A syllable (Greek: ) is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word ''water'' is composed of two syllables: ''wa'' and ''ter''. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). According to Richard Maledo(2011), a syllable is a phonological organisation that occupies an intermediate level between segmental and non-segmental phonology, between a phoneme and a word, between consonants and vowels and between formation of sounds into words. According to him, a syllable is the basic unit of phonology without which, there will be no course of study. Though, an elusive concept to define, hence, the deviation of generative phonologist from the concept. Although Maledo(2011) gives what may be termed as a working definition of a syllable.

Syllables are often considered the phonological "building blocks" of words. They can influence the rhythm of a language, its prosody, its poetic meter and its stress patterns.

Syllabic writing began several hundred years before the first letters. The earliest recorded syllables are on tablets written around 2800 BC in the Sumerian city of Ur. This shift from pictograms to syllables has been called 'the most important advance in the history of writing'.

A word that consists of a single syllable (like English ''dog'') is called a monosyllable (such a word is monosyllabic), while a word consisting of two syllables (like ''puppy'') is called a disyllable (such a word is disyllabic). A word consisting of three syllables (such as ''wolverine'') is called a trisyllable (the adjective form is trisyllabic). A word consisting of more than three syllables (such as ''rhinoceros'') is called a polysyllable (and could be described as polysyllabic), although this term is often used to describe words of two syllables or more.

Syllable structure

In most theories of European phonology, the general structure of a syllable (σ) consists of three segments at the same level: ; Onset (ω): consonant, obligatory in some languages, optional or even restricted in others ; Nucleus (ν): sonant, obligatory in most languages ; Coda (κ): consonant, optional in some languages, highly restricted or prohibited in others Sometimes, especially in some Asian phonologies, the syllable is considered right-branching, i.e. nucleus and coda are only distinguished at the second level, whereas in other phonologies it is considered left-branching, i.e. onset and nucleus group below a higher-level unit: ; Rime (ρ): right branch, contrasts with onset, splits into nucleus and coda ; Body or core: left branch, contrasts with coda, splits into onset and nucleus In some theories the onset is strictly consonantal, thus necessitating another segment before the nucleus: ; Initial (ι): often termed ''onset'', but leaving out semi-vowels ; Medial (μ): glide between initial, if any, and nucleus or rime ; Final (φ): contrasts with initial, extended rime Although every syllable has supra-segmental features, these are usually ignored if not semantically relevant, e.g. in tonal languages. ; Tone (τ): may be carried by the syllable as a whole or by the rime

In some theories of phonology, these syllable structures are displayed as tree diagrams (similar to the trees found in some types of syntax). Not all phonologists agree that syllables have internal structure; in fact, some phonologists doubt the existence of the syllable as a theoretical entity.

The ''nucleus'' is usually the vowel in the middle of a syllable. The ''onset'' is the sound or sounds occurring before the nucleus, and the ''coda'' (literally 'tail') is the sound or sounds that follow the nucleus. They are sometimes collectively known as the ''shell''. The term ''rime'' covers the nucleus plus coda. In the one-syllable English word ''cat'', the nucleus is ''a'' (the sound that can be shouted or sung on its own), the onset ''c'', the coda ''t'', and the rime ''at''. This syllable can be abstracted as a ''consonant-vowel-consonant'' syllable, abbreviated ''CVC''. Languages vary greatly in the restrictions on the sounds making up the onset, nucleus and coda of a syllable, according to what is termed a language's phonotactics.

Onset

Most syllables have an onset. Some languages restrict onsets to be only a single consonant, while others allow multiconsonant onsets according to various rules. For example, in English, onsets such as ''pr-'', ''pl-'' and ''tr-'' are possible but ''tl-'' is not (except very marginally in foreign words such as ''Tlingit''), and ''sk-'' is possible but ''ks-'' is not. In Greek, however, both ''ks-'' and ''tl-'' are possible onsets, while contrarily in Classical Arabic no multiconsonant onsets are allowed at all.

Some languages require all syllables to have an onset; in these languages a ''null onset'' such as in the English word "at" is not possible. This is less strange than it may appear at first, as most such languages allow syllables to begin with a phonemic glottal stop (the sound in the middle of English "uh-oh"). Furthermore, in English and most other languages, a word that begins with a vowel is automatically pronounced with an initial glottal stop when following a pause, whether or not a glottal stop occurs as a phoneme in the language. Consequently, few languages make a phonemic distinction between a word beginning with a vowel and a word beginning with a glottal stop followed by a vowel, since the distinction will generally only be audible following another word. (However, Hawaiian and a number of other Polynesian languages do make such a distinction; cf. Hawaiian "fire", / "tuna".)

This means that the difference between a syllable with a null onset and one with beginning with a glottal stop is often purely a difference of phonological analysis, rather than the actual pronunciation of the syllable. In some cases, the pronunciation of a (putatively) vowel-initial word when following another word – particularly, whether or not a glottal stop is inserted – indicates whether the word should be considered to have a null onset. For example, many Romance languages such as Spanish never insert such a glottal stop, while English does so only some of the time, depending on factors such as conversation speed; in both cases, this suggests that the words in question are truly vowel-initial. But there are exceptions here, too. For example, German and Arabic both require that a glottal stop be inserted between a word and a following, putatively vowel-initial word. Yet such words are said to begin with a vowel in German but a glottal stop in Arabic. The reason for this has to with other properties of the two languages. For example, a glottal stop does not occur in other situations in German, e.g. before a consonant or at the end of word. On the other hand, in Arabic, not only does a glottal stop occur in such situations (e.g. Classical "he asked", "opinion", "light"), but it occurs in alternations that are clearly indicative of its phonemic status (cf. Classical "writer" vs. /mak "written", "eater" vs. "eaten").

The writing system of a language may not correspond with the phonological analysis of the language in terms of its handling of (potentially) null onsets. For example, in some languages written in the Latin alphabet, an initial glottal stop is left unwritten; on the other hand, some languages written using non-Latin alphabets such as abjads and abugidas have a special zero consonant to represent a null onset. As an example, in Hangul, the alphabet of the Korean language, a null onset is represented with ㅇ at the left or top section of a graph, as in 역 "station", pronounced ''yeok'', where the diphthong ''yeo'' is the nucleus and ''k'' is the coda.

Nucleus

+ Examples of syllable nuclei
! Word	! Nucleus
cat
bed
ode
beet
bite
rain
bitten or	or

Generally, every syllable requires a nucleus (sometimes called the ''peak''), and the minimal syllable consists only of a nucleus, as in the English words "eye" or "owe". The syllable nucleus is usually a vowel, in the form of a monophthong, diphthong, or triphthong, but sometimes is a syllabic consonant. By far the most common syllabic consonants are sonorants like , , , or , but a few languages have so-called ''syllabic fricatives'', also known as ''fricative vowels''. (In the context of Chinese phonology, the related but non-synonymous term ''apical vowel'' is commonly used.) Mandarin Chinese is famous for having such sounds in at least some of its dialects, for example the pinyin syllables ''sī shī rī'', sometimes pronounced respectively. A few languages, such as Nuxalk (Bella Coola), even allow stop consonants and voiceless fricatives as syllabic nuclei. However, linguists have analyzed this situation in various ways, some arguing that such syllables have no nucleus at all, and some arguing that the concept of "syllable" cannot clearly be applied at all to these languages. See the discussion below concerning syllable-less languages.

