Although to the outside eye, it
may appear that I have very little in common with this man. This man is not
from the same continent as me, the same ethnicity as me, nor have we had
similar-or even comparable backgrounds. Yet this man continues to be my
greatest source of inspiration. He was born as Curtis Jackson III, but you
probably know him as 50 cent. The very same 50 cent who had an estimated net
worth of $140 million in 2014, and the very same 50 cent who has sold over
thirty million records worldwide, with three number one albums.
The reason why I find this man so
inspiring is not due to his pure success, but because of all the obstacles in
his life he has had to overcome. As a
teenager, growing up in the 21st century can be very challenging at
times, and after a long day I return and shut out the world by turning on his
music and appreciating just how lucky I am to of lived the life I have in the
shelter of being a North-West London Jew. 50 cent wasn’t so fortunate. He grew
up on the rough streets of Jamaica, Queens. He never met his father, and his
mother was murdered when he was just eight years old. His story isn’t about
dominance, it’s about survival. Jackson spent the rest of his childhood in his
Grandparents house living with his eight aunts and uncles. Whilst not a
glamorous lifestyle by any stretch of the imagination, the fact that his stage
name “50 cent” was chosen by him whilst he spent time in boot camp for getting
caught selling Class A drugs, to refer to him “providing for myself by any
means” is something I can look up to, and to a far lesser extent relate
to.
The next bit of his story in his
rise from street poverty to international stardom is what truly inspires me. He
started rapping in basements with cheap equipment and no experience. But he
worked hard for it. He decided that he had enough of living in what outsiders
would call “a ghetto.” Once again he took on the world, and won by defying the
odds by creating a controversial track “How to Rob” in just half an hour, that
gained attention of several world famous hip hop artists such as the
Wu-Tang-Clan, Nas and Jay-Z. From
standing on street corners, hustling for something to eat, to touring worldwide
with Nas within the space of a year.
However, amongst all this the
single most inspiring factor about this man for me, is rising to stardom
despite having nine bullets lodged into his body, in various places, including
one in the left cheek which altered his voice which threatened both his life
and career before they even had begun. In his autobiography, From
Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens, he wrote:
"After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to
think that I must have a purpose in life.”
That purpose, the same as his talent was soon to be discovered by the world.
From being on the brink of death, to having a global film “Get Rich or Die
Tryin” based around his own life in which he plays himself in the film.
I
myself was fortunate enough to see him and his rap group G-Unit perform live in
London and throughout the entire two and a half hour performance he never let
the smile on his face fade. As he said in an interview with BBC radio on the
same day “You can’t match the sales, but you can match the energy” and one
thing that has remained consistent throughout this man’s career is that he
stays hungry and always puts in 100%. In fact, the day that I am writing this
piece, 50 Cent is releasing a new mixtape in just a few hours time, and I can honestly
state that I cannot wait to hear what this man has to say once again, for he is
my inspiration.
