50 Cent’s millions

Rapper 50 Cent is indeed very special. Just take note of how his debut album and single releases are holding up in the hit charts of the US. And take careful note of this. The US is a place where there is no dearth of talented rappers of all types and ages, from Little Bow Wow to Eminem to Busta Rhymes to P. Diddy to Will Smith, etc. etc.

As of this writing, 50 Cent’s 21 Questions single featuring Nate Dogg is number one in Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100. It is also number one in the Hot R&B/Hip Hop Singles list and in the Hot Rap Tracks. His other single In Da Club, also a former number one is still confortably entrenched in the top ten at number eight. Not only that, the new Lil’ Kim single Magic Stick, which features 50 Cent, entered the list last week at number ten. As if those were not enough, a new 50 Cent single titled P.I.M.P is now number 70 in the Hot 100. Of course, his album Get Rich or Die Trying is now at number two in the Top 200 albums list.

All these great things are now happening to a man whose first album bears the almost prophetic title Get Rich or Die Trying. The 26-year-old 50 Cent is the latest testimony to the bad reputation hip hop music has acquired, thanks to the language of its creators and their notorious lifestyles. In fact, to say that 50 was born to the trade is an understatement. The ’50s early life was filled with everything that could happen to turn a little boy into a con, or worse, a crime statistic. But it is a tribute to his genius and tenacity that he rose above so much adversity and is now an astounding success.

50 Cent was born Curtis Jackson in Jamaica, Queens to a drug dynasty. He was raised without a father and was a young boy when his mother was found dead under mysterious circumstances. His grandparents took him in but it was not long before the teen-aged 50 was out in the streets, earning his keep the only way he knows how and starting a long rap sheet.

These later resulted in 50 being shot nine times with a .9mm bullet right in front of his grandmother’s house in Queens. One shot hit him squarely in the face and forced him to spend the next months recovering.

But amidst all these, 50 Cent never lost his love for music. Rap guru Jam Master Jay took the boy under his wing and taught him how to structure rap tunes. He soon got a deal with a major label and the tracks he turned out are now considered classics in the realm of gangsta rap. However, it was during this time that the shooting incident happened and the label decided to drop him. This failed to daunt him though and instead of going back to the streets, he went into the studio and recorded track after track after track.

Now guess who discovered those underground tracks and came up with the statement that his favorite rapper is 50 Cent? No one else but Eminem. And he did more than that. Slim Shady signed up 50 Cent to his own label where the album Get Rich or Die Trying was released. His success of course his music, should keep 50 Cent off the streets all his life.

Here now is the top ten of Billboard’s Hot 100 hit list with 50 Cent’s 21 Question on top of everything. 21 Questions by 50 Cent featuring Nate Dogg; Get Busy by Sean Paul; I Know What You Want by Busta Rhymes & Mariah Carey featuring The Flipmode Squad; Can’t Let You Go by Fabolous featuring Mike Shorey & Li’l Mo; Ignition by R. Kelly; Bring Me to Life by Evancescence featuring Paul McCoy; Rock Your Body by Justin Timberlake; In Da Club by 50 Cent; When I’m Gone by 3 Doors Down; and the newest entry into the top ten, Magic Stick by Li’l Kim featuring 50 Cent.

The top ten albums: The Golden Age of Grotesque by the also grotesque Marilyn Manson; Get Rich or Die Trying by 50 Cent; Year of the Spider by Cold; Fallen by Evanescence; The Matrix Reloaded: The Album the original soundtrack of the blockbuster motion picture by various artists; Come Away with Me by Norah Jones; Thankful by Kelly Clarkson; The Lizzie McGuire Movie soundtrack by various artists; The Very Best of Cher by the ageless Cher; and Body Kiss by The Isley Brothers featuring Ronald Isley.