0:06

He hustled his way from the streets to

0:09

the top of hip hop. But for fifty

0:11

Cent, the road to success wasn't

0:13

easy. He grew up without

0:16

his father and lost his mother at

0:18

a young age. Fifty

0:20

started dealing cracked until he brought his

0:22

street edge to a new hustle music.

0:26

He made enemies across the wrap Ward and

0:28

nine Bullets nearly ended at all, but

0:31

fifty came out the other side, stronger

0:34

and more determined than ever, turning

0:37

his anguish into fame and fortune. He

0:39

was never afraid and never back

0:41

down. Fifty Cent has

0:44

lived by his own notorious words,

0:46

get rich or die trying.

0:49

This is his story behind

0:52

the music. Fifty

1:00

Scent was born Curtis James Jackson

1:02

the third on July six n in

1:05

Jamaica, Queens. His mother, Sabrina,

1:07

was just fifteen. He never knew

1:09

his father. I

1:12

asked my mother one time he was in the park. I

1:14

saw a little boy throwing football back and forth

1:16

with his father. I said, why I don't done

1:18

no father, mom, And she said, because he was special. He

1:21

was going to the Immaculate Conception. Jesus

1:25

boy, now go play. Sabrina

1:28

moved out of the house shortly after Curtis

1:30

was born. He was raised by his grandparents,

1:32

who had nine children of their own. He

1:35

was a special jah thought.

1:38

He was very happy little

1:40

boy. He was Caverleka

1:42

my son because I had graded

1:45

him with my other kids. But he would

1:47

just that little was

1:50

in debunked. Curtis's

1:53

mom wasn't around much. She was a

1:55

drug deal around the streets of South Side, Jamaica,

1:58

one of New York's roughest neighborhoods,

2:00

and she didn't see public assistance as

2:02

an option, so she did she had to

2:04

do to take care of me, and I was hustling.

2:07

She spoiled very time she come

2:09

to scene. She would bring him up to

2:11

presidents. My mom was It was everything

2:13

to me. Every time I sin it was Christmas,

2:17

so I associated everything good with my mom's

2:19

coming. But one

2:22

day, when Curtis was eight, his mom

2:24

didn't show up for a family visit. We

2:27

knew something was wrong. We went over to her

2:29

apartment to see what was going on. Somebody

2:33

put something in a drink and

2:35

then they turned the gas on. She

2:38

spent a few days in the space

2:40

that she was in after she passed away. So body

2:43

was all decomposed by the time

2:45

they got to him, I

2:48

remember my grandmother explaining it like she's

2:50

not gonna come back, She's in a better place,

2:53

and um,

2:57

I didn't understand that at that point.

3:01

The way he dealt with it, he

3:03

would just act out, destructively,

3:07

break things and get angry

3:09

a lot where he was a

3:11

little more baby boy. He can't tell

3:13

her child like that. Nothing much

3:16

they put to the fune and everything, but

3:18

he didn't know what was going on. But

3:21

I could tell he missed his mother. By

3:24

the time Curtis was twelve, he was following

3:26

in his mother's footsteps as her friends

3:28

showed him the ropes. He saw

3:31

the drug dealers with a lot of money and flash

3:34

and clothes, and he wanted to emulate

3:36

them. Nice places to stay, nice cars,

3:38

nice jewelry. They appeared to have the actual

3:41

life that I wanted. From

3:44

their perspective, they were helping me. Then

3:46

go, well, I'm gonna give you this. You

3:48

know what to do with this, and

3:50

it's three and a half grands. So

3:53

from three to six from my grandparent styles

3:55

in after school program, I was

3:57

hustling, m

4:01

I know, fifties hustling his whole life.

4:03

When he was twelve, he was on the block with like

4:05

guys that were seventeen eighteen,

4:07

like what is this little kids doing? And the wolves.

4:10

In the late eighties, South Side was the epicenter

4:12

of New York's crack epidemic. Curtis

4:15

cooked it at his friend's house, stashed

4:17

it in his room, then sold it. I

4:19

was standing there with an entrepreneur spirit,

4:22

and I had to be aggressive

4:24

or aggressive. Curtis did

4:26

what it took to survive in the neighborhood.

