From the outset of his career, 50 Cent established himself as one of the most compelling figures in all of hip-hop. With an epic survivor's tale at his back from the jump—he survived being shot nine times at point blank range in 2000—Fif always seemed as much man as myth. The mythic status he acquired so early on almost obscures some of the lesser known facts about and surrounding the artist born Curtis Jackson.
People can put together a rough sketch of a street-savvy, drug-pusher-turned-rapper just from listening to his catalog, but they probably don't know anything about the nervous 16-year-old shooting a gun at would-be robbers for the first time. They might know about his deal with Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment, but a casual fan probably never knew his deal with Trackmasters and Columbia Records even existed.
Of course, through his 17 years in the mainstream, the Get Rich or Die Tryin' rapper has let loose a lot of gems, whether it was through a book (he's a New York Times best-selling author, too) or a rare interview. However, because a lot of his stories came from a time before social media and the news cycle were as extensive as they are today, a lot of that info isn't as widely known, and there are still layers of 50 Cent's identity to explore.
With that in mind, today, XXL takes a look at 50 facts about 50 Cent. Find out some things you didn't know about this rap legend.
See 50 Facts About 50 Cent