In many ways the ideal East Coast hardcore rapper, 50 Cent endured substantial
obstacles throughout his young yet remarkably dramatic life before becoming in early 2003 the
most-discussed figure in rap, if not pop music in general.
The product of a broken home in the rough Jamaica neighborhood of Queens and,
in turn, the storied hood's hustling streets themselves, 50 Cent lived everything most rappers
write rhymes about but never actually experience: drugs, crimes, imprisonments, stabbings, and,
most infamously of all, shootings; all of this before he even released his debut album. Of course,
such experiences became 50 Cent's rhetorical stock-in-trade.
Born Curtis Jackson and raised in Southside Jamaica, Queens, 50 Cent grew up
in a broken home. His hustler mother passed away when he was only eight, and his father departed
soon after, leaving his grandmother to parent him. As a teen, he followed the lead of his mother and
began hustling. The crack trade proved lucrative for 50 Cent; until he eventually encountered the
law, that is, and began making visits to prison. It's around this point in the mid-'90s that he
turned toward rap and away from crime.
His break came in 1996 when he met Run-D.M.C.'s Jam Master Jay, who gave him a
tape of beats and asked him to rap over it. Despite a bidding war, Eminem got his man, signing
50 Cent to a joint deal with Shady/Aftermath; the former label Em's, the latter Dr. Dre's.
On February 28th as the Game/50 Cent collaboration "How We Do" was climbing the charts,
50 Cent announced the Game was out of G-Unit on New York's Hot 97 radio station. After the revelation,
members of 50 Cent's entourage clashed with members of the Game's entourage outside the radio station.
Shots rang out and one of the Game's crew took a bullet in the leg. As this was all taking place,
leaked copies of Get Rich's follow-up were flying across the Internet, forcing Interscope to push the
album's release up by five days.
The Massacre was to officially hit the shelves on March 3rd, but street-date
violations were reported on March 1st. By March 2nd everyone from the Mom & Pops to the major chains
were selling the album at a furious pace. ~ Jason Birchmeier, All Music Guide
