The 50th Law

The 50th Law

Paperback edition
Author	Robert Greene, 50 Cent
Country	United States
Language	English
Subject	Strategy, self-help, philosophy
Genre	Non-fiction
Published	September 8, 2009
Publisher	Harper Studio
Media type	Print
Preceded by	The 33 Strategies of War
Followed by	Mastery

The 50th Law is a New York Times bestselling book on strategy and fearlessness written collaboratively by rapper 50 Cent and author Robert Greene. The book is a semi-autobiographical account detailing 50 Cent's rise as both a young urban hustler and as an up-and-coming musician with lessons and anecdotes from historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln, Sun Tzu, Socrates, Napoleon, Malcolm X, and James Baldwin.

The 50th Law grew out of the friendship and mutual admiration between 50 Cent and Robert Greene. Greene's book The 48 Laws of Power, which has long been a staple in the hip hop world, came to the attention of 50 Cent, who asked his manager to arrange a meeting. Greene said that he was surprised by 50 Cent's persona and was impressed by his "Zen-like calmness" and eye for strategy. The two began to work on a book project that would combine their two worlds.

According to Greene, 50 Cent is an example of what Machiavelli called a New Prince, a leader who emerges in a time of chaos or turmoil and rewrites the rules. According to 50 Cent, Greene's books describe the laws and strategies used by hustlers on the street, even if they might not know the "technical terms" for what they were doing.

Each of the 10 chapters in the book explains a factor of fearlessness and begins by telling how 50 Cent learned this Fearless Philosophy in Southside Queens.The 50th Law illustrates the laws of the book by supplementing anecdotes from 50 Cent's life with historical examples from Malcolm X, Miles Davis, Sun Tzu, François de La Rochefoucauld, Machiavelli, Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Thucydides, Dostoyevsky, Charlie Parker, and the Baron de Montesquieu.