The reason why Monaco is one of 50 Cent’s favourite places
50 Cent is a proud New Yorker, born and raised in Queens. He loves his home city more than any other, but that’s not to say he doesn’t enjoy anywhere else.
His career blew up in the wake of his debut album, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, becoming a global smash. The album went straight to number one in the United States following its 2003, but it also did remarkably well in other countries. It turned 50 Cent into a global superstar.
As with any musician worth their salt, the success of 50’s studio work led directly into elaborate tours. He began travelling the world for gigs, which was an experience he enjoyed very much. He spoke about it to The Independent in 2004.
Reflecting on his travels, 50 highlighted one place in particular as being his favourite. Monaco, the teeny-tiny city-state in Western Europe, really jumped out at the rapper as a great place to be. To his mind, it was “just so laid back.”
Monaco is among the smallest sovereign states on Earth, second only to Vatican City. It has a population of just over 38,000 and its territory covers less than a square mile. It might seem a strange place to appeal to someone like 50 Cent, until one considers something else that distinguishes it. Monaco is considered to be one of the world’s wealthiest and most expensive places.
50 Cent is a man who covets money without shame, and clearly the wealth of Monaco sat very well with him. Noting that everyone there “seems to be in a more pleasant space,” he wondered if residents’ good moods might have something to do with the fact that “they have more money.”
50’s reasons for liking Monaco may seem quite materialistic and shallow, but, to be more generous, there is an understandable logic at play. He admitted during this interview that he’d never realised how different life could be in places faraway from where he knew. What he was used to, growing up in Queens, was violence.
“Some places they have next to no gun violence,” he said. “We have… a lot of gun violence.”
50’s materialistic urges can seem distasteful at times, but placed within the context of his upbringing they make a bit more sense. As a young man, he literally didn’t know life without a threat of violence. Discovering, as a result of his success, that there were places that weren’t like that was a big deal for him.