4:28

To make himself a more imposing presence

4:31

on the street, he joined a youth boxing

4:33

program. I used to get my ass kicked a lot.

4:35

I went to boxing to him. I learned something near goo

4:37

right course the street and try it and thought

4:39

the education. I actually seen him

4:42

break somebody's jow before. To further

4:44

defend himself. Fifty got his

4:46

hands on a gun and I used

4:48

it. I used it a bunch of times. I didn't hit a lot of people

4:50

with it, but I used that. They didn't know I

4:52

would shoot it. It changed their whole

4:54

perspective on me. Based on that, I

4:56

saw his lifestyle start to change.

4:59

When he was in the house with us. We saw

5:01

Curtis, but I've heard stories

5:04

on how aggressive. He was in the streets like

5:07

two different people. When

5:09

he was fourteen, Curtis was arrested

5:11

for bringing drugs to school. A

5:13

judge sentenced him to rehab, where

5:15

he quickly learned how to hustle the system.

5:18

I never really indulged in usage

5:20

of drugs, but they teach you like the twelve

5:23

steps, and I had the kind of act as if to

5:25

get out of it. It works if you work, is

5:27

still work it. Hi. My name is Curtis Jackson

5:29

and I'm an attic. At seventeen,

5:32

Curtis was busted again when

5:34

cops searched his home and found

5:36

heroin, cocaine, and

5:38

fifteen thousand dollars in cash.

5:41

He was running well at that time.

5:43

His grandfather tried to discipline him,

5:45

but felt that he should have done more.

5:48

That probably was one of the biggest disappointments

5:51

from my grandparents to see that I had went

5:54

into that lifestyle, because that's

5:56

how they lost my mom. The charges

5:58

could have sent him to prison for nine years,

6:00

but as a teenager facing his first felony,

6:03

he was offered an alternative six

6:07

months in a military style boot camp.

6:09

I think it definitely changed him. He knew

6:11

more. He knew the system. He knew how

6:13

things worked. Very smart

6:15

guy. I don't know how you look at things.

6:18

I slipped back into my ways after

6:21

the actual program, but it

6:24

worked for me because I've never been incosportd

6:26

s. Curtis went back to dealing,

6:29

but he knew his luck would run out eventually.

6:32

Verybody hustling thinks that better than the last

6:34

guy who said it. Somehow, on other

6:36

they felt like they're gonna stop right before Scarface

6:39

gets shot, you

6:42

know what I mean? And it just

6:44

it just doesn't work that way. It

6:46

was time for a radical change of plans.

6:49

Inspired by rappers who turned their gritty

6:51

street stories into cold, hard cash,

6:54

Curtis came up with a new hustle. I

6:57

decided I was going to write music for a little.

7:00

He told me that his probation officer

7:02

had suggested that he goes into rapping.

7:05

Then one day he

7:08

had a chance meeting with run DMC's

7:10

jam Master J and a Manhattan nightclub.

7:13

I kind of hustle my way

7:15

into a situation with Jay might have nothing

7:17

and went straight into talking something like I knew

7:19

how to do it, and he was like, all right, we'll stop finne

7:22

what you got Curtis recorded

7:24

a rough demo track for Jay. It

7:26

just went on and on and on, and so he

7:28

was like, go, what's the hook?

7:31

What Jay heard was raw but very

7:34

real. Seeing potential, he

7:36

signed Curtis to his label, and just

7:38

like that, the twenty one year old crack

7:40

dealer had a new calling. He

7:42

told me he was looking at a famous rapper.

7:45

I said, you shure that's what you want to be, So

7:48

he said yes, coming

7:50

up, goes on the attack

7:53

and pays a heavy price, and

7:56

later he blows away a

7:58

hip hop yicon, Wendy. Behind the music

8:00

continues by

8:10

Curtis Jackson had transformed himself

8:12

from a streetwise drug dealer to budding

8:15

rapper after being signed by run

8:17

DMC's jam Master J. To

8:20

complete his evolution, he created a new

8:22

identity, taking the name of a well

8:25

known Brooklyn stick up artist, fifty

8:27

cent. For me, fifty cent was a metaphor

8:29

for change, and then I would do things my way,

8:31

which would be drastically

8:34

different and

8:36

even bigger. Change came a year later, when

8:39

Curtis was just twenty two, he and his girlfriend

8:41

Shaniqua Tompkins had a baby boy,

8:44

Marquis. He got more serious about

8:46

life if he knew he had to take care of his son.

