Hailing from Queens, 50 Cent gained instant notoriety after releasing his debut single "How To Rob." A comedic "jack-track" of sorts, the song described him robbing various prominent rappers of their jewels. It earned him a lot of buzz, but he also caught some flack from various emcees who were not amused by an unknown upstart taking lyrical shots at them. This may or may not have led to 50 Cent being shot and stabbed in 2000. He recorded his first LP Power of the Dollar with the Trackmasters, but it was never officially released. In the meantime, he'd become a fixture on NYC mixtapes, and was signed by Eminem's Shady Records label. 50's single "Wanksta" blew up from coast to coast, and his long-awaited debut LP Get Rich Or Die Tryin' finally came out in early 2003, easily going multi-platinum and propelling him to rap superstardom. Loaded with huge hits like "P.I.M.P." and "21 Questions," Get Rich smashed sales records and went on to sell over 10 million copies. Despite his massive success, 50 Cent kept grinding and embarked on building up his empire, releasing new albums and racking up more hit singles with his crew. G-Unit's Beg For Mercy topped the charts upon its release in late 2003, paving the way for solo LPs from Lloyd Banks (The Hunger For More) and Young Buck (Straight Outta Cashville). Like P. Diddy and Jay-Z before him, 50 Cent has also branched off into other business ventures, including a G-Unit clothing line, a sneaker deal with Reebok, and his own energy drink Formula 50 Vitamin Water. In 2005, he released his much-anticipated second album The Massacre, continued to sign new artists (Olivia, Spider Loc, Mobb Deep, Mase), dropped a million more mixtapes, put out a book, and starred in a semi-autobiographical movie about his dramatic rise from Queens crack dealer to international rap celebrity.
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