50 Cent (rapper)

50 Cent
50 Cent at the 2009 American Music Awards
Born	Curtis James Jackson III (1975-07-06) July 6, 1975 (age 42) South Jamaica, Queens, New York, U.S.
Occupation	Rapper actor businessman investor
Years active	1995 (1995)–present
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Television	50 Central Power Dream School 50 Cent: The Money and the Power The Oath
Children	2
Awards	List of awards & nominations
Musical career
Genres	Hip hop
Instruments	Vocals
Labels	Jam Master Jay (1998–1999) Columbia (1999–2000) Shady (2002–2014) Aftermath (2002–2014) Interscope (2002–2014) G-Unit (2003–present) Caroline (2014–present) Capitol (2014-present)
Associated acts	G-Unit Dr. Dre Eminem The Game Jeremih Lil Scrappy Mobb Deep Nas Nate Dogg Obie Trice Rotimi Sha Money XL Spider Loc Snoop Dogg
Website	50cent.com

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), known professionally as 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, businessman, and investor. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of the borough of Queens, Jackson began selling drugs at age twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. He later began pursuing a musical career and in 2000 he produced Power of the Dollar for Columbia Records, but days before the planned release he was shot nine times and the album was never released. In 2002, after Jackson released the compilation album Guess Who's Back?, he was discovered by Eminem and signed by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.

With the aid of Eminem and Dr. Dre (who produced his first major-label album, Get Rich or Die Tryin'), Jackson became one of the world's best selling rappers and rose to prominence with East Coast hip hop group G-Unit (which he leads de facto). In 2003, he founded G-Unit Records, signing his G-Unit associates Young Buck, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. Jackson had similar commercial and critical success with his second album, The Massacre, which was released in 2005. He released his fifth studio album, Animal Ambition, in 2014 and is working on his sixth studio album, Street King Immortal. He executive produces and stars in the show Power, which airs on Starz.