8:48

But I wanted to have the relationship that I didn't

8:50

have with my father and my son. I

8:53

didn't believe anyone would take care of him if I wasn't

8:55

there to take care. Fifty

8:57

gave up dealing drugs and sold off

8:59

everything he had to support his family.

9:02

He pinned his hopes on music, learning

9:04

from jam Master J. If

9:06

he would not want to leave the studio, dude

9:09

was just soaking everything and he would just

9:11

stay focused over in the corner, right

9:13

right, right. Two years past.

9:16

Progress was slow, and Fifty was

9:18

frustrated that he didn't have Jay's undivided

9:20

attention. So when he saw

9:22

a record executive, Corey Rooney outside

9:24

of barber shopping Queens, he sees

9:27

the opportunity. He comes over

9:29

to the car. He had like his hood on and looked

9:31

sketchy. At that point, I don't know he's gonna rob

9:33

me. I gave him my tape and put it in and

9:37

the phone wrong and he was on the telephone. I'm

9:39

like, uh yeah, yeah, yeah,

9:41

go ahead, go ahead, go ahead, and he gave me a look

9:43

because I wasn't paying attention. I

9:45

give my tape right mad old school. He

9:50

looked at me like, this is a little He doesn't realize

9:52

I can multitaz. So I heard everything he did.

9:54

This was far beyond all This guy is

9:57

good. I thought, Wow, this is the next jay Z. Fifty

10:00

was signed to Columbia Records, but most

10:03

of his advance went to pay his way out

10:05

of the j contract broke,

10:07

he returned to dealing. I had

10:09

five thousand dollars and

10:11

then the baby, so

10:14

I had to take care him. I just put two in the

10:16

fifty grounds with it. I went

10:18

back to doing what I knew how to do. Fifty

10:21

took only two weeks to record his debut,

10:24

but the label let it language for two years.

10:27

In he channeled his

10:29

frustration into a lyrical assault on

10:31

the biz, a track about

10:33

mugging music stars called how

10:36

to Rob and what do you have about

10:38

right Now? I got a new single alcoholw

10:40

to Rob. I wrote deliverything

10:42

like that's from your heart,

10:44

that's how you feel. Yeah, you know it's

10:46

a little constant like comedy based

10:49

on reality people going on. He

10:52

was like, all right, this industry is do not let me eat,

10:54

did not let me in? All right, I'm gonna rob

10:56

everybody in this industry and let you know I'm coming.

10:59

When I heard of the record, I was like, Wow, this guy is

11:01

gonna make a lot of enemies. This

11:03

guy is crazy. The single was a sensation.

11:06

D MX, Big Pond, the Wu Tang Clan

11:08

and jay Z all fired back that

11:12

right there. That's when everybody was like, all right, Jason

11:14

said his name, he's a fishert

11:19

was making enemies, but none bigger

11:21

than fellow Queen's rapper Rule,

11:24

one of my homies. You're all job

11:26

for his change, his energy shift towards me, and

11:28

we ain't never been cool. Sif was the street

11:30

dude, he wasn't, and fIF was like, I'm

11:33

gonna get this little pump. Their animosity

11:35

intensified when fifty Cent put the feud

11:37

on record with your life's on the line,

11:40

the ill will boiled over into a brawl

11:43

in Atlanta. So we get

11:45

face to face and we talked. Fifty just punches

11:47

him in his uh phone. I caught him

11:49

back, and now the fighting suits. We're

11:51

throwing down. We're throwing down, and that's when the real real

11:53

beef started, because now it's a physical thing. The

11:57

violence escalated in March two thousand

11:59

when Jah Rules crew paid a visit to Fifty

12:01

at the Hit Factory recording studio in Manhattan.

12:05

This time someone pulled a knife. They

12:07

cut the lights off and ran and swinging these

12:10

you know, snake knives. I've seen one

12:12

of the speakers boom hit. One of them

12:14

got blood everywhere and they

12:16

cut Fifty. They called it a stabbing,

12:18

and it sounded more graphic than

12:20

it actually was. Three

12:22

stitches. I got worse for having my pedal pie

12:25

fifties rep as raps. New bad boy

12:27

was growing for the actualtercation.