Coda

A coda-less syllable of the form V, CV, CCV, etc. is called an open syllable (or ''free syllable''), while a syllable that has a coda (VC, CVC, CVCC, etc.) is called a closed syllable (or ''checked syllable''). Note that they have nothing to do with open and close vowels. Almost all languages allow open syllables, but some, such as Hawaiian, do not have closed syllables.

In English, consonants have been analyzed as acting simultaneously as the coda of one syllable and the onset of the following syllable, as in 'bellow' ''bel-low,'' a phenomenon known as ambisyllabicity. It is argued that words such as ''arrow'' can't be divided into separately pronounceable syllables: neither nor is a possible independent syllable, and likewise with the other short vowels . However, Wells (1990) argues against ambisyllabicity in English, positing that consonants and consonant clusters are codas when after a stressed syllable followed by an unstressed syllable, or after a full vowel and followed by a reduced syllable, and are onsets in other contexts. (See English phonology#Phonotactics.)

Rime

Medial and final

In the phonology of some East Asian languages, especially Chinese, the syllable structure is expanded to include an additional, optional segment known as a medial, which is located between the onset (often termed the ''initial'' in this context) and the rime. The medial is normally a glide consonant, but reconstructions of Old Chinese generally include liquid medials ( in modern reconstructions, in older versions), and many reconstructions of Middle Chinese include a medial contrast between and , where the functions phonologically as a glide rather than as part of the nucleus. In addition, many reconstructions of both Old and Middle Chinese include complex medials such as , , and . The medial groups phonologically with the rime rather than the onset, and the combination of medial and rime is collectively known as the final.

Tone

In most languages, the pitch or pitch contour in which a syllable is pronounced conveys shades of meaning such as emphasis or surprise, or distinguishes a statement from a question. In tonal languages, however, the pitch of a word affects the basic lexical meaning (e.g "cat" vs. "dog") or grammatical meaning (e.g. past vs. present). In some languages, only the pitch itself (e.g. high vs. low) has this effect, while in others, especially East Asian languages such as Chinese, Thai or Vietnamese, the shape or contour (e.g. level vs. rising vs. falling) also needs to be distinguished.

Syllable weight

A heavy syllable is one with a ''branching rime'' or ''branching nucleus'' – this is a metaphor, based on the nucleus or coda having lines that branch in a tree diagram. In some languages, heavy syllables include both VV (branching nucleus) and VC (branching rime) syllables, contrasted with V, which is a light syllable. (A "branching nucleus" is a long vowel or diphthong. A "branching rime" is a rime where the syllable ends in a consonant, also known as a ''closed syllable''; generally, this means that either the nucleus is followed by two consonants or by a single, final consonant.) In other languages, only VV syllables are heavy, while both VC and V syllables are light. Some languages distinguish a third type of superheavy syllable, which consists of VVC syllables (with both a branching nucleus and rime) and/or VCC syllables (with a coda consisting of two or more consonants). In moraic theory, heavy syllables are said to have two moras, while light syllables are said to have one and superheavy syllables are said to have three. Japanese is generally described this way.

Many languages forbid superheavy syllables, while a significant number forbid any heavy syllable. Some languages strive for consonant syllable weight; for example, in stressed, non-final syllables in Italian, short vowels co-occur with closed syllables while long vowels co-occur with open syllables, so that all such syllables are heavy (not light or superheavy).

The difference between heavy and light frequently determines which syllables receive stress – this is the case in Latin and Arabic, for example. The system of poetic meter in many classical languages, such as Classical Greek, Classical Latin and Sanskrit, is based on syllable weight rather than stress (so-called ''quantitative rhythm'' or ''quantitative meter'').

A classical definition

Guilhem Molinier, a member of the Consistori del Gay Saber, which was the first literary academy in the world and held the Floral Games to award the best troubadour with the ''violeta d'aur'' top prize, gave a definition of the syllable in his ''Leys d'amor'' (1328–1337), a book aimed at regulating the then flourishing Occitan poetry: {| |- |''Sillaba votz es literals. Segon los ditz gramaticals. En un accen pronunciada. Et en un trag: d'una alenada.'' |A syllable is the sound of several letters, According to those called grammarians, Pronounced in one accent And uninterruptedly: in one breath. |}

Syllables and suprasegmentals

The domain of suprasegmental features is the syllable and not a specific sound, that is to say, they affect all the segments of a syllable:

Stress

Tone

Sometimes syllable length is also counted as a suprasegmental feature; for example, in some Germanic languages, long vowels may only exist with short consonants and vice versa. However, syllables can be analyzed as compositions of long and short phonemes, as in Finnish and Japanese, where consonant gemination and vowel length are independent.

Syllables and phonotactic constraints

Phonotactic rules determine which sounds are allowed or disallowed in each part of the syllable. English allows very complicated syllables; syllables may begin with up to three consonants (as in ''string'' or ''splash''), and occasionally end with as many as four (as in ''prompts''). Many other languages are much more restricted; Japanese, for example, only allows and a chroneme in a coda, and theoretically has no consonant clusters at all, as the onset is composed of at most one consonant.

There are languages that forbid empty onsets, such as Hebrew and Arabic (the names transliterated as "Israel", "Abraham", "Omar", "Ali" and "Abdullah", among many others, actually begin with semiconsonantic glides or with glottal or pharyngeal consonants). Conversely, some analyses of the Arrernte language of central Australia posit that no onsets are permitted at all in that language, all syllables being underlyingly of the shape VC(C).

Syllabification

''Syllabification'' is the separation of a word into syllables, whether spoken or written. In most languages, the actually spoken syllables are the basis of syllabification in writing too. Due to the very weak correspondence between sounds and letters in the spelling of modern English, for example, written syllabification in English has to be based mostly on etymological i.e. morphological instead of phonetic principles. English "written" syllables therefore do not correspond to the actually spoken syllables of the living language.

(''Syllabification'' may also refer to the process of a consonant becoming a syllable nucleus.)

Syllable division and ambisyllabicity

Most commonly, a single consonant between vowels is grouped with the following syllable (i.e. ), while two consonants between vowels are split between syllables (i.e. ). In some languages, however, such as Old Church Slavonic, any group of consonants that can occur at the beginning of a word is grouped with the following syllable; hence, a word such as ''pazdva'' would be syllabified . (This allows the phonotactics of the language to be defined as requiring open syllables.) Contrarily, in some languages, any group of consonants that can occur at the end of a word is grouped with the following syllable.

