50 Cent (Curtis James Jackson) (1975) - rap artist, entrepreneur, actor.
Curtis was born on July 6, 1975 in New York. Childhood in the biography of 50 Cent was spent in Queens, mostly with the parents of his mother, Sabrina Jones. When his mother died, James stayed with his grandmother. At the age of 11 he went in for sports - boxing, and at the age of 12 he began to sell drugs. In 1994 he was detained by the police and sentenced to three years. Having achieved early release, he took the pseudonym "50 Cent".
Since then, 50 Cent has had a place of honor in the life of music. Acquainted in 1996 with Jay Masta Jay (owner of Jam Master Jay Records), he began to record, structure and improve his songs. For the first time, his voice was officially sounded in the song of the Onyx group.
And in 1999, 50 Cent signed a contract with Columbia Records, and the following year he released his first unofficial album. The song "How to Rob" significantly increased the artist's popularity not only among listeners, but also in musical circles.
In May 2004, an assassination attempt occurred in Curtis's biography: eight bullets hit him. The rapper survived, but was hospitalized. 50 Cent's official debut album, Get Rich Or Die Tryin, was released in 2003 and became very successful. The second album "The Massacre" was released in 2005, the third "Curtis" - in 2007.
50 Cent also finds time for business: he signed a contract with Reebok, voiced video game characters. Curtis also wrote a book, memoirs, starred in an autobiographical film. In 2009, his album "Before I Self Destruct" was released.