12:30

It started to spiral out of control. People

12:32

were coming after him because they

12:34

felt he was such a threat. It got ugly.

12:40

May four, two thousand something

12:43

finally caught up with Fifty outside

12:45

his grandmother's house in Queen's My

12:48

son was in the house, my grandmother was in the front yard.

12:51

Fifty got into the back seat of a friend's

12:53

car. Another car pulled

12:55

up beside them. It happens

12:59

I hear some shoes like fire crackers.

13:02

I thought it was kids. I was gonna yell at him, but when

13:05

I see this guy point in the car and I

13:07

said, oh, that's the car my grandson got

13:09

in. Fifty reached for his gun, but

13:11

it wasn't cocked when I put the gun out

13:13

the actual window, and he shot down in my hand

13:16

and moved to west. I got hit my thumb and

13:18

came out the top of my pinks wine, gonna knuckle

13:20

him all right hand. He was also hit

13:22

in his face, his legs. Nine

13:24

bullets and all fired at close

13:27

range. And then I started yelling

13:30

and then they run. Blood

13:33

gushed all over the back seat as the friends

13:35

sped toward the hospital, stopping

13:37

only the dump fifties gun in a sewer.

13:40

I kept saying, he shot me my

13:42

face. Fifty was rushed into

13:44

surgery. You don't know if

13:46

you're actually gonna surviving. I

13:49

get that cool. So many fifty got shot,

13:51

So I run into his block and then

13:53

I just see shells all over. You know they

13:56

had homicide police. I

13:58

thought he was dead. In

14:01

the spring of two thousand and fifty Cent was

14:04

on the cusp of rap stardom when

14:06

he was ambushed outside his grandmother's house

14:08

in Queens and shot nine

14:10

times. I'm driving

14:13

in the highway and all of a sudden, I own

14:15

a radio fifty sinky shot so

14:17

what rapp in critical condition

14:19

after having it shot to the head straight to the hospital,

14:22

and so all his family and the lobby they were crying,

14:24

like for real, it's for real. He

14:27

had tubes all over his body and

14:29

he was unconscious. He was unconscious.

14:31

I was there every day, brain vine

14:34

as a bullet went through my face and into my

14:36

actual tongue area, knocked my teeth out and

14:38

my tongue asked for to point that I was almost

14:40

suffocating myself. To clear his

14:42

airway, doctors wanted to perform a trichy

14:45

otomy. It was a critical decision

14:47

for fifties family. But he

14:49

told me if they operated on him, he may not

14:51

talk again. So that's when I said, no,

14:54

if he couldn't do his music, he would

14:56

be lost about it. His grandmother's

14:58

prayers were answered. Fifty survived

15:01

without the operation, but he faced

15:03

an uphill battle. He's weak,

15:05

he was fragile. Um. Of course he

15:07

was hurting. I don't know what it feels like to die,

15:10

but doesn't look like it hurts as much

15:12

as a hospital bed. It kind of made you feel

15:14

like the only thing that you could really do legitimately

15:17

is find

15:19

the source of the actual problem and just kill

15:21

him. The reason for

15:23

the shooting has been the cause of endless

15:25

Speculation kept popping

15:28

up that it had something to do with the

15:30

stabbing and connected to Gyro was record

15:32

label murder anchor, and that's what

15:34

the word on the street was. After

15:37

leaving the hospital, he retreated to Pennsylvania's

15:40

Poconot Mountains, where his girlfriend's

15:42

mother owned a house. Fifty was

15:44

safe, but in excruciating pain,

15:46

unable to walk, his jaw wired

15:49

shut. There was a sadness

15:51

that he had, and that sadness

15:53

was because he didn't know what was

15:55

going to happen with the rest of his life. Their actually

15:58

shooting, That's not even the most pain. The thing

16:00

I went through the most pain I've been through

16:02

with the confusion, not

16:04

knowing whether I'd be able to do rap for a living.

16:07

Ever, the survivor, fifty began the

16:09

grueling process of rebuilding his body.

