50 Cent

50 Cent Bio

Curtis James Jackson III, known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, songwriter, actor, television producer, record executive, and businessman. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York City, on July 6, 1975, he began pursuing a music career in 1996 and rose to international prominence with his 2003 debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’. He has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, founded the record label G-Unit Records, and built a multi-industry business portfolio. Jackson is also recognized for executive producing and starring in the Starz crime drama series Power and its many spin-offs, and he has been honored with a Grammy Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Early Life and Background

Curtis James Jackson III was born on July 6, 1975, in Queens, New York City, and raised in the South Jamaica neighborhood by his mother, Sabrina. Sabrina died in a fire when Jackson was eight years old, and he was subsequently raised by his grandparents. The instability of his upbringing shaped his perspective on family, responsibility, and survival, themes that later ran through his music and public persona.

Jackson began boxing at about age 11, and by 14 a neighbor had opened a boxing gym where he trained regularly, drawing parallels between the discipline of the ring and the competitiveness of hip-hop. At age 12, he began dealing narcotics while his grandparents believed he was in after-school programs, and he brought guns and drug money to school. In tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School, openly telling his grandmother afterward that he sold drugs. On June 29, 1994, he was arrested for selling cocaine to an undercover police officer, and three weeks later police found heroin, crack cocaine, and a starter pistol at his home. Sentenced to three to nine years, he served six months in a boot camp and earned his GED.

He adopted the stage name 50 Cent as a metaphor for change, drawing inspiration from Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known by the same name. The name signaled his intent to provide for himself by any means, framing his identity as a hustler-turned-artist who transformed street experience into lyrical craft.

Path to Music

Jackson began rapping in a friend’s basement in the mid-1990s, using turntables to record over instrumentals. In 1996, a friend introduced him to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC, who was establishing Jam Master Jay Records. Jay taught him to count bars, write choruses, structure songs, and make records, and he produced Jackson’s first unreleased album. Although Def Jam A&R Irv Gotti turned down demo tapes in 1997, Jackson secured a deal with Columbia Records in 1999 through the platinum-selling producers Trackmasters.

He recorded 36 songs in two weeks at an upstate New York studio, with 18 slated for his 2000 album Power of the Dollar. His popularity grew after the controversial underground single “How to Rob”, which drew responses from Jay-Z, Wu-Tang Clan, Nas, and others and led Nas to invite Jackson on his Nastradamus tour. Two days before he was scheduled to film a video for “Thug Love” with Destiny’s Child, Jackson was shot in South Jamaica on May 24, 2000, and spent 13 days in the hospital. Columbia dropped him while he recovered, but he and business partner Sha Money XL recorded more than 30 songs for mixtapes. The 2002 mixtape Guess Who’s Back? was discovered by Eminem, who signed Jackson to Shady Records, an imprint of Interscope Records, that same year.

50 Cent Career

Early Career (1996–2002)

From 1996 through 2002, Jackson laid the groundwork for his rap career by recording mixtapes and unreleased material while building a reputation in the New York underground. His debut appearance came on the track “React” with Onyx in 1998, and he founded Hollow Point Entertainment with former G-Unit member Bang ‘Em Smurf. The buzz around “How to Rob” brought him mainstream visibility, but the 2000 shooting forced him off the radar temporarily.

After being blacklisted by U.S. labels, he went to Canada and released Guess Who’s Back? in 2002, followed by 50 Cent Is the Future. Eminem received the Guess Who’s Back? mixtape from Jackson’s attorney, invited him to Los Angeles, and introduced him to Dr. Dre. Jackson signed a $1 million record deal, released the mixtape No Mercy, No Fear, and saw the new track “Wanksta” land on the 8 Mile soundtrack. His commercial breakthrough was imminent.

Breakthrough (2003–2007)

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ was released in February 2003 and debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, selling 872,000 copies in its first four days. The lead single “In da Club” set a Billboard record as the most listened-to song in radio history within a week, followed by “21 Questions” featuring Nate Dogg. The album received multi-Platinum certification from the RIAA. In 2003, Jackson launched G-Unit Records, signing Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck, and later The Game in a joint venture with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment.

His second album, The Massacre, arrived in March 2005 and sold 1.14 million copies in its first four days, holding number one on the Billboard 200 for six weeks. He became the first solo artist with three singles in the Billboard top five in the same week: “Candy Shop”, “Disco Inferno”, and “How We Do”. Jackson’s video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof was released in November 2005. He also starred in the semi-autobiographical film Get Rich or Die Tryin’ (2005), and appeared in Home of the Brave (2006) and Righteous Kill (2008).

By September 2007, Jackson released his third album, Curtis, which debuted at number two on the Billboard 200 behind Kanye West’s Graduation in a widely covered sales battle. Curtis received platinum certification. In 2008, he co-signed the underground rap group Bang Bang Boogie, and on September 10, 2008, on Total Request Live, he announced his fourth album, Before I Self Destruct, released on November 9, 2009, and debuting at number 5 on the Billboard 200.

Notable Works and Milestones

Get Rich or Die Tryin’ and the single “In da Club” remain Jackson’s signature achievements, with both ranked by Rolling Stone in their respective 2000s lists at numbers 37 and 13. He has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide, and Billboard named him the sixth top artist of the 2000s decade and ranked him 17th on its 2023 “50 Greatest Rappers” list. His acting career peaked with Power, which ran on Starz from 2014 to 2020 and spawned multiple spin-offs under his company G-Unit Films and Television Inc.

50 Cent Award Nominations

Jackson has earned a broad slate of nominations across the music and television industries throughout his career, including recognition from the Grammy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, Billboard Music Awards, World Music Awards, American Music Awards, and BET Awards. His crossover work in television production has drawn additional Primetime Emmy nominations tied to Power and the Super Bowl LVI halftime show broadcast.

50 Cent Awards Won

Jackson has received major career honors including one Grammy Award, one Primetime Emmy Award, 13 Billboard Music Awards, six World Music Awards, three American Music Awards, and four BET Awards. In September 2022, he received the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Variety Special (Live) for the Super Bowl LVI halftime show.

50 Cent Family

Jackson was raised primarily by his grandparents following the death of his mother, Sabrina, when he was eight. The hardships of his early family life shaped his determination to succeed and to give his own children a different upbringing. He has consistently credited his family as the driving motivation behind his career and his business ambitions.

Personal Life

Jackson’s son Marquise was born on October 13, 1996, to his then-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins; the two separated in 2008. Jackson later dated model Daphne Joy, and his second son, Sire Jackson, was born on September 1, 2012. In 2024, he publicly stated that he was practicing celibacy and focusing on meditation and business goals, and he has expressed that he is content remaining unmarried. A noted teetotaler despite owning a cognac brand, Jackson has resided in Houston, Texas, since May 2021.