American rap artist, Curtis James Jackson III, or 50 Cent, was born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, New York on July 6, 1975. His mother’s mysterious death before his teen years sent Curtis to his grandmother.

Aside from selling drugs on the streets at 12 years old, 50 Cent also spent his time in the boxing gym. He eventually competed in the Olympics. His boxing career was cut short, though, as he got arrested several times for offenses related to drug-dealing. He was shot 9 times in 2000 before he was discovered by Eminem in 2002.

After signing a million dollar record deal through the efforts of Eminem and Dr. Dre, 50 Cent came out with his first album in 2003, Get Rich or Die Tryin’, which sold 872,000 copies in 4 days. He continued to gain recognition as he spawned one hit after another and branched out to other media forms like gaming, television, and the movies. He also came up with his own label, G-Unit, courtesy of his recording company Interscope.

50 Cent credits the birth of his son, Marquise Jackson, for his change in priorities. Proof of this is his sincerity to his craft which has brought him 11 Grammy nominations. His latest album, Curtis, was released last September 2007.

Kendall Coffey comments on the Michael Jackson case on CNN.

Learn more about Kendall Coffey in his attorney profile and article archive.

This site has collected quotations from former US Attorney Kendall Coffey.