Rise to Fame
50 Cent got famous because somebody tried to kill him and failed. He took nine bullets outside his grandmother's house in May 2000, and Columbia Records dropped him while he was still recovering. He spent two years flooding the streets with mixtapes, and the bullet through his jaw gave his delivery a slur nobody else could fake. That voice became the hook. Eminem heard the Guess Who's Back? tape in 2002 and brought him to Dr. Dre. Get Rich or Die Tryin' debuted at number one in February 2003, moving 872,000 copies in its first week. The shooting should've ended his career. It became the entire brand.
In the Spotlight
He treated music like a storefront, not a career. The VitaminWater deal reportedly netted him around $100 million when Coca-Cola acquired Glaceau in 2007. Selling records was never going to be the real play. He filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2015 and walked out in 2017 with his business reputation oddly intact. He turned the Power franchise on Starz into four series. Sean Combs: The Reckoning, which he executive produced for Netflix, pulled 21.8 million views in six days. He's closer to a media conglomerate than a rapper.
Side Notes
Violence isn't 50 Cent's backstory. It's the constant. He named himself after Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn stickup artist. His mother dealt drugs in South Jamaica, Queens and died in a suspicious fire when he was eight. He's said someone drugged her drink and turned the gas on, and nobody faced charges. He still runs feuds with Ja Rule, Rick Ross, and Floyd Mayweather the way other people run hobbies. Most people outgrow their enemies. He collects new ones.