Z. B. Hill - 50 Cent

50 Cent

by Z.B. Hill

Superstars of
Hip-Hop

Alicia Keys

Beyonc

Black Eyed Peas

Ciara

Dr. Dre

Drake

Eminem

50 Cent

Flo Rida

Hip Hop:
A Short History

Jay-Z

Kanye West

Lil Wayne

LL Cool J

Ludacris

Mary J. Blige

Notorious B.I.G.

Rihanna

Sean Diddy Combs

Snoop Dogg

T.I.

T-Pain

Timbaland

Tupac

Usher

50 Cent

by Z.B. Hill

Mason Crest

50 Cent

Mason Crest 370 Reed Road Broomall, Pennsylvania 19008 www.masoncrest.com

Copyright 2013 by Mason Crest, an imprint of National Highlights, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission from the publisher.

Printed and bound in the United States of America.

First printing

9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hill, Z. B.
50 Cent / by Z.B. Hill.
p. cm. (Superstars of hiphop)
Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-4222-2509-7 (hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4222-2508-0 (series hardcover) ISBN 978-1-4222-9211-2 (ebook)

1. 50 Cent (Musician)Juvenile literature. 2. Rap musiciansUnited StatesBiographyJuvenile literature. I. Title. II. Title: Fifty Cent.

ML3930.A13H55 2012

782.421649092dc22

[B]

2011005802

Produced by Harding House Publishing Services, Inc.

www.hardinghousepages.com

Interior Design by MK Bassett-Harvey.

Cover design by Torque Advertising & Design.

Publishers notes:

All quotations in this book come from original sources and contain the spelling and grammatical inconsistencies of the original text.

The Web sites mentioned in this book were active at the time of publication. The publisher is not responsible for Web sites that have changed their addresses or discontinued operation since the date of publication. The publisher will review and update the Web site addresses each time the book is reprinted.

DISCLAIMER: The following story has been thoroughly researched, and to the best of our knowledge, represents a true story. While every possible effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the publisher will not assume liability for damages caused by inaccuracies in the data, and makes no warranty on the accuracy of the information contained herein. This story has not been authorized nor endorsed by 50 Cent.

Contents

Hip-Hop lingo

An album is a group of songs together on one CD.

Rap is a kind of music where rhymes are chanted, often with music in the background. When people rap , they make up these rhymes, sometimes off the top of their heads.

Lyrics are the words in a song.

A nightclub is a place where people dance and drink alcohol.

A live show is when a musician performs in front of a group of people.

A soundtrack is a collection of all the songs on a movie.

A contract is a written agreement between two people. Once youve signed a contract, its against the law to break it. When a musician signs a contract with a music company, the musician promises to give all her music to that company for them to produce as CDs and sell-and the music company promises to pay the musician a certain amount of money. Usually, a contract is for a certain period of time.

Debut is another word for first.

Critics are people who judge artistic works and say what is good and what is bad about them.

Hood is another way to say neighborhood. Its usually used in cities.

A label is a company that produces music and sells CDs.

50 Cent came out of nowhere. One day no one knew his name. The next day, everyone was talking about him. One day he was selling drugs on the street. The next day, he was one of the best known names in hip-hop. And it all happened before his first ever came out!

Hip-hop has lots of gangstas. Gangstas are tough rappers. They about crime, guns, and drugs. Lots of people call themselves gangstas, but not everyone really is. 50 Cent is one of the few real ones. He went through some rough stuff as a kid.

50 dealt drugs as a teenager. He got arrested and went to jail. At one point, he faced up to nine years in jail. He was only eighteen years old when that happened.

Things didnt get easier when he became a rapper. He stopped dealing drugs, but life stayed dangerous. Someone shot him with nine bullets, but he survived. Then someone stabbed him. He survived that too.

Anyone can rap about killing and drugs. But when 50 raps about that stuff, he raps from experience.

Starting on the Streets

In 2003, very few rap fans outside of New York City had heard of 50 Cent. He had a lot of fans in his hometown, though. He grew up in Queens, New York. He made some mixtapes and passed them around the neighborhood. Mixtapes are albums made at home. Usually theyre not very expensive to make. They let musicians record their music without paying a studio to do it.

These mixtapes became popular. People liked 50s .

Even with all the attention in his hometown, 50 Cent didnt become famous. Lucky for him, the rapper Eminem heard 50s music.

Eminem heard something special in 50s music. He saw that 50 had a chance at being one of the best in hip-hop. He thought 50 sounded like the rappers Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. Both those rappers died in the 1990s. They had grown up with violence and drugs, just like 50.

Eminem wanted to help the young rapper. So he gave him the chance of his life.

Getting Rich

Eminem made a movie called 8 Mile. It was a movie about his life. He decided to use some of 50s songs for the . Things were going great for 50. But then they got even better.

Eminem offered 50 Cent a album.

It worked. People were very excited about 50s first album. Someone stole the album from the studio before it was finished. People bought it on the street and downloaded it on the Internet. 50s album got popular before it even went to stores.

But 50 wasnt mad. He loved it! People stealing his record just meant people wanted to buy it. He was right. When the CD came out, it sold almost one million copies in one week! Stores couldnt keep enough copies on the shelves. By the end of the year, the album had gone platinum six times. Platinum means selling one million copies. 50 had sold six million!

Famed rapper Eminem and legendary music producer Dr. Dre flank 50 Cent at the 2004 Shady National Convention. Eminem discovered 50 Cent and convinced Dr. Dre to share the expense of signing him to a contract and producing his first album.