He was raised by a single mother in the neighborhood of Jamaica. Early Lifeĥ0 Cent was born Curtis James Jackson III on July 6, 1975, in the borough of Queens in New York City.
His career has been littered with feuds with other rappers, arrests and legal and financial difficulties, while his recent recording output has been sporadic. One of the leading figures in early 21st-century "gangsta" rap, with side projects including the hip hop group G-Unit, investments in soda water companies and video games, 50 Cent has since branched out to become an actor and businessman. After an early life of crime, drugs and violence, he turned to rap, rocketing to stardom with the album Get Rich or Die Tryin' in 2003. Curtis Jackson, known as 50 Cent, is a hip hop artist and businessman who became famous for his streetwise raps and rags-to-riches life story.