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Marketing, Real or Both?
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| 50 Cent is being touted as the hottest rapper
in the music industry. But when you tell him this, the twenty-seven
year-old will quickly deny it by saying the man who signed him, Eminem,
is the hottest rapper.
Good answer. |
| But 50 Cent (aka Curtis Jackson) is more than
just a smoothtalker, this former crack dealer is being marketed as the
future of Rap.
With some artists, people look at them and wanna be that artist. I don't
think people wanna be me. I do have defects of character. So just who is
50 Cent? Is he all marketing, the real deal... or both? |
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| 50's Aftermath debut, Get Rich or Die Tryin',
was released February 6, 2003 and in less than two weeks became the
best-selling debut album since SoundScan started its tracking system
back in 1991. It became the top-seller on Billboard's albums chart,
moving over 872,000 copies, according to SoundScan figures released
February 12. That first week, Get Rich or Die Tryin' sold more
copies than all the other top 10 albums combined.
But 50 Cent is more than just numbers. He's drama. "When I
get mad, I can do things and say things that aren't nice." |
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| Although he'd already burned holes in the
hip-hop underground, 50 Cent first received national attention after
being questioned by authorities in regards to the assassination of his
mentor Jam Master Jay. Previous to this, the rapper suffered the murder
of his drug-dealing mother at the age of eight, sold crack since the age
of twelve and, more recently, was a victim of a shooting that left him
punctured with nine bullet holes, including one to the face. Combine
catchy true-to-life murder ballads with the fact that he rides around in
an SUV that's both bullet and bombproof, and it's clear to see
that 50's thug life is a major spoke in the marketing wheel. His
hardcore life experiences fit neatly into the stereotypical box the
music industry is so fond of shoving rap artists into. |
| Perhaps that is why many
other popular underground artists such as Journalist and J-Live are
still underground in terms of record sales. No one denies the talent and
appeal of these artists. But perhaps their marketing downfall is the
fact that they speak on education, family values, spirituality and
respect; subjects and concepts indigestible to the rap machine-beast
that feeds on images of the ultraviolent rage-filled Black male. continue-> |
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| And
besides, as many marketing geniuses will tell you, people don't want to
hear Black guys talking about love or education. That's not real.
And that's not what sells. |
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| Maybe it doesn't sell simply
for that fact that it's not hyped.
If less violent, but equally talented emcees had the same marketing
frenzy behind them, perhaps their record sales, too, might skyrocket.
But we'll never know as long as the cycle of "They don't want it,
so I'm not selling it/I didn't hear it on the radio, so it must not be
any good" mentality continues.
Definitely not one to let the marketing machine speak for him, 50
Cent sums it up:
"People look at me and they go, 'Well, he's crazy.' I'm all
right with that."
Until we, the savvy hip-hop consumers, decide to speak for ourselves
as well, 50 Cent will remain what he is; a real talent with a
violent past and dubious future, marketed to the world as the
best our hip-hop nation has to offer. |
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Born:
1976 -- Queens, NY
Given Name: Curtis Jackson
Interesting
Facts:
- Unfortunately,
50 Cent's mom, Sabrina, was murdered when he was eight years old.
She was a drug dealer.
- 50
Cent was raised in Queens by his grandparents.
- He
entered the "family business" and began selling crack
cocaine when he was just twelve.
- 50
Cent's first arrest happened at his high school when he was busted
in gym class for the hidden crack vials in his sneakers.
- His
crack operation grew to gross over $5,000 a day, but he saw rap as a
way to get out of the game and performed rhymes at parties.
- His
big opportunity came in the form of the late Jam Master Jay, who
signed 50 Cent to his JMJ label in 1996.
- Of the
late Jam Master Jay, 50 Cent says, "Jay taught me about bars,
Jay taught me how to write hooks and what was the purpose. And Jay
taught me how to write and make rap records. He made me want to
really rap and do this."
