50 Cent G Unit

His lockjaw delivery makes him look as gangsta as Marlon "the Godfather" Brando, but 50 Cent is no actor, folks. In fact, his unique articulation has to do with a hole in his jaw, the result of having taken a bullet in the face (along with eight other shots taken to the rest of his body). He managed to defeat the odds by leaving the street hustle behind before it was too late, transforming his life of crime into a profession in rhyme. Whether rapping about the streets, the clubs, or even certain candy shops, 50 has quickly emerged as one of hip-hop's most dominant and talked about superstars to date.

Born Curtis Jackson, the New York native was raised in a drug-infested area of South Jamaica, Queens, and so, naturally, he was introduced to the negative side of the ghetto at an early age. 50 never knew his father, and his mother was a crack cocaine dealer and addict who was murdered in her own home by an unknown assailant at the age of 23. Only 8 years old at the time, 50 moved in with his grandparents, where he eventually followed in the footsteps of his mother by the age of 12. In tenth grade, he was arrested and given juvenile probation for possession of narcotics. 50 dropped out of school shortly thereafter. He continued his hustle, but the law caught up with him again, this time twice in a matter of three weeks. Perhaps these arrests put things in perspective for young 50, because soon after, he began to show an interest in writing rhymes with a few of his buddies. One of his crew introduced him to the late Jam Master Jay of Run-D.M.C., who showed 50 the ropes and produced a few unreleased tracks for him.

Never losing focus, 50 moved on and recorded another album, Power of the Dollar, this time with Columbia Records. But two months before he was set to debut in 2000, he suffered those infamous nine point-blank gunshot wounds and was dropped from his label as a result. This turned out to be a blessing in disguise, however. Although the Power of the Dollar album was shelved, its catchiest single, "How to Rob," was featured in countless mix tapes circulating across the East Coast. And they inevitably made it to the West Coast and onto the Internet. The song became a turning point in 50's career. In it, he paints portraits of how he'd stick up random celebrities, from Mariah Carey to members of the Wu-Tang Clan to even Jay-Z. The single sparked not only controversy within the industry but also extreme popular demand from hip-hop fans.

His budding popularity, legendary invulnerability to bullets, and expertise in verbal assaults earned him the right to sign with Eminem and Dr. Dre in 2003. In doing so, he's sold more albums in two years (Get Rich or Die Tryin' and The Massacre) than most artists in any music genre can dream of selling in their entire careers. GameSpot recently filmed exclusive interviews with 50 Cent, the G-Unit, and the producer of the upcoming video game 50 Cent: Bulletproof. Watch the videos in this special feature for the latest on the world's premier rapper and his new video game. Sign me up to receive email updates on the latest news, contests and videos for 50 Cent and other Interscope Records artists.

Gunit 50 Cent

---

How to Construct Chords and Improvise

How To Construct Basic Chords on the PianoThe easiest way to start learning how to build chords is to practice their constructions in the key of C Major. You're just playing all white... Read More

Karaoke Singing

This article is designed to help anyone to enjoy karaoke and improve their singing performance whether it be as a "virgin" karaoke singer or as someone starting out on a singing career. It... Read More

50 Cent

More so than any other music since the blues, hip-hop is all about stories. And its stories are both criminal minded and grand, making them enthralling and unbelievable, but also making them only... Read More

The Secrets of Correctly Stringing Your Guitar

Why do you care about stringing your guitar you may ask. Well the reason is simple. It will make you sound better because if your guitar is properly strung, you will get longer... Read More

Downloading MP3s Made Easy

The MP3 movement started out with a huge audience of music enthusiasts on the internet. The MP3 digital music format has had, and will continue to have, a huge impart on how people,... Read More

?Who Else Wants to Get Screwed When Signing a Recording or Songwriting Deal?!?!?

You've got your recording (or songwriting) contract in hand and everything's coming up roses, right? You get your check, finally, but it's not quite what you expected. If you sign not knowing what's... Read More

The Life and Music of Beatle George Harrison

Propelled into fame as one of the Beatles, along with Paul McCartney, John Lennon, and Ringo Starr, George Harrison was known as the "quiet one" of the group, and also as the "spiritual... Read More

Zen and the Art of New Age Piano

We all want to be in the moment. That's where real transformation takes place. For some, walking gets them there. Others like to play sports or watch movies. For me, it's playing the... Read More

Ouch, It Hurts When I Sing!

