The rise and rise of 50 Cent

50 Cent - In Da Club

By joining forces with hip-hop masterminds Eminem and Dr. Dre, 50 Cent burst onto the rap music scene with enormous force, backed by his aggressive lyrics and violent nature. His debut album shot straight to number one and sold 1.5 million copies in its first week and a half of release, the highest ever for a debut.

The hype surrounding 50's highly anticipated debut album lead to 50 Cent-mania. Anything rap-related these days has 50's face, thuggish voice, or the hook from "In Da Club" plastered all over it. It seemed as if 50 miraculously emerged from the streets as an overnight sensation. 50 has appeared on the cover of major magazines everywhere including Rolling Stone and XXL. His first release, "In Da Club", shot straight to the number one slot on radio and music video stations across the nation.

50 Cent's history as a drug dealer on the streets of New York, and the fact that he survived being shot 9 times in a gang-related attack in 2000 give him a level of authenticity that few other hip-hop artists with pretentions to being "gangsters" can match. The girls, guns, cars and bling that feature in each of the 50 Cent music videos, along with a series of games for Playstation and XBox featuring 50 as a vigilante style killer have all helped to cement a violent, thuggish image. But his street cred also stems from his success as an acclaimed lyricist, featured on various mix tapes in his early days on the hip hop scene. Most of these mix tapes circulated throughout the streets of New York City. And as the story goes, 50's raps on these mix tapes is what hooked Eminem's attention, which led to his $1 million signing to Shady Records and Dre's Aftermath Records, in turn leading to the release of Get Rich Or Die Tryin'. Watch 50 Cent videos online to get a taste of this international hip hop superstar.