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Curtis James Jackson IIIΒ (born July 6, 1975), known professionally asΒ 50 Cent,Β is an American rapper, actor, and television producer. Born inΒ Queens, a borough ofΒ New York City, Jackson began pursuing a musical career in 1996. In 1999β2000, he recorded his debut albumΒ Power of the DollarΒ forΒ Columbia Records; however, he was struck by nine bullets during a shooting in May 2000, causing its release to be cancelled. Jackson is to be dropped from the label. His 2002 mixtape,Β Guess Who's Back?, was discovered by Detroit rapperΒ Eminem, who signed Jackson to his labelΒ Shady Records, an imprint ofΒ Dr. Dre'sΒ Aftermath EntertainmentΒ andΒ Interscope RecordsΒ that same year.
His debut studio album,Β Get Rich or Die Tryin' (2003), was released to critical acclaim and commercial success. Peaking atop theΒ Billboard200, it spawned theΒ BillboardΒ Hot 100-number singles "In da Club" and "21 Questions" (featuringΒ Nate Dogg). It receivedΒ nonuple platinum certification by theΒ Recording Industry Association of AmericaΒ (RIAA). That same year, he launched the record labelΒ G-Unit Records, the namesake ofΒ a hip-hop groupΒ he formed two years prior; the label's initial signees were its members, fellow East Coast rappersΒ Lloyd BanksΒ andΒ Tony Yayo. His second album,Β The MassacreΒ (2005), was met with similar success and supported by his third number-one single, "Candy Shop" (featuringΒ Olivia). He adopted a lighter, further commercially oriented approach for his third and fourth albums,Β CurtisΒ (2007) andΒ Before I Self DestructΒ (2009)βboth were met with critical and commercial declinesβand aimed for a return to his roots with his fifth album,Β Animal AmbitionΒ (2014), which was met with mixed reviews. He has since focused on his career in television and media, having executive-produced and starred in the television seriesΒ PowerΒ (2014β2020), as well as its numerous spin-offs under his companyΒ G-Unit Films and Television Inc.
Jackson has sold over 30Β million albums worldwide and earnedΒ several accolades, including aΒ Grammy Award, aΒ Primetime Emmy Award, thirteenΒ BillboardΒ Music Awards, sixΒ World Music Awards, threeΒ American Music AwardsΒ and fourΒ BET Awards.Β In his acting career, Jackson first starred in the semi-autobiographical filmΒ Get Rich or Die Tryin'Β (2005), which received critical panning. He was also cast in the war filmΒ Home of the BraveΒ (2006) and the crime thrillerΒ Righteous KillΒ (2008).Β BillboardΒ ranked Jackson as 17th on their "50 Greatest Rappers" list in 2023.Β and named him the sixth top artist of the 2000s decade.Β Rolling StoneΒ rankedΒ Get Rich or Die Tryin'Β and "In da Club" in its lists of the "100 Best Albums of the 2000s" and "100 Best Songs of the 2000s" at numbers 37 and 13, respectively.
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