50 Cent Talks Cop Career, Being a 'Good Guy' and Favorite Acting Roles

By Theo Bark, The Boombox


In some ways, 50 Cent's life story reads like any other MC's. He sold drugs, got shot, became the biggest rapper in the world, made unbelievably successful business deals and went on to act alongside his favorite gangster movie stars. While virtually every rapper has made similar claims, from Nas to Jay-Z, 50's story is unique in that it actually happened, and can be supported by the public record.

The 37-year-old native of the South Jamaica neighborhood in New York City's Queens, was born Curtis Jackson and began selling drugs at 12, received a six-month jail sentence at 16, launched a late, not-especially-noteworthy rap career at 21, then his desperate 1999 single "How to Rob" earned him the ire of his would-be peers and nine bullet wounds.