RIME Exclusive: 50 Cent Talks Trophies & Cash Money

He’ll probably receive a lifetime achievement award sometime after his legacy has been well established and chances are his grandmother’s mantle will have been clear of accolades since the dawn of his storied career. As made as any man in hip hop, 50 Cent has been nominated for a mind boggling 14 Grammy’s, but never had the pleasure of seeing his favorite woman smile that proud smile.

In 2003, after disposing of his most obvious irritant, he took the reigns as the new kid on the block, selling upwards of 12 million copies with the release of Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. He won fans and celebrity for his trouble, but no trophies. No best artist of the year. Not the best song. Nothing.

Unsurprisingly, his success was lauded by critics and he quickly earned that “don’t fuck with me” kind of distinction. If it wasn’t for his lyrics, it was his menacing presence, suggestive delivery and unmistakable wit, all of which separated him from the crowd.

Ironically, as soon as we began to learn who he was as an artist, the Jamaica Queens emcee evolved further. From Glaceau to Reebok, Playstation, Reality TV and now movies, 50 Cent is an unadulterated brand and his label, G-Unit Records, is an independent powerhouse.

With all due respect to his peers, 50 Cent is as successful as he is because he has learned from his mistakes and equally important, his circumstance. Many men claim to have lived the life of a hustler and a gangster, but Mr. Jackson is the proof in the pudding.

“A lot of the artists haven’t had a long enough period to be exposed to those different situations,” 50 explains. “I walk in a lot of rooms and I feel like I’m an alien —“ like I’m the only one from where I’m from.

“People laugh when I say things and I’m just offering my personality. If I possess a quality that allows people to enjoy me, it’s my confidence, but they don’t understand that I spent such a long time where I was the only person that believed in me. So it’s easy for my confidence to be mistaken for arrogance at some point.”

Such was the case when his most recent album, Before I Self Destruct, was released this past November. After heavy promotion leading up to the release of the album, the project only managed to move a little over 150,000 in its first week. 50 was openly critical of Interscope for having leaked his fourth opus and expressed his frustrations on the radio with Funkmaster Flex. He vented, “They lost the ball. You know what I mean, if the numbers look funny to me, it’s they fault.”

In another interview with BET, the G-Unit impresario suggested he had reached a point in his career where he didn’t necessarily need to do music anymore. He more or less offered music provides him the opportunity to bond with his fans.

“When I expressed that it was just me being an artist at that point,” 50 admits now, months later. “I looked at the numbers and they didn’t look right. The numbers mean more to me than anybody else around because I haven’t received the accolades that come with the success of my project.

“They stopped acknowledging the music because I didn’t get the trophy. But I was like, ‘I didn’t get the trophy, but I got the checks.’ I put the emphasis on the money and that was wrong.”

50 discloses it was a good friend —“ one he openly considers his brother —“ that inadvertently made him realize how important money was... or wasn’t.

Floyd “Money” Mayweather, who arguably holds the title of “Best Pound For Pound” boxer in the world, is known to make it rain... whether he’s in the strip club or not. He regularly reminds anyone within earshot that he is the best and his pocket is the paradigm by which he proves his worth.

As one of 50 Cent’s closest friends, Mayweather often shares intimate details of his life. Either outwardly or via observation, 50 has surprisingly come to learn a lot about himself from being in “Money’s” company.

“He sacrificed the last portion of his childhood so he could be as good as he is as a fighter at this point,” 50 shares. “His message [to his detractors] though, is he’s money made.

“That’s a representation of him not having it, because they’ll decide to say that he’s not as skillful as he actually is. So he kept saying, ‘But I got the money. I got the money.’ And that’s the same thing that I did. So, I couldn’t see where I was wrong until I started to identify with where Floyd was.”

Admittedly, trophies really don’t matter at this point to Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson. Conversely, meeting his father would have. His old man could have influenced him in some way to have never seen the inside of a detention center. Or perhaps, if he did, Pops could have done something to prevent him from becoming the monster that he became... and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t have gotten shot on his Grandmother’s front yard.

But then, would he be 50 Cent?