In 2002, rapper Eminem heard 50 Cent’s Canadian-recorded mixtape Guess Who’s Back?, and immediately flew him to Los Angeles to meet his mentor, legendary West Coast producer Dr. Dre. Impressed, the duo’s influence grabbed 50 a recording contract with Interscope, the label on which 50 Cent released his first album Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2003. Hyped into the stratosphere due to Eminem and Dre’s influence, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ nonetheless garnered immense praise from critics and went on to sell over 6.3 million copies by the end of 2002. Get Rich or Die Tryin’ produced four singles: "In Da Club", "21 Questions", "P.I.M.P.", and "If I Can’t". The album also brought 50 Cent’s crew, G-Unit to fame, jumpstarting the careers of The Game, Young Buck, Tony Yayo, Olivia, and many others.

50 Has since released two more albums on Interscope, The Massacre in 2005 and Curtis in 2007. Both have been very successful, record-breaking albums in their own right, but some critics believe that neither are as good as Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Nonetheless, the two albums have produced more than their fair share of hits, including "Candy Shop", "Amusement Park", "I Get Money", and Disco Inferno.

50 plans to release his fourth album, Before I Self Destruct, sometime in 2008. In addition to his rap career, 50 Cent is a successful entrepreneur who has his hand in a number of businesses, including a clothing line (G-Unit Clothing), the video game industry (50 produced a video game entitled 50 Cent: Bulletproof for Xbox and PlayStation 2 in 2005), and a line of condoms and personal fragrances. 50 Cent is also an established actor; after starring in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin’ in 2005 and the war drama Home of the Brave in 2006, the rapper is set to appear in a 2008 police thriller titled Righteous Kill alongside Robert De Niro.


From Discogs:

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) and The Massacre (2005). Both albums achieved multi-platinum success, selling over eleven million copies combined.Born in South Jamaica, Queens, 50 Cent began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot nine times in 2000. After releasing his album Guess Who's Back? in 2002, 50 Cent was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre ? who produced his first major commercial successes ? he became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.50 Cent has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, The Game, Fat Joe and most recently Rick Ross. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006, and Righteous Kill in 2008.

From Lastfm:

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975 in South Jamaica, Queens, New York), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is a Grammy award nominated rapper, actor, singer, entrepreneur, author and founder of the hip hop group and label G-Unit. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he released his debut album Guess Who's Back? in 2002. He was discovered by Eminem and Dr. Dre and then signed to Interscope Records. He has since released 2003's Get Rich or Die Tryin', 2005's The Massacre, 2007's Curtis and 2009's Before I Self Destruct.

50 Cent has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Jay-Z, Ja Rule, The Game, Cam'ron, Fat Joe, and Rick Ross. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006, and Righteous Kill in 2008. 50 Cent is one of the richest hip-hop performers, having a net worth estimated at US $440 million in 2008.

Before 50 Cent ever inked a major deal, he built up a substantial fan base in New York through underground mixtapes. 50 Cent met up with Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC and was signed to his label to write all of Jay?s music. After he?d left JMJ, he signed to Columbia Records in 1996. On this label, he released Power of the Dollar, and the singles How to Rob and Ghetto Qu?ran. Columbia Records released him from the label after being shot on May 24th, 2000.

Around this time, Eminem had heard one of 50 Cent?s demo tapes and expressed a huge interest in him on MTV, as did Dr Dre. Shortly after this, 50 Cent officially signed to Interscope Records. He was the first rapper to sign to the joint label owned by Dr Dre and Eminem. The first song he released on this record was entitled Wanksta and was featured on the 8 Mile soundtrack.

In its first week of release, his debut ?Get Rich Or Die Tryin?? sold 872,000 units - easily reaching Gold status. Within the second week it went Platinum (1 mil) and on April 12th, 2004 the RIAA certified it six times Platinum.

In 2005 he followed the success of his album Get Rich or Die Tryin? with a new release - The Massacre (originally called St. Valentines Day Massacre until the release date was pushed back). The first single released off this, Disco Inferno, was a huge hit - he followed this hit up by the release of Candy Shop and then again with Just a Lil Bit.

In 2003 Interscope allowed 50 Cent to have his own label - G-Unit records. He first signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo and Young Buck as the established members of G-Unit. In 2004, Dr. Dre and 50 Cent had signed The Game under a joint venture.

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From Wikipedia:

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003) and The Massacre (2005). Get Rich or Die Tryin has been certified 8 times platinum by the RIAA and has sold over 15 million copies worldwide. His album The Massacre has been certified 5 times platinum by the RIAA and has sold 11 million copies worldwide.

Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Jackson began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident in 2000. After releasing his album Guess Who's Back? in 2002, Jackson was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre, who produced his first major commercial successes, Jackson became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.

Jackson has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Cam'ron, Rick Ross, and former G-Unit members The Game and Young Buck. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2005, the Iraq War film Home of the Brave in 2006, and Righteous Kill in 2008. 50 Cent is one of the richest hip hop performers, having an estimated net worth of over $440 million ending 2007, 50 Cent was ranked as the 6th best artist of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine. (Also ranking as the 4th Top male artist and as the 3rd Top rapper behind Eminem and Nelly) He was also ranked as the 6th best and most successful Hot 100 Artist of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine. Billboard Magazine also named him the #1 Rap Song Artist of the 2000-2009 decade. His album Get Rich or Die Tryin' was ranked as the 12th best album of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine and the album The Massacre ranking as the 37th best album of the 2000-2009 decade by Billboard Magazine.