When I first set out to write this article about voice problems in singers, I was looking for two experts from contrasting fields of medicine ? "medical" and "holistic". What I found, instead,... Read More

Defining The True Artist - Do You Have What It Takes?

"The real communicating artists seek unique expression. They are not interested anymore in sounding like their heroes, they are searching constantly, developing and refining their own unique voice."There are musicians who are more... Read More

Piano Playing is Easier than You Think When You Understand Musical Form

Form is the key that unlocks the musical map of a song or a musical compostition. Like a house has rooms, so a song has rooms or sections.Chord progressions come in sections, like... Read More

How Can You Make A Rock Vocal Sound Better?

Admit it... you were expecting a magic answer to this one. You were going to get advice on what plug-ins and effects can turn an ordinary vocal into that of a true rock... Read More

Piano Music, Perfectionism, and Self-Expression

Is your heart in the music? If so, it won't matter what you play so much as what is received through your playing. Do you still think you need to learn 43 chords... Read More

Does Reading Make Music?

When you read music you are deciphering the printed page and transferring the information to the keyboard. You might say that you are decoding what the composer or arranger put on the page... Read More

Music Downloads: Free & Low Cost Ways For Musicians To Get Their Music Known All Over The World

Music downloads are highly compressed audio files transferred onto a personal computer from an Internet website or P2P (peer to peer) program. From IPOD's to MP3 players galore, music downloading is seen as... Read More

How to Find Musical Ideas

The Russian Composer Igor Stravinsky once said: " A good composer does not imitate; he steals."I think what he meant by this is that it's OK to use a technique developed by another... Read More

Rabbitt Productions - Up & Coming Atlanta Producer

When you think of music in Atlanta you generally think of Crunk Music but there is more to Atlanta's musical soundscape than that. Lots of young musicians in the A-Town venture off into... Read More

Dierks Bentley Brings The Heat From Nashville To The North!

Dierks Bentley is more than meets the eye, but what does meet the eye is pretty darn hard not to look at. His presence is warm, inviting and you feel like you just... Read More

Bang on Your Drum All Day Long - Without Annoying Your Neighbors!

Bang! Bam! Bang! Have you always wanted to play the drums, but are afraid your neighbors would call the police on you?Do you want to bang on your drum all day, but are... Read More

Can You Really Learn To Play a Musical Instrument From an Online Course?

Out of the 250 million people in the United States, about 25 million of them play an instrument of some kind, or used to when they were in school and would like to... Read More

Is the Mainstream Ready Once Again for Dance Music?

Not since the heyday of Dance/Pop Artists like Taylor Dayne and Paula Abdul has Dance Music been a mainstream category. Today, "Dance Music" as defined by Billboard's Dance Club Chart represents only a... Read More

Living Life Loud

Change is good. Just ask the millions of unsigned artists worldwide trying to get their music heard. Since the music industry is changing drastically, unsigned musicians are able to make their music available... Read More

Chords or Melody First... Which is Best?

There are basically two ways you can compose a piece of music. The first and most traditional way is to write out the melody and then harmonize it. Some call this working from... Read More

The Revolution has begun - and it will not be Televised The new Artist Development Paradigm

In reflecting on the world of the Music Business in 2004, there were some very profound and dramatic changes that changed the nature of the Music Business itself. 2004 will always be remembered... Read More

Discover The Perfect Place To Perform

Once you know what your Unique Selling Proposition is as a musician (we covered this in the last issue), it's time to ask yourself what kind of venue you want to be letting... Read More

Piano Lessons Can be Fun!

There are essentially two ways to learn piano - note reading or chords. For those who want to spend years learning how to play other peoples music, note reading is the way to... Read More

The Various Countries - A Rant About Country Music

It is no secret that over the past couple decades country music has struggled with it's identity far more than any other genre in the industry. At this point nobody can really claim... Read More

Wal-Mart Music Downloads, Napster and Other Legal Digital Music Download Sites

Digital Music Download. Ever since file-sharing programs entered the hard drives of our computers, people have wanted the best place for a digital music download. Music companies have had to figure out what... Read More

Killer Piano Playing Secrets of a Chord Addict!

I wish you could have seen me play the piano when I was just learning. I was the nearest thing to "hopeless" that you could imagine. I was into baseball, not music ?... Read More