50 Cent

50 Cent announces three UK arena dates for November as part of his Get Rich or Die Tryin’ – 20 Years Later tour, stopping at Manchester, London and Birmingham. The UK performances follow his special appearance at London’s Wireless Festival on 9 July.

East Coast rapper 50 Cent’s return couldn’t have been made to a larger audience when he appeared hanging upside down to perform ‘In Da Club’ for Dr. Dre’s Super Bowl half time show. Having released ‘Power Powder Respect’ in January, 2022 certainly looked to be the G-Unit rapper’s year.

Born Curtis James Jackson in Queens, New York in 1975, he was brought up by his grandmother and began rapping in his early twenties after meeting Jam Master Jay of Run DMC, who helped teach him all the tricks of the trade. Jackson soon became a prolific recording artist, but hit many hindrances on the way. His success would finally come when rising rap superstar Eminem invited him to Los Angeles to meet legendary producer Dr. Dre, who was impressed enough to help produce Jackson’s debut album Get Rich or Die Tryin’. Lead by single ‘In Da Club’, the 2003 debut was an instant hit and flew to the top of the Billboard 200.

The Massacre

Its follow up two years later, The Massacre, followed suit, featuring songs such as ‘Candy Shop’ and ‘Disco Inferno’ and selling over a million copies in a matter of days. Curtis, released in 2007, saw Jackson collaborate with the likes of Justin Timberlake, Mary J. Blige, Eminem and Akon, and featured classics from ‘Hustler’s Ambition’ to ‘Ayo Technology’. 2009’s Before I Self Destruct had a darker, more ominous tone thanks to tracks such as ‘Psycho’ and ‘The Invitation’. Animal Ambition (2014), loosely centred around the concept of prosperity and the good and the bad that comes with it.

Releasing Solid Gold Rhymes in 2019 as if by surprise announced that for all his other entrepreneurial pursuits, 50 Cent had not forgotten music. In 2022 the rapper released the single ‘Power Powder Respect’ with Jeremih and Lil Durk, and shortly after made a surprise appearance on Dr. Dre’s Super Bowl half-time show, in which he recreated the video for ‘In Da Club’.