Early Years
His mother was murdered in 1983 after someone drugged her drink, closed the windows, and turned on the gas.
As a child, his aunt killed his dog by spraying roach spray in the dog's bowl. He used to sell coke to his own aunts and uncles who didn't know he was a dealer. He told them he'd get the drugs from his friend.
50 shot someone with a .380 six-shot pistol when he was in junior high school after a group of kids attempted to rob him.
He started boxing at age 11.
He earned his GED while in jail.
Power of the Dollar
He admitted to once considered murdering mentor Jam Master Jay instead of paying JMJ the $50,000 he was owed when 50 signed to Columbia. He was quoted saying, "I'm thinking it's cheaper to kill him. I give a nigga 10 cent, blow his f**kin' head off." He later expressed regret over those thoughts.
He wrote "How To Rob" in 30 minutes while in a car on the way to his studio. "How To Rob" originally had shots at Nas and Mariah Carey but was removed at Trackmasters' insistence. After dissing 50 on Supreme Clientele because of "How To Rob," Ghostface called up Hot 97 while 50 and G-Unit were on Angie Martinez's show and they squashed their beef on the air.
"Ghetto Qu'ran" was only recorded after 50's then manager Chaz "Slim" Williams gave the approval. 50 and Slim later had a falling out and the record was pulled but it eventually leaked along with the rest of Power of a Dollar. He later implicated Chaz in his attempted murder on "Many Men" saying, "Slim switched sides on me/Let ni**as ride on me/I thought we was cool, why you want me to die homie?"
He was shot two days before he was supposed to shoot the "Thug Love" video with Destiny's Child.
Fredro Starr admits 50 punched him in the face at the 2003 VIBE Awards.
His beef with Ja Rule stems from an Onyx video shoot where Ja Rule's chain was robbed. Benzino was at the Hit Factory for an unrelated session the night that 50 was stabbed by Murder Inc. associates and helped the injured rapper escape the melee.
Getting Signed
Prince Markie Dee of the Fat Boys tried to give 50 the fade when he played his music for him and Cory Rooney, Sr. VP of A&R at Columbia in 1997. 50 retorted, "Ya'll niggas is mad old school!", and took his tape back.
Shady Records A&R Riggs Morales got Eminem into 50 Cent's music by getting his driver/security guard to play 50 Cent Is The Future in the car while Em was doing press for The Eminem Show.
50 signed to Shady/Aftermath for $1 million despite other labels offering him larger advances.
After he recorded his verse for his first Eminem collaboration, "Love Me," 50 declared, "That white boy just saved my life."
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
His manager Sha Money XL ended up being his engineer during the mixtape days because they couldn't afford a real engineer. But even after 50 got his advance, he had Sha engineer most of Get Rich because he was, as Sha said, a "cheap bastard."
According to Tony Yayo, Kanye West was in the studio when 50 recorded "Heat" and "P.I.M.P."
Dr. Dre didn't want "21 Questions" to be on Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
D12 originally had the beat for "In Da Club" but passed on it because they didn't know what to do with it. DJ Quik played percussion on "In Da Club." When he met Tech N9ne, he told Tech, "I bought Mike Tyson's mansion off of one song, 'In Da Club.'" He was sued for copyright infringement in 2006 for allegedly stealing his opening lines on "In Da Club" from Uncle Luke's "It's Your Birthday." The case was dropped later that year.
He wrote most of Get Rich in the long car rides to Sha Money XL's studio in Westbury.
According to Tony Yayo, Busta Rhymes and Rakim both tried and failed to rhyme over the beat for "Heat" before 50 came in and killed it.
An early version of the beat to "If I Can't" appears in Dr. Dre's Coors Light ad.
Eminem once gave him an original drawing of the Get Rich or Die Tryin' cover for his birthday.
The Massacre
He became the first solo artist to have three singles in the Billboard top five in the same week with "Candy Shop," "Disco Inferno," and "How We Do." Fat Joe originally had the beat for "Candy Shop" and claims he helped produce it with Scott Storch but he passed on it.
He recorded "P.I.M.P. Pt. II" for The Massacre but deleted the song because Dr. Dre didn't like it.
