50 Cent Born: Future Hip-Hop Mogul Enters the World

Curtis James Jackson III, known as 50 Cent, survived nine gunshot wounds on May 24, 2000, outside his grandmother's house in South Jamaica, Queens, and channeled that notoriety into one of the most commercially successful debut albums in hip-hop history. Born on July 6, 1975, in South Jamaica, he was raised by his grandmother after his mother, a drug dealer, was murdered when he was eight. He entered the drug trade as a teenager before pursuing music. He recorded an album for Columbia Records in 1999, but the label shelved the project after he was shot, dropping him from the roster. The shooting left him with a bullet fragment lodged in his tongue, which gave his voice a distinctive slurred quality. Eminem discovered a mixtape of his material and brought him to Dr. Dre, who signed him to Shady/Aftermath Records. "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," released in February 2003, sold over 872,000 copies in its first four days and over twelve million worldwide. The album's lead single, "In Da Club," became the most-played radio song of the year. His partnership with Dr. Dre and Eminem reshaped hip-hop's commercial landscape and established a blueprint for rappers to leverage music fame into diversified business empires. He invested his music earnings into business ventures that proved far more lucrative than the music itself. His investment in Vitaminwater, acquired through an endorsement deal and equity stake, reportedly earned him over $100 million when Coca-Cola acquired the company. His production company produced the television series "Power" and its spinoffs. He filed for bankruptcy in 2015 but continued building businesses across film, television, spirits, and technology.