16:12

I've never allowed my fear to limit

16:14

me. I'll figure out how to get passed

16:16

it. I think everything else is smaller than

16:19

the loss of my mom. What did not kill

16:21

him definitely made him stronger.

16:24

Fifty was ready to conquer hip hop, but

16:26

there was one problem. His label,

16:28

Colombia was scared off by all the

16:31

controversy. They dropped

16:33

me like I couldn't even get them to

16:35

answer the phone. Fifty

16:37

approached other labels but found no

16:39

takers. We went to so many

16:41

record labels with executives actually

16:43

shaken while we're in the meeting, shaken,

16:46

me shaking, having a pistol.

16:48

It was already caught his mandator. He

16:51

did. He offered Fifty a job as a songwriter,

16:54

but he wasn't exactly thrilled to find

16:56

out his new employee was packing. He

16:58

was the first person to call me active work. I

17:01

was in his office like I heard altercation

17:04

stop and he came in and I pulled my pistol.

17:07

Had developed the paranoia as soon as

17:09

something don't kill right, I'm shooting whoever, but because

17:11

I'm not getting shot again. That was

17:13

the last time he called me the right music rejected

17:17

yet again. Fifty knew that he would

17:19

have to do it on his own, so

17:21

he started releasing independent albums

17:23

known as mixtapes. His

17:26

hustle was out of ten jumped

17:28

to like a hundred. One of his tracks,

17:30

f You, was aimed straight at his attackers.

17:33

It was an aggressive tune in a new sound.

17:36

Fifty still had a bullet lodged in his tongue,

17:38

giving him a distinctive slur. His whole

17:40

tone kind of changed a little bit. You

17:43

can hear the pain in his voice. It

17:46

wasn't just the voice after shooting,

17:48

the confidence that he came back with. It

17:51

was just a different swager. What

17:53

it made him was a monster. He

17:55

was kind of like, now you know,

17:57

I'm here and nothing's gonna stop me. Capitalizing

18:01

on the moment, he formed the group G Unit

18:03

with two friends from the neighborhood that's

18:05

Tony Yogo, that's the right Bank.

18:10

With a growing reputation on the street, they

18:12

hit the road, selling out show after

18:14

show. For the first time,

18:16

fifties music was paying off. I

18:19

remember having like eighty tho dollars in the

18:21

house. I thought I was rich. He's

18:25

like this, it's gonna work now.

18:27

Fifty didn't have to call the record companies.

18:30

They were calling him. It was a bing

18:32

wall because of the actually he I was

18:34

developing in the street. All

18:36

of a sudden, we got deals on the table yet like

18:39

seven different labels, and I'm hearing

18:41

o'kind of crazy numbers. Me. I

18:44

think I would have grabbed the first deal, him saying

18:46

million dollars. I'm looking at fifth boy, take

18:49

it. He was like no, I just waited

18:51

out. M and M, who had

18:53

his own label, Shady Records, had no

18:55

hesitation. I got the guests Who's Back

18:57

mixtape, and I remember just listening to the first

19:00

song like wow. It was like every single song

19:02

that came on ended up becoming like one of my

19:04

favorite songs. I felt like

19:06

fifty was gonna be gigantic within

19:09

them. Couple of days, I had brought him to dre and

19:11

was like, Yo, you need to hear fifty.

19:14

I played him one record and he

19:16

was like, let's do it. He called man.

19:18

It wasn't even like business hours.

19:20

It was like fly out in the middle of the night, and I

19:23

just said, all right, I'm gone. I

19:25

remember when he walked in. I was excited to meet

19:27

him and was like, homie, I'm a fan, and I just started

19:29

like I think. I started like bloking out songs

19:31

and lyrics and pretty much knew him by heart. He

19:33

was so excited he made me nervous

19:36

coming up. Fifty becomes the hottest

19:39

starterist in hip hop. But trouble

19:41

is never far away. We're behind

19:44

the music continues in

19:58

two thousand two, two years after

20:01

being shot nine times and dumped by

20:03

his record label, fifty Cent boarded

20:05

a plane for l A to ink a deal with Eminem

20:08

and Dr Dre. Him just heard

20:10

the music and he did

20:12

it based on the music. Me and Dre obviously

20:14

weren't not strange as the controversy. We

20:16

were like, let's let this guy be

20:19

what he is. Let fifty fifty.