In English, it has been disputed whether certain consonants occurring between vowels (especially following a stressed syllable and preceding an unstressed syllable) should be grouped with the preceding or following syllable. For example, a word such as ''better'' is sometimes analyzed as and sometimes . Some linguists have in fact asserted that such words are "ambisyllabic", with the consonant shared between the preceding and following syllables. However, Wells (2002) argues that this is not a useful analysis, and that English syllabification is simply .

Syllables and stress

Syllable structure often interacts with stress. In Latin, for example, stress is regularly determined by syllable weight, a syllable counting as heavy if it has at least one of the following:

a long vowel in its nucleus

a diphthong in its nucleus

one or more coda(e)

In each case the syllable is considered to have two moras.

Syllables and vowel tenseness

In most Germanic languages, lax vowels can occur only in closed syllables. Therefore, these vowels are also called checked vowels, as opposed to the tense vowels that are called ''free vowels'' because they can occur even in open syllables.

Syllable-less languages

The notion of syllable is challenged by languages that allow long strings of consonants without any intervening vowel or sonorant. Languages of the Northwest coast of North America, including Salishan and Wakashan languages, are famous for this. For instance, these Nuxálk (Bella Coola) words contain only obstruents:

: 'you spat on me' : 'he arrived' : 'he had in his possession a bunchberry plant' (Bagemihl 1991:589, 593, 627) : 'seal blubber'

In Bagemihl's survey of previous analyses, he finds that the word would have been parsed into 0, 2, 3, 5, or 6 syllables depending which analysis is used. One analysis would consider all vowel and consonants segments as syllable nuclei, another would consider only a small subset as nuclei candidates, and another would simply deny the existence of syllables completely.

This type of phenomenon has also been reported in Berber languages (such as Indlawn Tashlhiyt Berber), Moroccan Arabic (apparently under Berber influence) and Mon–Khmer languages (such as Semai, Temiar, Kammu). Even in English there are a few utterances that have no vowels; for example, ''shh'' (meaning "be quiet") and ''psst'' (a sound used to attract attention).

''Indlawn Tashlhiyt Berber:'' : 'you sprained it and then gave it' : 'rot' (imperf.) (Dell & Elmedlaoui 1985, 1988)

''Semai:'' : 'short, fat arms' (Sloan 1988)

See also

English phonology#Phonotactics. Covers syllable structure in English.

Mora (linguistics)

List of the longest English words with one syllable

Phonology

Pitch accent

Stress (linguistics)

Syllabary writing system

Syllabic consonant

Syllabification

Timing (linguistics)

IPA symbols for syllables

Entering tone

Minor syllable

Line (poetry)

References

External links

www.HowManySyllables.com – Free Syllable Dictionary – This site lets you look up the number of syllables in any word.

Online Lyric Hyphenator – Separates English text into syllables

What is a ''syllable''? (SIL)

Do syllables have internal structure? What is their status in phonology? CUNY Phonology Forum

What is a ''syllabic consonant''? (SIL)

What is an ''onset''? (SIL)

What is a ''rime''? (SIL)

Syllable (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Onset (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Rime (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Nucleus (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Coda (Lexicon of Linguistics)

What is ''metrical phonology''? (SIL)

Syllable Weight (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Mora (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Foot (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Quantity-(in)sensitivity (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Extrametrical (Lexicon of Linguistics)

Maximal Onset Principle (Lexicon of Linguistics)

What is ''syllabification''? (SIL)

Syllabification (Lexicon of Linguistics)

What is a ''nuclear syllable''? (SIL)

Syllabontes – Hybrid form of social and educational networking

Sources and recommended reading

Clements, George N.; Keyser, Samuel J.. (1983). ''CV phonology: A generative theory of the syllable''. Linguistic inquiry monographs (No. 9). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press. ISBN 0-262-53047-3 (pbk); ISBN 0-262-03098-5 (hb)

Category:Phonotactics Category:Phonology

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	Dr. Dre
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Andre Romelle Young
Born	February 18, 1965Compton, California, U.S.
Origin	Los Angeles, California,U.S.
Instrument	Vocals, synthesizer, keyboards, turntables, drum machine, sampler
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, DJ, record producer, actor
Years active	1983–present
Label	Priority, Death Row, Aftermath, Interscope, Ruthless
Associated acts	World Class Wreckin' Cru, N.W.A, Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Soul Assassins, Ice Cube, 2Pac, Nate Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, Xzibit, Warren G, 50 Cent
Website	}}

Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), primarily known by his stage name Dr. Dre, is an American record producer, rapper, record executive, and occasional actor. He is the founder and current CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and a former co-owner and artist of Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers signed to those record labels, such as Snoop Dogg, Eminem and 50 Cent. As a producer he is credited as a key figure in the popularization of West Coast G-funk, a style of rap music characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats.

Dr. Dre began his career in music as a member of the World Class Wreckin' Cru and he later found fame with the influential gangsta rap group N.W.A with Eazy-E, Ice Cube, Mc Ren, and DJ Yella which popularized the use of explicit lyrics in rap to detail the violence of street life. His 1992 solo debut, ''The Chronic'', released under Death Row Records, led him to become one of the best-selling American performing artists of 1993 and to win a Grammy Award for the single "Let Me Ride". In 1996, he left Death Row to establish his own label, Aftermath Entertainment. Under that label, he produced a compilation album titled ''Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath'' in 1996, and released a solo album titled ''2001'' in 1999, for which he won the Grammy producer's award the next year.

During the 2000s, he focused his career on production for other artists, while occasionally contributing vocals to other artists' songs. Dr. Dre signed Eminem and 50 Cent to his record label in 1996 and 2003 respectively while contributing production on their albums. ''Rolling Stone'' named Dr. Dre among the highest-paid performers of 2001 and 2004. Dr. Dre has also had acting roles in movies such as ''Set It Off'', and the 2001 films ''The Wash'' and ''Training Day''.

Life and career

Early life

The first child of Theodore and Verna Young, Dr. Dre was born André Romelle Young on February 18, 1965, when his mother and father were ages 16 and 17; they married in 1964. Young's middle name, "Romelle," came from his father's unsigned amateur R&B; singing group, The Romells. In 1968, his parents divorced, and his mother later married Curtis Crayon. They had three more children together, two sons named Jerome and Tyree (both deceased) and daughter Shameka.

In 1976 Young began attending Vanguard Junior High School but due to gang violence around Vanguard he transferred to the safer suburban Roosevelt Junior High School. Verna later married Warren Griffin, whom she met at her new job in Long Beach, which added three new stepsisters and one new stepbrother to the family. That stepbrother, Warren Griffin III, would eventually become rapper Warren G.

Young attended Centennial High School in Compton during his freshman year in 1979, but transferred to Fremont High School due to poor grades. Young attempted to enroll in an apprenticeship program at Northrop Aviation Company, but poor grades at school made him ineligible. Thereafter, he focused on his social life and entertainment for the remainder of his high school years. Young fathered a son, Curtis, born December 15, 1981, with Lisa Johnson. Curtis Young was brought up by his mother and first met his father 20 years later, when Curtis became rapper Hood Surgeon.

