Rapper and prolific TV producer Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is getting all the way real about the nearly fatal incident he experienced in 2000 and how it altered his perspective on life and his career. And it’s surprisingly inspiring.
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In case you forgot, 25 years ago, right after he recorded his debut album “Power of a Dollar,” the “Power” producer was shot nine times while sitting in a car outside of his grandmother’s home. He sustained injuries in his chest, face, hand, arm, hip and both legs. Not too long after that, he was dropped from his label and “Power of a Dollar” was never released.
In a new interview on Fox News on Tuesday, 50 reflected on that moment and how it left him questioning how he was going to make it professionally and overcome the hurdles of trying to get his music back in front of the masses.
“As soon as you feel fine, the doctors are telling you you’re fine, you’re going to recover and you look and you go, ‘Whoa, what am I going to do?’ he explained. “The record company is not answering the phone anymore, everything is changing, and then it’s like you got to figure out how to do it on your own.”
50 continued: “We were in a different climate, so I couldn’t do anything that the new artists can do. They go record and upload music to YouTube and Apple iTunes. I had to trick bootleggers into thinking to steal it so they could reproduce it and distribute it for me, ’cause there were no other outlets to get it out.”
However, thanks to his hustling spirit, an eventual run-in with fellow rapper Eminem and subsequent backing from his label led him to release his debut album “Get Rich or Die Tryin’” which catapulted him into success.
When asked what advice he’d give to to others who were looking to draw inspiration from his journey, 50 shared that he’d want people to look at him and know that there are no excuses.
“There’s no situation that they can’t go through and still be successful…it’s just in me. I want to do things, I want to be successful. Some people don’t want to, they’ll just grab a tent and sit on the side of the street and not deal with any of the pressures that you would deal with coming to work,” he said.
50 can currently be seen narrating and producing a brand new series, “50 Ways to Catch A Killer.”
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