20:22

They began working on fifties album immediately.

20:25

I remember Dray would send him beats almost

20:27

like an experiment. Let's see what fifty would do with this

20:29

beat, and he would send it back and I

20:32

just remember the rhyme being so crazy. Almost

20:34

fell on the floor. I was like, Yo, this fifties

20:37

I quit. I literally

20:40

wanted to quit rapping. At that point. When

20:42

Eminem put the song Wangster on the eight

20:44

Mile movie soundtrack, the hype

20:46

surrounding fifty Cent kicked into high

20:48

gear. Wankster just

20:50

blew up. It was making such a buzz in New York.

20:53

Did it just became massive?

20:56

Absolutely? All

20:59

right, Now you've got to sell drug rules

21:01

you ever right here. But

21:05

just when it seemed like everything was going his

21:07

way, violence once again shook

21:09

fifties world. The rap world has lost

21:11

a pioneer. Jam Master J of the popular

21:14

group Run DMC. He was shot to death at

21:16

his recording studio in New York City last

21:18

night. On October two thousand,

21:20

two, fifties mentor jam Master

21:22

j was gunned down. A gunman

21:25

burst into jam Master Jay's recording studio

21:27

and shot him once in the head. When

21:29

Jay got killed, it was such a surprise. I was

21:31

supposed to meet him the day that he passed away, and

21:34

I couldn't figure out why, like somebody would

21:36

want to do that. He's not like the guy that has

21:38

a lot of visible enemies. Police

21:42

speculated that the hit was actually meant

21:44

for fifty Cent, is considered a potential

21:46

target by the same person who killed rapper

21:48

jam Master jam was a very upsetting

21:51

situation. The police are called and they say,

21:53

if you think someone's assassinating

21:55

rappers and if it's jam Master

21:57

Jade and fifty must be next, They say made

22:00

somebody did it to send me a message.

22:03

The murder has never been solved.

22:06

Sadly, j didn't live to see fifty

22:09

Cent become a star. In

22:14

January two thousand three, fifty released

22:16

the single in the Club and

22:19

the club came in was over Life

22:22

Change five. I'm

22:24

Out of here and we did in

22:26

the club. I was thinking the celebration

22:28

of life every day, someone's birthday, and then it

22:30

won't get old. A

22:33

month later, fifty released his debut album,

22:36

Get Rich or Die Trying this

22:42

time had finally come. It

22:46

did like eight hundred thousand in the first week, and

22:48

he was like what. Then the second week came

22:50

in and there was no drop off, and

22:53

I was like wow. I

22:56

remember sitting on the bus with him and he's like, I

22:58

noticed feeling ain't gonna have and again, so

23:01

I'm just sitting just soaking up.

23:03

He was amazed, man, he

23:05

was amazed. After a long and brutal

23:08

struggle to make it, the ex hustler

23:10

from Queen suddenly had the world at his

23:12

feet. And the award for Best

23:14

Rap Video goes to tween

23:18

two thousands three and two thousand and five. I think I've

23:20

seen representation of every

23:24

kind of God made the girls

23:26

through the man's crazy,

23:28

who's nuts to go in in the

23:30

hotel room and the girls hops out like

23:33

how did you get in here? It's a transition because

23:35

you go from the norm to

23:38

be in this instant sex symbol and it's

23:40

like people going crazy and she's just going, oh my god,

23:42

I'm like me, are you serious? Come on?

23:44

Baby? But fifties hedonistic

23:46

lifestyle came with a cost. His

23:49

relationship with longtime girlfriend Shaniqua

23:51

Tompkins, the mother of his child, was

23:53

falling apart. We know each other for about

23:56

thirteen years. She sees all of these

23:58

women and they make her secure,

24:01

and the relationship just went bad completely.

24:04

To make things worse, fifty looked

24:06

around and saw almost no one he could

24:08

trust. Everybody starts to develop

24:11

a sense entitled and even friends. Damn,

24:14

how the money you made this year? If yo, you should buy

24:16

me a car? I can't even remember them loaning

24:18

be filed out. If I can remember, I give

24:20

it back. What was doing shows? I

24:22

would come up with some money, like yo, here's

24:25

a stack like in a touching on it right, like

24:27

I don't know, I'm lost one, Brittan, this to you. He

24:29

didn't trust nobody, so I always knew

24:31

that never played with his money. Yoh never.