1984–85: World Class Wreckin' Cru

Inspired by the Grandmaster Flash song "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel", he often attended a club called The Eve After Dark to watch many DJs and rappers performing live. Thus, he became a DJ in the club, initially under the name "Dr. J", based on the nickname of Julius Erving, his favorite basketball player. At the club, he met aspiring rapper Antoine Carraby, later to become member DJ Yella of N.W.A. Soon afterwards he adopted the moniker Dr. Dre, a mix of previous alias Dr. J and his first name, referring to himself as the "Master of Mixology". He later joined the musical group World Class Wreckin' Cru under the independent Kru-Cut Records in 1984. The group would become stars of the electro-hop scene that dominated early 1980s West Coast hip hop, and their first hit "Surgery" would prominently feature Dr. Dre on the turntables and sell 50,000 copies within the Compton area. Dr. Dre and DJ Yella also performed mixes for local radio station KDAY, boosting ratings for its afternoon rush-hour show ''The Traffic Jam''. Dr. Dre's earliest recordings were released in 1994 on a compilation titled ''Concrete Roots''. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website ''Allmusic'' described the compiled music, released "several years before Dre developed a distinctive style", as "surprisingly generic and unengaging" and "for dedicated fans only".

His frequent absences from school jeopardized his position as a diver on his school's swim team. After high school, he attended Chester Adult School in Compton following his mother's demands for him to get a job or continue his education. After brief attendance at a radio broadcasting school, he relocated to the residence of his father and residence of his grandparents before returning to his mother's house. He later dropped out of Chester to focus on performing at the Eve's After Dark nightclub.

1986–91: N.W.A and Ruthless Records

In 1986, Dr. Dre met rapper Ice Cube, who collaborated with Dr. Dre to record songs for Ruthless Records, a rap record label run by local rapper Eazy-E. N.W.A and fellow West Coast rapper Ice-T are widely credited as seminal artists of the gangsta rap genre, a profanity-heavy subgenre of hip hop, replete with gritty depictions of urban crime and gang lifestyle. Not feeling constricted to racially charged political issues pioneered by rap artists such as Public Enemy or Boogie Down Productions, N.W.A favored themes and uncompromising lyrics, offering stark descriptions of violent, inner-city streets. Propelled by the hit "Fuck tha Police", the group's first full album ''Straight Outta Compton'' became a major success, despite an almost complete absence of radio airplay or major concert tours. The Federal Bureau of Investigation sent Ruthless Records a warning letter in response to the song's content.

After Ice Cube left N.W.A in 1989 over financial disputes, Dr. Dre produced and performed for much of the group's second album ''Efil4zaggin''. He also produced tracks for a number of other rap acts on Ruthless Records, including Above the Law, and The D.O.C. for his 1989 album ''No One Can Do It Better''. In 1991, at a music industry party in Hollywood, he assaulted television host Dee Barnes of the Fox television program ''Pump it Up'', feeling dissatisfied with a news report of hers regarding the feud between the remaining N.W.A members and Ice Cube. Thus, Dr. Dre was fined $2,500 and given two years' probation and 240 hours of community service, as well as a spot on an anti-violence public service announcement on television.

1992–95: ''The Chronic'' and Death Row Records

After a dispute with Eazy-E, Dre left the group at the peak of its popularity in 1991 under the advice of friend, and N.W.A lyricist, The D.O.C. and his bodyguard at the time, Suge Knight. Knight, a notorious strongman and intimidator, was able to have Eazy-E release Young from his contract and, using Dr. Dre as his flagship artist, founded Death Row Records. In 1992 Young released his first single, the title track to the film ''Deep Cover'', a collaboration with rapper Snoop Dogg, whom he met through Warren G. Dr. Dre's debut solo album was ''The Chronic'', released under Death Row Records. Young ushered in a new style of rap, both in terms of musical style and lyrical content.

On the strength of singles such as "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang", "Let Me Ride", and "Fuck wit Dre Day (and Everybody's Celebratin')" (known as "Dre Day" for radio and television play), all of which featured Snoop Dogg as guest vocalist, ''The Chronic'' became a cultural phenomenon, its G-funk sound dominating much of hip hop music for the early 1990s. In 1993 the Recording Industry Association of America certified the album multi-platinum, and Dr. Dre also won the Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance for his performance on "Let Me Ride". For that year, ''Billboard'' magazine also ranked Dr. Dre as the eighth best-selling musical artist, ''The Chronic'' as the sixth best-selling album, and "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" as the 11th best-selling single.

Besides working on his own material, Dr. Dre produced Snoop Dogg's debut album ''Doggystyle'', which became the first debut album for an artist to debut at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 album charts. In 1994 Dr. Dre produced some songs on the soundtracks to the films ''Above the Rim'' and ''Murder Was the Case''. He collaborated with fellow N.W.A member Ice Cube for the song "Natural Born Killaz" in 1995. For the film ''Friday'', Dre recorded "Keep Their Heads Ringin'", which reached No.10 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and No.1 on the Hot Rap Singles (now Hot Rap Tracks) charts.

In 1995, just as Death Row Records was signing rapper 2Pac and positioning him as their major star, Young left the label amidst a contract dispute and growing concerns that label boss Suge Knight was corrupt, financially dishonest and out of control. Thus, in 1996, he formed his own label, Aftermath Entertainment, under the distribution label for Death Row Records, Interscope Records. Consequently, Death Row Records suffered poor sales by 1997, especially following the death of 2Pac and the racketeering charges brought against Knight.

1996–98: Move to Aftermath Entertainment

The ''Dr. Dre Presents the Aftermath'' album, released on November 26, 1996, featured songs by Dr. Dre himself, as well as by newly signed Aftermath Entertainment artists, and a solo track "Been There, Done That", intended as a symbolic farewell to gangsta rap. Despite being classified platinum by the RIAA, the album was not very popular among music fans. In October 1996, Dre performed "Been There, Done That" on ''Saturday Night Live''. In 1997, Dr. Dre produced several tracks on The Firm's ''The Album''; it was met with largely negative reviews from critics. Rumors began to abound that Aftermath was facing financial difficulties. Aftermath Entertainment also faced a trademark infringement lawsuit by the underground thrash metal band Aftermath. ''First Round Knock Out'', a compilation of various tracks produced and performed by Dr. Dre was also released in 1996, with material ranging from World Class Wreckin' Cru to N.W.A to Death Row recordings.

Despite the mixed reception to his label's album, Dr. Dre was featured on two Billboard Hot 100 No.1 singles in 1996, those being 2Pac's "California Love" and R&B; group Blackstreet's "No Diggity". They were Dr. Dre's first No.1 singles as a lead or featured artist.

