50 Cent Says Surviving Nine Gunshots Changed His Entire Career Path
Being shot nine times reshaped 50 Cent’s life in a way that ultimately propelled his career.
During an interview with Fox News while promoting his new series "50 Ways to Catch a Killer, the entrepreneur reflected on the shooting and shared how it influenced his 2003 record, “Get Rich Or Die Trying.”
"It shifted my concept," he told the hosts.
“My first album concept was 'Power of a Dollar,' and then I went to 'Get Rich or Die Tryin',' the stakes just got higher.”
He opened up about his recovery and how it pushed him to take matters into his own hands.
“You look, and you go, well, what am I going to do?,” he began to share.
“The record company's not answering the phone anymore. Everything's changing. And then it's like, you got to figure out how to do it on your own.”
After being dropped from Columbia Records, 50 Cent doubled down by forming G-Unit and releasing a string of mixtapes and projects that caught the ear of Eminem. That co-sign ultimately led to his signing with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath label, where he recorded his first breakout record, “Wanksta.”
Reflecting on the track, he recalled how its rise was purely organic during an interview with BET.com back in 2023 while celebrating its 20th anniversary.
When “Wanksta” finally hit the streets, it wasn’t backed by a major label machine, but it was momentum built from the ground up.
“That record was organically connected. It actually was being picked up by radio, by radio DJs, without any make-sure assistance, there was no record company, nobody's saying play this, none of that s**t,” he explained.
With tastemakers like Stretch Armstrong spinning the track, the song began gaining traction on its own.
“The guys that were there at the time liked real hip-hop. And with no system in place it started playing on its own,” he explained. The buzz grew so strong that it even sparked a debate inside Shady Records. “There actually was a point where [Shady Records president] Paul [Rosenberg] wanted to take ‘Wanksta’ off to put a record that me and Em did for the 8 Mile soundtrack on there, and I was like, Nah, just put that on 8 Mile. And that’s what happened.”
He then reflected on the different ways he promoted his music back in the day, a time when social media did not exist.
“We were in a different climate, so I couldn't do anything that the new artists can do,” he said.
“They go record and upload music to YouTube and Apple iTunes," he said. "I had to trick bootleggers into thinking to steal it so they could reproduce it and distribute it for me, 'cause there were no other outlets to get it out."
Watch the full interview below.
