His cocky, laidback flow on singles like “Wanksta,” “In Da Club,” and “P.I.M.P.” gave rap a jolt and made 50 a star. Dre’s Aftermath Entertainment, Get Rich or Die Tryin’ was released. A year later, through a joint deal with Interscope and Dr. Featuring beats by Trackmasters, True Master, and Nottz, 50 dropped Guess Who’s Back?, a compilation that caught the attention of Eminem, who signed him to Shady Records. After healing from his injuries, he vowed to create music and bounce back from a failed deal (his 2000 album, Power To The Dollar, was shelved by Columbia after the shooting). This didn’t always work in his favor: In 2000, 50 was shot nine times in a parked car. No one was safe, and he governed his career with the same bravado. Case in point, his first single was “How To Rob,” a controversial track about stealing money from R&B singers, rappers, and Hollywood A-listers. The Queens-born rapper entered as hip-hop’s newest villain: a fearless, battle-ready MC who wanted to make a mark through unconventional methods.
The icons who built the genre in the 1980s and ‘90s had moved on or-in the cases of The Notorious B.I.G. In 2003, hip-hop was in transition it had become glossy and needed an antagonist-that's where Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson came in.