24:34

But not even personal turmoil could

24:36

slow down fifty cent. In two thousand

24:39

and five, his second album, The Massacre, sold

24:41

over four million copies. The

24:44

Kid from Queens had what every artist

24:46

dreams of, and now all he wanted

24:49

was more. I don't see a limit. How

24:52

far I feel like I can make billions

24:54

and billions of dollars. By

24:57

two thousand and five, fifty cents was more

24:59

than just a hit pop star. Not only

25:01

was his second album, The Massacre another huge

25:04

success, he was now the ruler

25:06

of his own business empire. He

25:08

had his own label, g Unit Records,

25:10

and a budding acting career. Deals

25:13

with Mark Echo and Reebok earned him

25:15

millions more. Those things

25:17

right here, they come out, no pimber y'all.

25:20

He was thinking a step ahead of everybody when

25:22

they were thinking fifty cents. He was thinking fifty

25:24

cents. Even at the brand. Guy

25:26

still has a hustler mentality. And

25:28

now we're doing the right things with a hustler

25:31

mentality, not to room him fifties.

25:34

Biggest score was a venture with Vitamin Water,

25:36

in which he took his endorsement fee in company

25:39

stock and reportedly came

25:41

away with a cool one million.

25:43

He wanted something healthy, and I remember he

25:46

was like, I want to do water, well

25:50

water. Yeah, everybody

25:52

drinks water. Man. That was the

25:54

illest deal of it, Sentuary right there, that

25:59

you know about his own bevery We've made more

26:01

money on our brand extensions

26:03

than selling records. But

26:06

as his fortune grew, so did the criticism

26:08

that Fifty was losing his edge. He's

26:11

too successful, he's too rich, he's too this that

26:13

by him and Water was too good, and

26:16

they just didn't want to see him wind almore street cred.

26:19

I don't even know what street cred is, but the Viroman

26:21

want to deal is just good business.

26:24

To his rivals, fifty Cents seemed soft,

26:27

and the rapper who made his mark by targeting

26:29

hip hop superstars was suddenly

26:31

a target himself. Embroiled

26:33

in feud with the likes of Naz, Jada,

26:36

Kiss and Fat Joe saw

26:38

a part of the hip hop culture. So

26:40

I've been constantly confronted. You can't

26:42

knock him, but shooting when everybody

26:45

else is snicking, it doesn't mean that

26:47

fifty starting with him, we're finishing the

26:49

issue more

26:51

than anyone. Fifty knew these battles came

26:53

with the territory, but he viewed one

26:55

attack by his g unit label Protegee

26:58

the game as the ultimate rail.

27:00

Fifty embraced them, took a man flow, the

27:02

New York had him in the mansion, recorded

27:05

all those records. I followed this man's lead,

27:07

and we hold it down. I gave a lot of material

27:09

that I created away, like I

27:11

put that on to create games out these

27:14

records. Fifty was writing for himself that he

27:16

personally said, all right, I'm gonna take my first off you

27:18

do this. I'm gonna take my hook off you do that.

27:21

So he helped mold this whole shape, but

27:24

soon after the game's debut album was released,

27:27

he began challenging fifties authority at

27:29

g und even consorting with fifties

27:32

enemies. Fifty

27:34

also says the game didn't give him proper writing

27:36

credit on his album. A public

27:38

war of words ensued. The game

27:41

situation comes from jealousy like they want to be.

27:44

The game wasn't rolling as a team member like he should.