The turning point for Aftermath came in 1998, when Jimmy Iovine, the head of Aftermath's parent label Interscope, suggested that Dr. Dre sign Eminem, a rapper from Detroit. Dre produced three songs and provided vocals for two on Eminem's successful and controversial debut album ''The Slim Shady LP'', released in 1999. The Dr. Dre-produced lead single from that album, "My Name Is", would help propel Eminem into stardom. The album was eventually certified 4x Platinum and helped to revive the Aftermath label. Also during this time, Dre assisted on the mix for Nine Inch Nails track "Even Deeper", from 1999 album ''The Fragile''.

1999–2000: ''2001''

Dr. Dre's second solo album, ''2001'', released on November 16, 1999, was considered an ostentatious return to his gangsta rap roots. It was initially titled ''The Chronic 2000'' to imply being a sequel to his debut solo effort ''The Chronic'' but was re-titled ''2001'' after Death Row Records released an unrelated compilation album with the title ''Chronic 2000: Still Smokin'' in May 1999. Other tentative titles included ''The Chronic 2001'' and ''Dr. Dre''. The album featured numerous collaborators, including Devin the Dude, Hittman, Snoop Dogg, Xzibit, Nate Dogg and Eminem. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of the website Allmusic described the sound of the album as "adding ominous strings, soulful vocals, and reggae" to Dr. Dre's style. The album was highly successful, charting at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200 charts and has since been certified six times platinum, validating a recurring theme on the album: Dr. Dre was still a force to be reckoned with, despite the lack of major releases in the previous few years. The album included popular hit singles "Still D.R.E." and "Forgot About Dre", both of which Dr. Dre performed on NBC's ''Saturday Night Live'' on October 23, 1999. Dr. Dre won the Grammy Award for Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2000, and joined the Up in Smoke Tour with fellow rappers Eminem, Snoop Dogg, and Ice Cube that year as well.

During the course of ''2001'''s popularity, Dr. Dre was involved in several lawsuits. Lucasfilm Ltd., the film company behind the Star Wars film franchise, sued him over the use of the THX-trademarked "Deep Note". The Fatback Band also sued Dr. Dre over alleged infringement regarding its song "Backstrokin'" in his song "Let's Get High" from the ''2001'' album; Dr. Dre was ordered to pay $1.5 million to the band in 2003. The online music file-sharing company Napster also settled a lawsuit with him and heavy metal rock band Metallica in the summer of 2001, agreeing to block access to certain files that artists do not want to have shared on the network.

2001–08: Focus on production

Following the success of ''2001'', Dr. Dre focused on producing songs and albums for other artists. He co-produced six tracks on Eminem’s landmark ''Marshall Mathers LP'', including the Grammy-winning lead single, “The Real Slim Shady”. The album itself earned a Grammy and proved to be the fastest-selling rap album of all time, moving 1.76 million units in its first week alone. He produced the single "Family Affair" by R&B; singer Mary J. Blige for her album ''No More Drama'' in 2001. He also produced "Let Me Blow Ya Mind", a duet by rapper Eve and No Doubt lead singer Gwen Stefani and signed R&B; singer Truth Hurts to Aftermath in 2001. Dr. Dre was the executive producer of Eminem’s 2002 release, ''The Eminem Show''. He produced three songs on the album, one of which was released as a single, and he appeared in the award-winning video for “Without Me”.

Another copyright-related lawsuit hit Dr. Dre in the fall of 2002, when Sa Re Ga Ma, a film and music company based in Calcutta, India, sued Aftermath Entertainment over an uncredited sample of the Lata Mangeshkar song "Thoda Resham Lagta Hai" on the Aftermath-produced song "Addictive" by singer Truth Hurts. In February 2003, a judge ruled that Aftermath would have to halt sales of Truth Hurts' album ''Truthfully Speaking'' if the company would not credit Mangeshkar.

Another successful album on the Aftermath label was ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''', the 2003 major-label debut album by Queens, New York-based rapper 50 Cent. Dr. Dre produced or co-produced four tracks on the album, including the hit single "In da Club", a joint production between Aftermath, Eminem's boutique label Shady Records and Interscope. Eminem's fourth album since joining Aftermath, ''Encore'', again saw Dre taking on the role of executive producer, and this time he was more actively involved in the music, producing or co-producing a total of eight tracks, including three singles. In November 2004, at the ''Vibe'' magazine awards show in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre was attacked by a fan named Jimmy James Johnson, who was supposedly asking for an autograph. In the resulting scuffle, then-G-Unit rapper Young Buck stabbed the man. Johnson claimed that Suge Knight, president of Death Row Records, paid him $5,000 to assault Dre in order to humiliate him before he received his Lifetime Achievement Award. Knight immediately went on CBS's ''The Late Late Show'' to deny involvement and insisted that he supported Dr. Dre and wanted Johnson charged. In September 2005, Johnson was sentenced to a year in prison and ordered to stay away from Dr. Dre until 2008.

Dr. Dre also produced "How We Do", a 2005 hit single from rapper The Game from his album ''The Documentary''. For an issue of ''Rolling Stone'' magazine in April 2005, Dr. Dre was ranked 54th out of 100 artists for ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's list "The Immortals: The Greatest Artists of All Time". Kanye West wrote the summary for Dr. Dre, where he stated Dr. Dre's song "Xplosive" as where he "got (his) whole sound from".

In November 2006 Dr. Dre began working with Raekwon on his album ''Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II''. He also produced tracks for the rap albums ''Buck the World'' by Young Buck, ''Curtis'' by 50 Cent, ''Tha Blue Carpet Treatment'' by Snoop Dogg, and ''Kingdom Come'' by Jay-Z. Dre also appeared on Timbaland's track "Bounce", from his 2007 solo album, ''Timbaland Presents Shock Value'' along side, Missy Elliott, and Justin Timberlake.

Planned but unreleased albums during Dr. Dre's tenure at Aftermath have included a full-length reunion with Snoop Dogg titled ''Breakup to Makeup'', an album with fellow former N.W.A member Ice Cube which was to be titled ''Heltah Skeltah'', an N.W.A reunion album, and a joint album with fellow producer Timbaland titled ''Chairmen of the Board''. Other upcoming albums for which he will produce include ''The Reformation'' by Bishop Lamont, ''The Nacirema Dream'' by Papoose, ''Flirt'' by Eve, and an upcoming album by Queen Latifah.

2009–present: ''Detox'' and ''The Planets''

''Detox'' is to be Dr. Dre's final album. In 2002, Dre told Corey Moss of MTV News that he intended ''Detox'' to be a concept album. Work for the album dates back to early 2004, but later in that year he decided to stop working on the album to focus on producing for other artists, but then changed his mind; the album had initially been set for a fall 2005 release. After several delays, the album was finally scheduled to be released sometime in 2010 by Interscope Records, which has not set a firm release date for the album as of July 2010. Producers confirmed to work on the album include DJ Khalil, Nottz, Bernard "Focus" Edwards Jr., Hi-Tek, J.R. Rotem, RZA, Jay-Z, Warren G, and Boi-1da. Snoop Dogg claimed that ''Detox'' was finished, according to a June 2008 report by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine.

