Betancourt 1 Andrew Betancourt Prof.

Dominguez ENC 1101 10/24/13 From 50 Cent to 260 Million Dollars Money, cars, women, and fame: these are some of the things that come to mind, when one thinks of what it means to be successful. Everybody wants to be successful and enjoy the merits of it, but nobody asks the most important question: How can success be obtained? Success isnt something that can be bought with money; its earned through blood, sweat and tears. 50 Cent has gone from rags to riches, subsequently becoming the embodiment of how determination is the key to success. 50 Cent did not become the man he is today because of weak-will. Unlike some rap artists, who grew up in middle-class households but adopted a more streetwise persona to gain credibility in the urban music marketing game, his background was indeed rough. He was born in 1976 and grew up in Queens's South Jamaica neighborhood as Curtis James Jackson III (Gale 2005). His mother, Sabrina was a feared drug lord in Queens, New York (Gale 2005); soon after her death Jackson began living with his grandparents and started selling crack. However after having a child and being incarcerated so often, Jackson needed a new outlet in his life. he tried to earn money as a boxer, but found a more promising avenue in music (Gale 2005). He found his muse from rapping about hard times growing up, with RUN-DMCs Jam Master Jay (Maslow 2010) and the street life which seemed to fascinate the American culture. This is where he began to flourish and find his rhythm. In a drastic move, he turned around his life; evolving from a drug dealer to a rapper. He did so with determination and

Betancourt 2 ambition. Jackson was not going to be another nobody, street criminal like his mother, he strived to be something more and have a purpose. In turn, he became something much bigger than himself and everyone around him. Jackson was proving that he could be more than just a statistic, and have an impact in society through the means of hip hop culture, and the entertainment industry. It is fair to say that Jackson has been successful, earning his credibility as a rap artist, and entrepreneur. In 2013 his net worth is stated to be well over $260 million (Said 2013). According to Jackson himself, he states I make more money outside the record industry,. As a result of Coca Cola buying Vitamin Water (of which he owned stake in), he made an estimated 100 million dollars (Goldman 2007). He owns many of his own business ventures including: The G-Unit Clothing Company and G-Unit Records, to name a couple. Get Rich or Die Trying, his debut album, was highly successful; his initial sales figures reflected this (a record-breaking 872,000 units moved in five days, the best-selling debut album since SoundScan started its tracking system in May 1991) (Birchmeier,). He may have had a great deal of success in his later years of rapping, but that was not always the case from the beginning. In his early career 50 couldnt keep a record label on his side because of his tight ties with the street life (Reece 2006). In his first street crime related incident occurred when he was stabbed at the Hit Factory studio on West 54th Street in Manhattan. Then on May 24, 2000, 50 Cent was shot 9 times, while he was waiting in the passenger seat of a car outside his grandparents house. After the news spread about the shooting Columbia wanted nothing to do with 50 Cent (Birchmeier) and he was dropped from the label. In spite of these events, Jackson continued to rap in the underground scene. Soon after re-

Betancourt 3 entering, he became 1/3rd of the rap group G-Unit. They began to release mixtapes and eventually Jackson caught the attention of Eminem. Unlike a lot of people, he had to fight for what he wanted in life, no one was there to help him up when he was down. Every time he fell down, no matter how hard he hit the ground, he got up and continued on stronger than before. After all he had been through there was finally someone who saw his potential, Eminem. Eminem thought Jackson was completely different from every other rapper at the time, which is why he took him under his wing. He had a new sound and new rhymes that werent very popular in the early 2000nds but soon he set fire to the rain and danced in it. Eminem indeed got his man, signing 50 Cent to a joint deal with Shady/Aftermath -- the former label Em's, the latter Dr. Dre's It wasnt until Eminem signed him that he actually had a stable label supporting him, one step closer to becoming who he is today. He adopted the name 50 Cent as a metaphor for change (Gale 2005), and change he did. Jackson has not only become a well-known rapper, but hes also a popular name in the marketing industry. Selling his own brands like its going out of style, and signing new artists to his label; he probably didnt see himself selling anything other than drugs a decade ago. Look at him now, his name is spread all over the world, and his legend will live on for generations and generations. If success could be bought, Jackson would buy his whole family success with the millions he has now. How did he get that much money in his bank account? One word, determination; its the key behind every successful man. Determination and a dream will get someone much farther than a weak-willed man with no ambition.

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"Curtis James Jackson, III." Contemporary Black Biography. Vol. 46. Detroit: Gale, 2005. Biography In Context. Web. 19 Oct. 2 Birchmeier, Jason. "AllMusic." AllMusic. All Media Network, LL, n.d. Web. 20 Oct. 2013.013. Said, Sammy. "50 Cent Net Worth." Celebrity Net worth Richest People in the World 50 Cent Net Worth Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Oct. 2013. Reece, Rod. IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 13 Jul. 2006.