close to home with follow-up roles as violent characters who have run-ins with the law in the Iraq War drama "Home of the Brave" (2007) and "Righteous Kill" (2008).

Jackson was born July 6, 1975, and grew up in a rough part of Jamaica, Queens, NY. When his crack-dealing mom was murdered in their home at the age of eight, Jackson went to live with his grandmother, and by the age of 12, was following in his mom's footsteps, selling crack in the neighborhood - though he was careful to keep his business dealings from his grandmother. He was also careful not to fall into the trap of sampling the merchandise - the downfall of so many other proprietors who consumed their stash instead of selling it. In tenth grade, he had his first run-in with the law for dealing and was given juvenile probation. At 18, legal trouble struck again when Jackson was popped for possession of heroin, crack and a starter pistol. He was sentenced to three to nine years in prison. Jackson earned his GED while serving time and he was released in 1995.

Upon his release, Jackson began rapping as an alternative to selling drugs, and was taken under the wing of Jam Master Jay of Run DMC fame, who signed the fledgling rapper to his tiny JMJ Records label. From him, Jackson learned the basics of song structure and rapping but did not break through as an artist at that label. Eventually Jackson signed with Trackmasters, a successful production team responsible for Jay Z and Foxy Brown, among others. In 1999, he landed a deal with Columbia Records and cut the tracks for what would have been his debut commercial album, Power of the Dollar. Before the album was released, Jackson was stabbed at a Manhattan recording studio in March 2000, presumably by a rival East Coast rapper, though no one was officially held accountable. Then on May 24, 2000, right before Columbia was to release his debut, Jackson was shot nine times while waiting inside a car outside his grandmother's house in Queens. One of the bullets went through his cheek, knocking out a tooth and causing a permanent hiss in his speech; another took out the knuckle on one of his hands, with the rest landing in his arms and thighs.

Despite the notoriety Jackson gained from nearly losing his life, Columbia shelved the album, canceled filming his first video and dumped the rapper before his career had a chance to begin. He spent his recovery in a small studio with friends cutting new tracks about his violent encounters and tried peddling the new songs to music executives, but failed to capture interest in his new material. Perhaps the execs were frightened off when Jackson showed up to meetings in a bulletproof vest, surrounded by a security detail. But the tenacious thug was undeterred by his failure to land a deal and released the songs independently on mix tapes distributed by bootleggers to underground clubs. Paul Rosenberg, manager for Eminem, got hold of a tape and handed it off to his client, who was so impressed that he immediately declared Jackson to be his favorite artist. After Eminem passed the tape onto his mentor, Doctor Dre, who also loved the music, Jackson was flown out to Los Angeles for a meet and greet. Jackson ultimately agreed to a seven-figure contract with Eminem's Shady Records, Dre's Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.

Jackson's much-hyped debut album, Get Rich or Die Trying(2003) sold over 800,000 copies its first week and went on to reach number one on several charts, including the Billboard200, ultimately reaching multi-platinum success. Eminem even featured the first single, "Wanksta," in "8 Mile" (2003), the rags-to-riches story loosely based on Eminem's life. Based on Jackson's success, Interscope gave Jackson his own label imprint, G-Unit Records, and the rising mogul began creating his own stable of artists. In fast order, he also began banking on his image with a clothing line (G-Unit Clothing Company), and a deal with Reebok to distribute G-Unit sneakers. He leveraged his celebrity to break into movies and television, appearing as himself in "Beef" (2003), a documentary about the increasingly controversial nature of rap, and voiced himself on an episode of "The Simpsons" (Fox, 1990- ). Jackson made his acting debut, expectedly, in a straight-to-video gangsta thriller called "Full Clip" (2004).

On the big screen, Jackson starred in a fictionalized version of his life story, "Get Rich or Die Tryin'" (2005), co-starring Terrence Howard and helmed by Irish director Jim Sheridan. The film took events from Jackson's life almost verbatim - a murdered mother, dealing crack and becoming a rapper with the bullet marks to prove it - and lumped them together into a typical rags-to-riches narrative that was panned by most critics, though hip hop audiences were responsive enough for the film to recoup its budget. In the spring of that year, he released his second commercial album, The Massacre (2005), which sold over one million copies in four days and saw three of its singles in the Billboard top five simultaneously: "Candy Shop," "Disco Inferno" and "How We Do." The following year, Jackson made his first real acting stretch by portraying a traumatized Iraqi soldier returning to civilian life in the disappointing "Home of the Brave" (2006).