After another delay based on producing other artists' work, ''Detox'' was then scheduled for a 2010 release, coming after 50 Cent's ''Before I Self Destruct'' and Eminem's ''Relapse'', an album for which Dr. Dre handled the bulk of production duties. Dre appeared in the remix of the song "Set It Off" by Canadian rapper Kardinal Offishall (also with Pusha T); the remix debuted on DJ Skee's radio show in December 2008. At the beginning of 2009, Dre produced, and made a guest vocal performance on, the single "Crack a Bottle" by Eminem and the single sold a record 418,000 downloads in its first week. and reached the top of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart on the week of February 12, 2009. Along with this single, in 2009 Dr. Dre produced or co-produced 19 of 20 tracks on Eminem's album ''Relapse''. These included other hit singles "We Made You", "Old Time's Sake", and "3 a.m.". (the only track Dre didn't produce was the Eminem produced single "Beautiful")

In a Dr Pepper commercial that debuted on May 28, 2009, he premiered the first official snippet of ''Detox''. 50 Cent and Eminem asserted in an interview on BET's ''106 & Park'' that Dr. Dre had around a dozen songs finished for ''Detox''. ''Detox'' is likely to be released sometime in 2011. The first two singles, "Kush" and "I Need a Doctor", were released in September 2010 and February 2011 respectively. "Kush" has become a top 40 hit in the United States and "I Need a Doctor" peaked at Number Four on the Billboard Hot 100. The third single, "The Psycho" featuring 50 Cent is set to release sometime this year respectively.

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers will honor Dr. Dre with its Founders Award for inspiring other musicians.

In an August 2010 interview, Dr. Dre stated that an instrumental album titled ''The Planets'' is in its first stages of production; each song being named after a planet in the Solar System. On September 3, Dr. Dre showed support to longtime protégé Eminem, and appeared on his and Jay-Z's Home & Home Tour, performing hit songs such as "Still D.R.E.," "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," and "Crack a Bottle," alongside Eminem and another protégé, 50 Cent. Sporting an "R.I.P. Proof" shirt, Dre was honored by Eminem telling Detroit's Comerica Park to do the same. They did so, by chanting "DEEE-TOX," to which he replied, "I'm coming!"

Dr. Dre was featured on the cover of XXL in the December/January 2011 issue. After ''Detox'' he will be one of the producers of Tionne "T-Boz" Watkins' album ''Still Cool.''

Other ventures

Film career

Dr. Dre made his first on screen appearance as a weapons dealer in the 1996 bank robbery movie ''Set It Off''. In 2001, Dr. Dre also appeared in the movies ''The Wash'' and ''Training Day''. A song of his, "Bad Intentions" (featuring Knoc-Turn'Al) and produced by Mahogany, was featured on ''The Wash'' soundtrack. Dr. Dre also appeared on two other songs "On the Blvd." and "The Wash" along with his co-star Snoop Dogg. In February 2007 it was announced that Dr. Dre would produce dark comedies and horror films for New Line Cinema-owned company Crucial Films, along with longtime video director Phillip Atwell. Dr. Dre announced "This is a natural switch for me, since I've directed a lot of music videos, and I eventually want to get into directing." Along with fellow member Ice Cube, Dr. Dre will produce a biographical film about N.W.A tentatively titled ''Straight Outta Compton''.

Entrepreneur

In July 2008, Dr. Dre released his high-performance brand of headphones, ''Beats by Dr. Dre''. The line consists of Beats Studio, a circumaural headphone, Beats Tour, an in-ear headphone, Beats Solo & Solo HD, a supra-aural headphone, Beats Spin, Heartbeats by Lady Gaga, also an in-ear headphone, and Diddy Beats. The headphones are made by Monster. He is also planning to release an "Aftermath Cognac and vodka" at around the same time he releases ''Detox''. For the 2009 Fall season, HP and Dr. Dre are teaming up to release Beats By Dr. Dre with the sale of all HP laptops and headsets. HP and Dr. Dre announced the deal on October 9, 2009, at a press event in Santa Monica, California. The new laptop, known as HP ENVY 15 Beats limited edition, will be available for sale October 22 and be priced around $2,299. Besides the laptop, the PC comes with Dr. Dre's signature headphones.

Legal Battle with China Counterfeit Headphones

On 10th August Dr Dre initiated a legal battle with China Music Headphones company SacrementoMusic for counterfeit headphones manufactured in Shenzhen, China. Dr Dre has provided full patent information to the High Court in China and are currently reviewing the process of application. The counterfeit headphones has been reported to be losing $5 million per year manufactured by partner company Monster. On 11th August 2011 Dr Dre sold the brand name to HTC for £191 million

Personal life

Relationships and family

Dr. Dre's eldest son is named Curtis Young. When Curtis Young was born, Greene was 16, and Dr. Dre was 17. Curtis Young is an aspiring rapper who goes by the rap moniker "Hood Surgeon". In 1988, Dr. Dre had his second son, Andre Young Jr., with Jenita Porter. Porter sued Dr. Dre in 1990 in Orange County Superior Court seeking $5,000 of child support per month. From 1990 to 1996, Dr. Dre dated singer Michel'le, who frequently contributed vocals to Death Row Records albums. In 1991, the couple had a son, Marcel. In 1996, Dr. Dre married Nicole Threatt, the ex-wife of NBA player Sedale Threatt. They have two children together: a son named Truth (born 1997) and a daughter named Truly (born 2001).

On August 23, 2008, Young's second son, Andre Young Jr., died at the age of 20 at his mother's Woodland Hills home. The coroner determined that he died from an overdose of heroin and morphine.

Income

In 2001, Dr. Dre earned a total of about US$52 million from selling part of his share of Aftermath Entertainment to Interscope Records and his production of such hit songs that year as "Family Affair" by Mary J. Blige. ''Rolling Stone'' magazine thus named him the second highest-paid artist of the year. Dr. Dre was ranked 44th in 2004 from earnings of $11.4 million, primarily from production royalties from such projects as albums from G-Unit and D12 and the single "Rich Girl" by singer Gwen Stefani and rapper Eve.

Musical influences and style

Dr. Dre has said that his primary instrument in the studio is the Akai MPC3000, a drum machine and sampler, and that he often uses as many as four or five to produce a single recording. He cites 1970s funk musicians such as George Clinton, Isaac Hayes and Curtis Mayfield as his primary musical influences. Unlike most rap producers, he tries to avoid samples as much as possible, preferring to have studio musicians re-play pieces of music he wants to use, because it allows him more flexibility to change the pieces in rhythm and tempo. In 2001 he told ''Time'' magazine, "I may hear something I like on an old record that may inspire me, but I'd rather use musicians to re-create the sound or elaborate on it. I can control it better." Other equipment he uses include the E-mu SP-1200 drum machine and other keyboards from such manufacturers as Korg, Rhodes, Wurlitzer, Moog, and Roland.