Curtis/Before I Self Destruct
The original title of "Ayo Technology" was "Ayo Pornography," but Interscope asked to have the title changed.
Scott Boogie was credited as the producer of "I Get Money" until it was discovered that he actually stole the beat from Apex.
About Jay-Z
He ran into Jay-Z backstage at Summer Jam right after "How To Rob" dropped. Jay-Z told him that he'd respond and went on stage and spit his infamous "I'm about a dollar" line. He used to play a clip of Jay-Z's infamous "I'm about a dollar what the f**k is 50 Cent?" line when opening his shows.
During the Roc The Mic tour, 50 and Jay were friendly; 50 would kick it with Jay in his dressing room. According to 50, Reebok opted to do a 50 Cent and Jay-Z shoe line after they lost the bid for LeBron James to Nike.
About The Game
According to both Sha Money XL and Aftermath A&R Angelo Sanders, 50 laid the hook to Game's "Church For Thugs" (which Game later re-recorded) in the basement of Jimmy Iovine's house. Thus Game's G-Unit relationship was born.
According to Game, Dr. Dre initially made the "Higher" beat for 50, but 50 passed on it.
He got into a "shoving match" with Game before the release of Game's Documentary; the fight was the source of their tension.
Miscellaneous
His nickname for Chelsea Handler was "gator" because she was wild in bed.
Despite his numerous drug and alcohol references, he doesn't drink or smoke.
He told Howard Stern that he broke up with Vivica A. Fox because he felt her publicist was interfering too much in their relationship.
In December 2008, he admitted to losing millions of dollars in the stock market as an investor because of the financial downturn.
He has a dog named Oprah and a cat named Gayle.
In November 2009, 50 Cent won in a lawsuit against Taco Bell over the fast food chain using his name to promote the brand without his permission.
When Mobb Deep signed to G-Unit, he gave Prodigy and Havoc each Porsches as signing bonuses.
He was sued by the orthopedic surgeon who cared for him after his shooting for stiffing him for $32,000 in medical bills.
His mother was murdered in 1983 after someone drugged her drink, closed the windows, and turned on the gas.
As a child, his aunt killed his dog by spraying roach spray in the dog's bowl. He used to sell coke to his own aunts and uncles who didn't know he was a dealer. He told them he'd get the drugs from his friend.
50 shot someone with a .380 six-shot pistol when he was in junior high school after a group of kids attempted to rob him.
He started boxing at age 11.
He earned his GED while in jail.
Power of the Dollar
He admitted to once considered murdering mentor Jam Master Jay instead of paying JMJ the $50,000 he was owed when 50 signed to Columbia. He was quoted saying, "I'm thinking it's cheaper to kill him. I give a nigga 10 cent, blow his f**kin' head off." He later expressed regret over those thoughts.
He wrote "How To Rob" in 30 minutes while in a car on the way to his studio. "How To Rob" originally had shots at Nas and Mariah Carey but was removed at Trackmasters' insistence. After dissing 50 on Supreme Clientele because of "How To Rob," Ghostface called up Hot 97 while 50 and G-Unit were on Angie Martinez's show and they squashed their beef on the air.
"Ghetto Qu'ran" was only recorded after 50's then manager Chaz "Slim" Williams gave the approval. 50 and Slim later had a falling out and the record was pulled but it eventually leaked along with the rest of Power of a Dollar. He later implicated Chaz in his attempted murder on "Many Men" saying, "Slim switched sides on me/Let ni**as ride on me/I thought we was cool, why you want me to die homie?"
He was shot two days before he was supposed to shoot the "Thug Love" video with Destiny's Child.
Fredro Starr admits 50 punched him in the face at the 2003 VIBE Awards.
His beef with Ja Rule stems from an Onyx video shoot where Ja Rule's chain was robbed. Benzino was at the Hit Factory for an unrelated session the night that 50 was stabbed by Murder Inc. associates and helped the injured rapper escape the melee.
Getting Signed
Prince Markie Dee of the Fat Boys tried to give 50 the fade when he played his music for him and Cory Rooney, Sr. VP of A&R at Columbia in 1997. 50 retorted, "Ya'll niggas is mad old school!", and took his tape back.
