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50 Cent is a mogul of epic proportions, and his success in the business world is as undeniable as his place in the rap history books. Although he has made quite a habit of trolling his counterparts on social media, surprisingly, he spends most of his time focusing on business. From Hollywood to the fitness industry and much more, he has made a lot of money by making informed decisions. However, the Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ creator believes he has an advantage over suits that have been doing it for years.

Rappers like Jay-Z have previously suggested that street life can set you up nicely for business. With all that it throws at you, it takes an unfathomable amount of skill to climb from the poverty-stricken life of the inner city to the top of the charts.

Like a game of snakes and ladders, with a constant target on your back and money exchanging hands, one must be fairly nimble to avoid prison and death itself. This isn’t just an analogy but something Jay-Z chronicled in his debut album, Reasonable Doubt.

Few think about it in such a way, but when one correctly analyses the way of surviving on a daily basis, it becomes clear. Whether you’re selling drugs or selling cars, you’re a salesman, and profit is the name of the game. You will have competition, and you will pay a price, but that’s business. 50 Cent is no different.

During his teenage years, 50 Cent was in the streets. As such, before he began a music career he had set up shop in Queens and quickly made enemies. Although he was successful, due to all the stress that came with he started to consider a career in rap music, as many locals were. After releasing mixtapes locally, his talent was recognized in the late 1990s by Queens legend DJ Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, who took him under his wing. 

The DJ helped him gain contacts, and by 1999, according to 50 Cent, he had become so prominent in New York that he signed a deal with Columbia Records. Although he signed a contract, the rapper has often highlighted that he was rushed and coerced into releasing a debut album.

Entitled Power of the Dollar, Fifty, along with his project, got shelved because the label saw him as a liability after an alarming incident. In 2000, the streetlife caught up with Fifty, and he was shot nine times in front of his grandmother’s house.

The ‘Candy Shop’ lyricist was shot by what he has previously described as a “low-level” drug dealer. Bullets entered his body via his hand, arm, hip, legs, chest, and face, resulting in a permanently, partially visible hole in his face. He once highlighted it on the UK late-night talk show The Graham Norton Show and even allowed Julie Walters to feel the hole.

However, in 2005, the year that Fifty released his album, The Massacre, court documents surfaced. The dossier revealed that the infamous Queens druglord, Kenneth McGriff, tried to get Fifty murdered due to the rapper referencing him in a 2000 song called ‘Ghetto Qur’an.’

However, this wasn’t the first time the ‘Stunt 101’ artist had been exposed to violence. The murder of his mother when he was just 12 had toughened him already. As such, like Jay-Z, he has previously insisted that the desensitization to death has led to business dealings not feeling scary and, with the element of murder removed, relatively passive.

Speaking to the Guardian in 2009 about how his life experience has benefitted him over the years, 50 Cent detailed, “I will be the person with the least amount of fear in the room when we’re negotiating business because I’ll weigh it up against situations far more dramatic than a deal going bad – like the loss of my mom, or the confusion after being shot. Not knowing what I was going to do with my life after being shot hurt more than being physically shot.”

Although it’s in no way glamorising the lifestyle, 50 Cent is sure that it has all been to his advantage. You can hear the song that led to Fifty’s near-death experience below.