After founding Aftermath Entertainment in 1996, Dr. Dre took on producer Mel-Man as a co-producer, and his music took on a more synthesizer-based sound, using fewer vocal samples (as he had used on "Lil' Ghetto Boy" and "Let Me Ride" on ''The Chronic'', for example). Mel-Man has not shared co-production credits with Dr. Dre since approximately 2002, but fellow Aftermath producer Focus has credited Mel-Man as a key architect of the signature Aftermath sound.

In 1999 Dr. Dre started working with Mike Elizondo, a bassist, guitarist, and keyboardist who has also produced, written and played on records for female singers such as Poe, Fiona Apple and Alanis Morissette, In the past few years Elizondo has since worked for many of Dr. Dre's productions. Dr. Dre also told ''Scratch'' magazine in a 2004 interview that he has been studying piano and music theory formally, and that a major goal is to accumulate enough musical theory to score movies. In the same interview he stated that he has collaborated with famed 1960s songwriter Burt Bacharach by sending him hip hop beats to play over, and hopes to have an in-person collaboration with him in the future.

Work ethic

Dr. Dre has stated that he is a perfectionist and is known to pressure the artists with whom he records to give flawless performances. In 2006 Snoop Dogg told the website Dubcnn.com that Dr. Dre had made new artist Bishop Lamont re-record a single bar of vocals 107 times. Dr. Dre has also stated that Eminem is a fellow perfectionist, and attributes his success on Aftermath to his similar work ethic. He gives a lot of input into the delivery of the vocals and will stop an MC during a take if it isn't to his liking. However, he does give MCs he works with room to write lyrics without too much instruction unless it is a specifically conceptual record, as noted by Bishop Lamont in the book ''How to Rap''.

A consequence of his perfectionism is that some artists that initially sign deals with Dr. Dre's Aftermath label never release albums. In 2001, Aftermath released the soundtrack to the movie ''The Wash'', featuring a number of Aftermath acts such as Shaunta, Daks, Joe Beast and Toi. To date, none have released full-length albums on Aftermath and have apparently ended their relationships with the label and Dr. Dre. Other noteworthy acts to leave Aftermath without releasing albums include King Tee, ''2001'' vocalist Hittman, Joell Ortiz, Raekwon and Rakim.

Collaborators/co-producers

Over the years word of other collaborators has surfaced. During his tenure at Death Row Records, it was alleged that Dr. Dre's stepbrother Warren G and Tha Dogg Pound member Daz made many uncredited contributions to songs on his solo album ''The Chronic'' and Snoop Doggy Dogg's album ''Doggystyle'' (Daz received production credits on Snoop's similar-sounding, albeit less successful album ''Tha Doggfather'' after Young left Death Row Records).

It is known that Scott Storch, who has since gone on to become a successful producer in his own right, contributed to Dr. Dre's second album ''2001''; Storch is credited as a songwriter on several songs and played keyboards on several tracks. In 2006 he told ''Rolling Stone'':

"At the time, I saw Dr. Dre desperately needed something," Storch says. "He needed a fuel injection, and Dr. Dre utilized me as the nitrous oxide. He threw me into the mix, and I sort of tapped on a new flavor with my whole piano sound and the strings and orchestration. So I'd be on the keyboards, and Mike [Elizondo] was on the bass guitar, and Dr. Dre was on the drum machine".

Current collaborator Mike Elizondo, when speaking about his work with Young, describes their recording process as a collaborative effort involving several musicians. In 2004 he claimed to ''Songwriter Universe'' magazine that he had written the foundations of the hit Eminem song "The Real Slim Shady", stating, "I initially played a bass line on the song, and Dr. Dre, Tommy Coster Jr. and I built the track from there. Eminem then heard the track, and he wrote the rap to it." This account is essentially confirmed by Eminem in his book ''Angry Blonde'', stating that the tune for the song was composed by a studio bassist and keyboardist while Dr. Dre was out of the studio but Young later programmed the song's beat after returning.

A group of disgruntled former associates of Dr. Dre complained that they had not received their full due for work on the label in the September 2003 issue of ''The Source''. A producer named Neff-U claimed to have produced the songs "Say What You Say" and "My Dad's Gone Crazy" on ''The Eminem Show'', the songs "If I Can't" and "Back Down" on 50 Cent's ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''', and the beat featured on Dr. Dre's commercial for Coors beer.

Although Young studies piano and musical theory, he serves as more of a conductor than a musician himself, as Josh Tyrangiel of ''TIME'' magazine has noted:

Every Dre track begins the same way, with Dre behind a drum machine in a room full of trusted musicians. (They carry beepers. When he wants to work, they work.) He'll program a beat, then ask the musicians to play along; when Dre hears something he likes, he isolates the player and tells him how to refine the sound. "My greatest talent," Dre says, "is knowing exactly what I want to hear." Dr. Dre's prominent studio collaborators, including Scott Storch, Elizondo, Mark Batson and Dawaun Parker, have shared co-writing, instrumental, and more recently co-production credits on the songs where he is credited as the producer.

Ghostwriters

It is acknowledged that most of Dr. Dre's raps are written for him by others, though he retains ultimate control over his lyrics and the themes of his songs. As Aftermath producer Mahogany told ''Scratch'': "It's like a class room in [the booth]. He'll have three writers in there. They'll bring in something, he'll recite it, then he'll say. 'Change this line, change this word,' like he's grading papers." As seen in the credits for tracks Young has appeared on, there are often multiple people who contribute to his songs (although often in hip hop many people are officially credited as a writer for a song, even the producer).

In the book ''How to Rap'', RBX explains that writing ''The Chronic'' was a "team effort"

Discography

; Solo albums *''The Chronic'' (1992), Death Row

''2001'' (1999), Aftermath

''Detox'' (2011), Aftermath

; Instrumental albums ''The Planets'' (2011), Aftermath

Awards and nominations

Wins

"Let Me Ride" – Grammy Award for Best Rap Solo Performance – 1994

Rap In A Video Dr. Dre (featuring Eminem) — "Forgot About Dre" MTV VIDEO MUSIC AWARDS - 2000

"Forgot About Dre" – Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group – 2001 | (with Eminem)

''The Marshall Mathers LP'' – Grammy Award for Best Rap Album – 2001 (with Eminem)

''Various Productions'' – Grammy Award for Producer of the Year – 2001

"Crack a Bottle" – Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance By A Duo Or Group – 2010 | (with Eminem and 50 Cent)

''Relapse'' – Grammy Award for Best Rap Album – 2010 (with Eminem)

Nominations

"California Love" – Grammy Award Nomination as Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (with 2Pac and Roger Troutman) – 1997

"Still D.R.E." – Grammy Award Nomination Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group (with Snoop Dogg) and The Source Awards Nomination Single of the year – 2000

Filmography

''Set It Off'' ''Up in Smoke Tour'' ''Training Day'' ''Shady Talez (2012 film)

Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
1992	''Niggaz4Life: The Only Home Video''	Himself
1996	|	Black Sam
2000	|	Himself	Documentary
rowspan="2"	2001	|	Paul
''The Wash (film)	The Wash''	Sean
	2012	Shady Talez'' ||		Filming

