Though he would later struggle with the nature of his fame as well as market expectations 50 Cent endured substantial obstacles throughout his young yet remarkably dramatic life before becoming the most discussed figure in rap if not pop music in general circa 2003. Following an unsuccessful late-'90s run at mainstream success (foiled by an attempt on his life in 2000) and a successful run on the New York mixtape circuit (driven by his early-2000s bout with Ja Rule) Eminem signed 50 Cent to a seven-figure contract in 2002 and helmed his quick rise toward crossover success in 2003. The product of a broken home in the rough Jamaica neighborhood of Queens and in turn the storied hood's hustling streets themselves 50 Cent lived everything most rappers write rhymes about but not all actually experience: drugs crimes imprisonments stabbings and most infamously of all shootings. Of course such experiences became 50 Cent's rhetorical stock-in-trade. He reveled in his oft-told past he called out wannabe gangstas and he made headlines. He even looked like the ideal East Coast hardcore rapper: big-framed with oft-showcased biceps abs and tattoos as well as his trademark bulletproof vest pistol and iced crucifix. But all-importantly 50 Cent may have fit the mold of a prototypical hardcore rapper but he could also craft a catchy hook. As a result his music crossed over to the pop market appealing to both those who liked his roughneck posturing and rags-to-riches story as well as those who liked his knack for churning out naughty singalong club tracks. And too 50 Cent didn't forget about his posse. He helped his G-Unit crew grow into a successful franchise spawning platinum-selling solo albums for his group members lucrative licensing deals for the brand name and sell-out arena tours to promote the franchise internationally. By the time of his third album (Curtis 2007) however 50 Cent faced a formidable backlash particularly among hip-hop purists who were displeased by his turn toward crossover pop-rap and thus away from street-level credibility.
Born Curtis James Jackson III on July 6 1975 and raised in Southside Jamaica Queens New York City 50 Cent grew up in a broken home. His hustler mother passed away when he was only eight and his father departed soon after leaving his grandmother to parent him. As a teen he followed the lead of his mother and began hustling. The crack trade proved lucrative for 50 Cent until he eventually encountered the law that is and got arrested repeatedly in 1994. It's around this point in time that he traded crime for hip-hop. His break came in 1996 when he met Run-D.M.C.'s Jam Master Jay who gave him a tape of beats and asked him to rap over it. Impressed by what he heard Jay signed the aspiring rapper to his JMJ Records label. Not much resulted from the deal though and 50 Cent affiliated himself with Trackmasters a commercially successful New York-based production duo known for their work with such artists as Nas and Jay-Z. Trackmasters signed the rapper to their Columbia sublabel and began work on his debut album Power of the Dollar. A trio of singles preceded the album's proposed release: "Your Life's on the Line" "Thug Love" (featuring Destiny's Child) and "How to Rob." The latter generated a significant buzz attracting a lot of attention for its baiting lyrics which detail how 50 Cent would rob specific big-name rappers.

This willingness to rap openly and brashly and the attention it attracted came back to haunt him however. His first post-success brush with death came shortly after the release of "How to Rob" when he was stabbed at the Hit Factory studio on West 54th Street in Manhattan. Shortly afterward came his most storied incident.