50 Cent

BillBoard 's third-best rapper, 50 Cent - Curtis James Jackson III began his musical career in 2000 taking references & inspiration from Nas, Rakim and The Notorious B.I.G in 2000. When 50 Cent released the Guess Who's Back compilation album? in 2002, it led him to be discovered by Eminem & signed with Shady Records. With the support of Eminem and Dr. Dre, 50 Cent became one of the best-selling artists in the world and rose to fame with the East Coast hip hop collective G-Unit, which he de facto leads.

50 Cent began rapping in a friend's basement, where he used turntables to record over instrumentals. In 1996, a friend introduced him to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC who taught him how to count bars, write choruses, structure songs and make records. Jackson's popularity began to grow after the successful single 'How to Rob'& had critical success with his second album, The Massacre, which was released in 2005. He released Animal Ambition, his fifth studio album in 2014. He also executive produced and starred in the show Power, which airs on Starz. 50 Cent has sold over 30 million albums worldwide winning several awards including the likes of Grammy Awards, Billboard Music Awards & BET Awards.