Shady Records A&R Riggs Morales got Eminem into 50 Cent's music by getting his driver/security guard to play 50 Cent Is The Future in the car while Em was doing press for The Eminem Show.
50 signed to Shady/Aftermath for $1 million despite other labels offering him larger advances.
After he recorded his verse for his first Eminem collaboration, "Love Me," 50 declared, "That white boy just saved my life."
Get Rich Or Die Tryin'
His manager Sha Money XL ended up being his engineer during the mixtape days because they couldn't afford a real engineer. But even after 50 got his advance, he had Sha engineer most of Get Rich because he was, as Sha said, a "cheap bastard."
According to Tony Yayo, Kanye West was in the studio when 50 recorded "Heat" and "P.I.M.P."
Dr. Dre didn't want "21 Questions" to be on Get Rich or Die Tryin'.
D12 originally had the beat for "In Da Club" but passed on it because they didn't know what to do with it. DJ Quik played percussion on "In Da Club." When he met Tech N9ne, he told Tech, "I bought Mike Tyson's mansion off of one song, 'In Da Club.'" He was sued for copyright infringement in 2006 for allegedly stealing his opening lines on "In Da Club" from Uncle Luke's "It's Your Birthday." The case was dropped later that year.
He wrote most of Get Rich in the long car rides to Sha Money XL's studio in Westbury.
According to Tony Yayo, Busta Rhymes and Rakim both tried and failed to rhyme over the beat for "Heat" before 50 came in and killed it.
An early version of the beat to "If I Can't" appears in Dr. Dre's Coors Light ad.
Eminem once gave him an original drawing of the Get Rich or Die Tryin' cover for his birthday.
The Massacre
He became the first solo artist to have three singles in the Billboard top five in the same week with "Candy Shop," "Disco Inferno," and "How We Do." Fat Joe originally had the beat for "Candy Shop" and claims he helped produce it with Scott Storch but he passed on it.
He recorded "P.I.M.P. Pt. II" for The Massacre but deleted the song because Dr. Dre didn't like it.
Curtis/Before I Self Destruct
The original title of "Ayo Technology" was "Ayo Pornography," but Interscope asked to have the title changed.
Scott Boogie was credited as the producer of "I Get Money" until it was discovered that he actually stole the beat from Apex.
About Jay-Z
He ran into Jay-Z backstage at Summer Jam right after "How To Rob" dropped. Jay-Z told him that he'd respond and went on stage and spit his infamous "I'm about a dollar" line. He used to play a clip of Jay-Z's infamous "I'm about a dollar what the f**k is 50 Cent?" line when opening his shows.
During the Roc The Mic tour, 50 and Jay were friendly; 50 would kick it with Jay in his dressing room. According to 50, Reebok opted to do a 50 Cent and Jay-Z shoe line after they lost the bid for LeBron James to Nike.
About The Game
According to both Sha Money XL and Aftermath A&R Angelo Sanders, 50 laid the hook to Game's "Church For Thugs" (which Game later re-recorded) in the basement of Jimmy Iovine's house. Thus Game's G-Unit relationship was born.
According to Game, Dr. Dre initially made the "Higher" beat for 50, but 50 passed on it.
He got into a "shoving match" with Game before the release of Game's Documentary; the fight was the source of their tension.
Miscellaneous
His nickname for Chelsea Handler was "gator" because she was wild in bed.
Despite his numerous drug and alcohol references, he doesn't drink or smoke.
He told Howard Stern that he broke up with Vivica A. Fox because he felt her publicist was interfering too much in their relationship.
In December 2008, he admitted to losing millions of dollars in the stock market as an investor because of the financial downturn.
He has a dog named Oprah and a cat named Gayle.
In November 2009, 50 Cent won in a lawsuit against Taco Bell over the fast food chain using his name to promote the brand without his permission.
When Mobb Deep signed to G-Unit, he gave Prodigy and Havoc each Porsches as signing bonuses.
He was sued by the orthopedic surgeon who cared for him after his shooting for stiffing him for $32,000 in medical bills.