- After
catching the attention of the Trackmasters, in 1999 50 Cent signed a
deal with Columbia Records for $250,000.
- In
just over two weeks, he recorded thirty-six songs, some of which
ended up on his Columbia debut LP Power of a Dollar, deemed
by Blaze Magazine as a classic.
- With
the Columbia deal, he received a $65,000 advance. $50,000 went to
Jam Master Jay and $10,000 went to an attorney.
continue->
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- This
is what 50 Cent says he did with the remaining $5,000: "I
bought crack cocaine with it. How else you gonna provide for
yourself? I did thirty-six songs in eighteen days for Columbia. Then
I had eight months go by with no work going on."
- In the
summer of 1999, his first single was released. It was the comedic,
and now classic, single "How To Rob," which jokes about
jacking the hottest music celebrities of that time, including Mariah
Carey, Master P, Timbaland and Jay-Z.
- Not
everyone thought it was funny, though. Jay-Z, the late Big Pun,
Sticky Fingaz and Ghostface Killah all replied to the song.
- In
defense of "How To Rob," 50 Cent says, "When
robbery's not out of the question, it's kinda easy for a song like
that to fall into your thought pattern. Bigger artists have bigger
diamonds. Kids in the hood is looking at the TV, going, 'Damn it,
look at that shit he got on!' Rappers have egos, so I was
anticipating them being upset. But I didn't care, 'cause it had been
a year since the deal with Columbia, and I'm still selling
crack."
- After
a few of the lampooned celebrities complained, Columbia shelved the
album.
- In the
spring of 2000, 50 Cent was shot in the face, hand and legs by a man
with a nine millimeter at close range. He survived a total of nine
bullets.
- One of
the bullets lodged in his lower gum. There's still a gaping wound
where several of his rear teeth used to be.
- The
shooter has since moved on to the next life, but we're not sure why
or how.
- After
the shooting Columbia got really nervous and dropped 50 Cent like a
hot potato
- According
to 50 Cent, beef started with Ja Rule and Murder Inc. when Ja Rule
was robbed by a neighborhood acquaintance of 50 Cent's.
- In
response to this robbery 50 Cent had this to say: "Put it like
this, if you grew up where I grew up, you gonna know people who rob
people." When asked about the ongoing beef with Ja Rule, 50
Cent says, "He's pop. What makes him envy me is, I can sell
records the way he would like to sell records. People don't wanna
hear that story from him. He jumping around on TV too long in the
rain with Mary J. Blige."
- He was
allegedly stabbed during a recording-studio scuffle with Ja Rule's
posse.
continue->
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- That's
not a dimple on 50 Cent's left cheek. It's a bullet wound.
- After
Columbia released him, 50 Cent started selling his music straight to
bootleggers.
- Many
or the covers of his bootleg CDs feature 50 Cent brandishing some
sort of firearm.
- These
bootlegs gained him many fans, including Eminem, who, on a Los
Angeles radio show, declared 50 Cent his favorite rapper.
- After
a label bidding war, 50 Cent signed with Eminem's Shady/ Aftermath
for a reported amount of $1 million.
- His
first single for Aftermath, "Wanksta," first appeared on
the 8 Mile soundtrack.
- 50
Cent once said that Ja Rule was the inspiration for "Wanksta."
- 50
first received mainstream press in November 2002, when police
questioned him in the days following the murder of Jam Master Jay.
- A
three man security detail isn't enough to protect 50 Cent. He wears
a bullet-proof vest religiously, as does both members of his G-Unit
crew.
- 50
Cent's SUV is also bulletproof... and bombproof.
From
the Horse's Mouth:
"With some artists, people look at them and wanna be that
artist. I don't think people wanna be me. I'm still searching for my
purpose. I do have defects of character. When I get mad, I get mad. I
can do things and say things that aren't nice. And people, they look at
me and they go, 'Well, he's crazy.' I'm all right with that." - 50
Cent. End |
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