27:46

When you're part of the pre you're supposed to have the allegiance

27:49

to the boss, and he didn't have that trash

27:51

you know what I'm saying, garbage Fifty

27:53

and magazines just knowing me every chance

27:55

they get. The game was getting too disrespectful

27:57

and he was on the radio talking manage. He

28:00

took a real personal Not surprisingly,

28:03

Fifty had the last word, firing

28:05

the game from g Unit live on the

28:07

air game. We have no

28:09

communication. It's a shame that couldn't actually

28:11

be resolved in conversation. Don't

28:14

come to a fight with Fifth with a knife. You

28:16

better come with your guns, because he is gonna

28:19

destroy you. Fifty

28:22

Cent had become a hip hop king by taking on

28:25

some of the biggest names in the biz, but

28:27

by two thousand and seven he was under siege

28:29

from critics and rivals looking to knock

28:32

him off his throne, which only intensified

28:34

the pressure as he began work

28:36

on his third album, Curtis, I

28:39

found myself in the space where I was in probably

28:41

the most vulnerable state as an artist. Every

28:44

artist has that doubt in their mind of like,

28:46

am I gonna live up to the hype? What is

28:48

the hype to help ensure a hit

28:50

record? Fifty summons his street savvy,

28:53

the man who built his reputation on feuds

28:56

manufactured one and

28:58

Kaya westsells more of a or

29:00

September that I'll no longer

29:03

write music. With their albums

29:06

coming out the same day, fifties Bold

29:08

challenge made headlines. You

29:11

said that if Kanye out sells you, I'm

29:13

getting this right, that you will not make any more music.

29:15

Are you really going to retire if no

29:19

place saying that you set yourself. I

29:21

don't care the media and fans

29:23

ate it up. We set up the energy

29:26

to get the consumers into a frenzy.

29:29

You got everybody talking about the

29:31

battle between you and Kanye. I'm it's exciting,

29:33

man. We made a game. I don't have beefoot anyone.

29:35

Actually, I don't like Kanye West to the end of this

29:37

week, okay, because after number one

29:40

we can be forens to good Kanye.

29:43

He's selling nearly a million copies in the first

29:45

week. Won the battle, but they

29:47

both won the war. Me and Kanye collectively

29:50

created the largest selling week for hip hop

29:52

sales. People like controversy, people

29:54

like beef, and he knew how to capitalize.

29:57

Kanye West is

29:59

the X, older and

30:01

wiser fifty Cent doesn't get caught up

30:04

in controversy the way he used to. People

30:06

can say what they want Now he just

30:09

laughs and find so many different things

30:11

to say about me. But addicted to cocaine

30:13

and croatia up and he's the steroids

30:15

for me. It doesn't matter. I get a chance

30:18

to be the guy in the picture. Fifty

30:20

shows time and again that he hasn't

30:22

lost the edge honed on the violent streets

30:25

of Queens Queen.

30:29

He's never forgotten his past. It's

30:32

the fuel that drives his rhymes and

30:34

still pushes him in his relentless quest

30:36

for success. I

30:40

think the fifty wants to go back to what

30:43

made people love him in the first place. Fifty

30:45

is a hustler. It's pretty much in his blood right

30:47

now. Creatively, I find more significance

30:50

and the struggle. I

30:52

reflect on how far I've came. I

30:54

can ask my mom a question. I probably asked

30:56

up, how do I look? Because

30:58

I know she's been with me the time. People

31:01

surprise you, you

31:03

might think they're gonna be a nothing.

31:05

And by not being a suthing, he

31:09

just took off like

31:11

the wind is blowing, he just took off. I'm

31:15

an addict. I'm addicted to

31:17

success. Unfortunately, there's no rehab

31:19

of success, and I'm in love with how

31:22

it feels. If I can't create a direct parallel

31:24

to a drug, but it's

31:26

absolutely my violence. Fifty

31:32

cents career as both a business entrepreneur

31:34

and as a hip hop icon have continued

31:37

to grow. From energy drinks to

31:39

headphones to vodka. He's

31:41

created product lines and partnered with

31:43

brands. Remaining hungry for success,

31:47

fifty founded two film and television

31:49

production companies and served as a

31:51

co star, co creator, and executive

31:54

producer for the hit stars drama Power.

31:57

As rap music has grown and evolved,

32:00

fifty has become a mentor and an inspiration

32:02

for a new generation of rappers. His

32:05

debut album, Get Rich or Die

32:08

Trying remains one of the most

32:10

successful and popular albums

32:12

of the two thousands, and fifty

32:14

Cent has solidified himself as

32:16

one of hip hop's most successful

32:18

artists. Listen

32:22

to Behind the Music on the I Heart Radio app,

32:25

Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your

32:27

favorite podcasts. Want more

32:29

episodes, you can watch remastered

32:31

best of the Vault and new episodes Behind

32:33

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32:35

Plus.