Jackson's third album, Curtis, was released in late 2007 to mixed reviews, with some critics complaining that the rapper was delivering more of the same. Despite the lukewarm reception, Jackson was given the title of Best Selling Hip Hop Artist at the World Music Awards that year. He continued to broaden his media scope by founding G-Unit Books and writing his first novel The Ski Mask Way, based on the life of a small-time drug dealer. The following year, the novice actor was given the unprecedented opportunity to share the screen with movie legends Robert De Niro and Al Pacino in a supporting role as a nightclub owner caught between two detectives investigating a potential serial killer in "Righteous Kill" (2008).

• Also Credited As:
  Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson, Curtis 50 Cent Jackson, Curtis Jackson, Curtis James Jackson
• Born:
  Curtis Jackson on July 6, 1976 in Queens, New York, USA
• Job Titles:
  Musician, Rapper, Actor

Family

• Cousin: Michael Francis.
• Mother: Sabrina Jackson. Was only 15 years old when she gave birth to 50 cent; was a cocaine dealer; raised Jackson until the age of eight, when she was murdered; was drugged and left for dead after the gas in her apartment was turned on and the windows shut closed
• Son: Marquise Jackson. Born Oct. 13, 1997; mother, Shaniqua Tompkins

Significant Others

• Companion: Shaniqua Tompkins. Mother of his son Marquise; no longer together
• Companion: Vivica A. Fox. Dated for a few months in 2003; announced split on the The Howard Stern Show

Milestones

• 1996 Began an apprenticeship with Jay Master Jay of Run DMC fame, who signed the fledgling rapper to his tiny JMJ Records label; not much resulted from this collaboration
• 1999 Signed with Trackmasters, a successful production duo (comprised of Poke and Tone) responsible for Jay Z and Foxy Brown
• 1999 Through Trackmasters, landed a deal with Columbia Records and cut the tracks for what was to be his debut album, Power of the Dollar
• 2000 Jackson was shot nine times, while the rapper sat helpless in the passenger seat of a car; this led Columbia to shelve Power of the Dollar and part ways with the now-controversial rapper
• 2002 Released the much-hyped debut album, Get Rich or Die Trying ; Eminem featured the first single Wanksta on the 8 Mile soundtrack
• 2002 Signed a seven-figure contract with Eminem s Shady Records, Doctor Dre s Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records
• 2003 Appeared as himself in Beef, a documentary about the social, political and economic ramifications of rap and its increasingly controversial nature
• 2003 Released the G-Unit album Beg for Mercy ; also executive producer
• 2004 Cast in his first fictional role in the straight-to-video gansta thriller, Full Clip
• 2005 First starring role in director Jim Sheridan s Get Rich or Die Tryin playing a fictionalized version of himself
• 2005 Released second album, The Massacre ; earned multiple Grammy nominations, including Best Rap Album
• 2005 Voiced himself on the episode Pranksta Rap of The Simpsons (FOX)
• 2006 Cast in Irwin Winkler s drama Home of the Brave, about the lives of four American soldiers in Iraq and their return back to the US
• 2007 Released third album Curtis ; made headlines when he threatened to never make a solo album again if his album did not outsell Kanye s album; he later took back this statement after Kanye had outsold his; earned a Grammy nomination
• 2008 Hosted the MTV reality show 50 Cent: The Money and the Power
• 2008 Released fourth album, Before I Self Destruct ; the album includes an accompanying feature-length film with the same title
• 2008 Teamed with Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in Righteous Kill
• 2009 Earned a Grammy nomination for his collaboration with Eminem on the song, Crack a Bottle from Eminem s album, Relapse
• 2010 Co-starred in the ensemble drama thriller Twelve, directed by Joel Schumacher
• Began rapping as an alternative to selling drugs after being released from prison
• Raised by grandmother and turned to selling drugs at an early age
• Raised in Jamaica, Queens, New York
• Returned to the rap underground where he formed a collective (G-Unit, which also featured Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo) and began churning out mixtape tracks
• Sentenced to three to nine years in prison for possession of heroin, crack and a starter pistol; earned GED while in prison and released in 1995

Copyright: YahooMovies