In Da Club, PIMP and candy shop : there was a time when almost everyonecould read 50 Cent’s lyrics. But that time is long gone and the rapper hasn’tproduced hits for years. Tonight he will be in a (still far from sold out)Ahoy. Where has he gone since his mega success?
By Isabel Ockers
Ahoy does not want to tell NU.nl exactly how many tickets have been sold. Inany case, the online map of the event hall shows that there are still plentyof empty spaces. If you still want to go to Rotterdam tonight, you have to payat least 88 euros for a ticket. And that while 50 Cent since candy shop(2005) has not scored a hit in the Netherlands.
In 2010 a concert of the rapper is canceled due to disappointing ticket sales.Eight years later, the rapper’s show in Ahoy will continue, under the name ofan anniversary concert.
The reactions are mostly negative. NRC finds the rapper bored. “In amoderately filled hall, much too big for him, he stumbles like a listless,gasping salt bag, hoarse and bored to the rhythm of his own hits.”
First hit follows after shooting
Back to how it all started. Growing up in Queens, 50 Cent, whose real name isCurtis James Jackson, was exposed to crime at a young age. To earn some extramoney, he starts rapping. In 2000, even before his first hit in theNetherlands, he was shot at in the street. He is hit nine times, including inthe head.
After thirteen days in the hospital, he continues to work on his recovery athome. Together with Dr. Dre and Eminem he records his first album: Get RichOr Die Tryin ‘. This will be an international success. In 2003 alone, therapper received more than 35 awards for the record.
His album will be released in 2005 The Massacre out, where are hit CandyShop on state. With his first two albums, he sells more than 20 million CDsand 40 million singles worldwide.
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Success declines after first two albums
His third album Curtis is less successful. The fourth and fifth albumsflopped completely. Yet he manages to earn $ 8 million from his fifth studioalbum Animal Ambition. The rapper is paid out in bitcoins, which laterbecome worth more.
Although the artist no longer releases a studio album after this, he also doesnot sit still. In 2009 he brings the book The 50th Law out, a semi-autobiographical story about how a drug dealer from Queens breaks through asan artist. In 2020 he will come out with his second book: Hustle Harder,Hustle Smarter.
His financial situation is not always stable. In 2015, the rapper was orderedto pay $5 million in damages for posting other people’s intimate imagesonline. Shortly afterwards, he files for bankruptcy. He has about $36 millionin debt, while ‘only’ 20 million is in his account. Two years later, hemanages to buy off the bankruptcy.
Since 2014, not a single album of the rapper has been released. And yet 50Cent is still seen as a defining name in the hip-hop scene. With the massivesales of his first albums, according to many musicians, he has laid thefoundation for a coming hip-hop generation. Artists such as Drake, J. Cole,DaBaby and Pop Smoke call the New Yorker a source of inspiration.