Notes

References

External links

Official website

Official ''Detox'' blog

Beats by Dr. Dre official site

Dr. Dre at WhoSampled

Dr. Dre at Beatbuggy

Category:1965 births Category:African American film actors Category:African American rappers Category:African American record producers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American music industry executives Category:American music video directors Category:American people convicted of assault Category:Death Row Records artists Category:G-funk Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people Category:N.W.A members Category:People from Compton, California Category:Priority Records artists Category:Rappers from Los Angeles, California Category:Ruthless Records artists Category:Pseudonymous rappers

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
Name	50 Cent
Background	solo_singer
Alias	5-0
Birth name	Curtis James Jackson III
Origin	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States
Birth date	July 06, 1975
Birth place	South Jamaica, Queens, New York, United States
Genre	Hip hop
Occupation	Rapper, Businessman, Actor
Years active	1997 – present
Label	Shady, Aftermath, Interscope
Associated acts	G-Unit, Dr. Dre, Eminem, Sha Money XL, Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo
Website	}}

Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, investor, record producer, and actor. He rose to fame with the release of his albums ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' (2003) and ''The Massacre'' (2005). His album ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' has been certified six times platinum by the RIAA.

Born in South Jamaica, Queens, Jackson began drug dealing at the age of twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. After leaving drug dealing to pursue a rap career, he was shot at and struck by nine bullets during an incident in 2000. After releasing his album ''Guess Who's Back?'' in 2002, Jackson was discovered by rapper Eminem and signed to Interscope Records. With the help of Eminem and Dr. Dre, who produced his first major commercial successes, Jackson became one of the world's highest selling rappers. In 2003, he founded the record label G-Unit Records, which signed several successful rappers such as Young Buck, Lloyd Banks, and Tony Yayo.

Jackson has engaged in feuds with other rappers including Ja Rule, Nas, Fat Joe, Jadakiss, Cam'ron, Puff Daddy, Rick Ross, and former G-Unit members The Game and Young Buck. He has also pursued an acting career, appearing in the semi-autobiographical film ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' in 2005, the Iraq War film ''Home of the Brave'' in 2006, and ''Righteous Kill'' in 2008. 50 Cent was ranked as the sixth best artist of the 2000s by ''Billboard'' magazine. The magazine also ranked him as the fourth top male artist and as the third top rapper behind Eminem and Nelly. ''Billboard'' magazine also ranked him as the sixth best and most successful Hot 100 Artist of the 2000s and as the number one rap artist of the 2000s. ''Billboard'' ranked his album ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' as the twelfth best album of the 2000s and his album ''The Massacre'' as the 37th best album of the 2000s. As of September 2011, 50 Cent is working on his fifth studio album, which is set to be released in 2012.

Early life

Curtis Jackson III grew up in the South Jamaica neighborhood of Queens, in New York City. He grew up without a father and was raised by his mother, Sabrina, who gave birth to him at the age of fifteen.

Sabrina, a cocaine dealer, raised Jackson until the age of twelve, when she was killed in 1988. Twenty-seven at the time, she became unconscious after someone drugged her drink. She was then left for dead after the gas in her apartment was turned on and the windows shut closed.

After her death, Jackson moved into his grandparents' house with his eight aunts and uncles. He recalls, "My grandmother told me, 'Your mother's not coming home. She's not gonna come back to pick you up. You're gonna stay with us now.' That's when I started adjusting to the streets a little bit".

Jackson began boxing around the age of eleven.

At fourteen, a neighbor opened a boxing gym for local kids.

"When I wasn't killing time in school, I was sparring in the gym or selling crack on the strip", he recalled. In the mid 1980s, he competed in the Junior Olympics as an amateur boxer. He recounts, "I was competitive in the ring and hip-hop is competitive too... I think rappers condition themselves like boxers, so they all kind of feel like they're the champ". At the age of twelve, Jackson began dealing narcotics when his grandparents thought he was at after-school programs. He also took guns and drug money to school. In the tenth grade, he was caught by metal detectors at Andrew Jackson High School. He later stated, "I was embarrassed that I got arrested like that... After I got arrested I stopped hiding it. I was telling my grandmother [openly], 'I sell drugs.'"

Following time spent in a correctional boot camp, Jackson adopted the nickname "50 Cent" as a metaphor for "change". The name was derived from Kelvin Martin, a 1980s Brooklyn robber known as "50 Cent". Jackson chose the name "because it says everything I want it to say. I'm the same kind of person 50 Cent was. I provide for myself by any means".

Music career

1996–2000: Early career

Jackson started rapping in a friend's basement where he used turntables to record over instrumentals. In 1996, a friend introduced him to Jam Master Jay of Run-DMC who was organizing his label Jam Master Jay Records.

Jay taught him how to count bars, write choruses, structure songs, and how to make a record. Jackson's first official appearance was on a song titled "React" with the group Onyx on their 1998 album ''Shut 'Em Down''. He credited Jam Master Jay as an influence who helped him improve his ability to write hooks. Jay produced Jackson's first album; however, it was never released.

In 1999, after leaving Jam Master Jay, the platinum-selling producers Trackmasters took notice of Jackson and signed him to Columbia Records. They sent him to a studio in Upstate New York where he produced thirty-six songs in two weeks. Eighteen were included on his unofficially released album, ''Power of the Dollar'' in 2000. He also started the now-defunct Hollow Point Entertainment with former G-Unit affiliate Bang 'Em Smurf.

Jackson's popularity started to increase after the successful but controversial underground single, "How to Rob", which he wrote in half an hour while in a car on the way to a studio. The track comically explains how he would rob famous artists. He explained the reasoning behind song's content as, "There's a hundred artists on that label, you gotta separate yourself from that group and make yourself relevant". Rappers Jay-Z, Kurupt, Sticky Fingaz, Big Pun, DMX, Wyclef Jean and the Wu-Tang Clan replied to the song and Nas, who received the track positively, invited Jackson to travel on a promotional tour for his ''Nastradamus'' album. The song was intended to be released with "Thug Love" featuring Destiny's Child, but two days before he was scheduled to film the "Thug Love" music video, Jackson was shot and confined to a hospital due to his injuries.

2000–01: Shooting

On May 24, 2000, Jackson was attacked by a gunman, alleged to be Darryl "Hommo" Baum, outside his grandmother's former home in South Jamaica, Queens. He went into a friend's car, but was asked to return to the house to get jewelry.

His son was in the house, while his grandmother was in the front yard. Upon returning to the back seat of the car and already seated, another car pulled up nearby. An assailant then walked up to Jackson's left side with a 9mm handgun and fired nine shots at close range. He was shot nine times: in the hand (a round hit his right thumb, to where the bullet passed through and out his little finger), arm, hip, both legs, chest, and his face (his left cheek). The face wound resulted in a swollen tongue, the loss of a wisdom tooth, and a small slur in his voice. His friend also sustained a gunshot wound to the hand. They were driven to the hospital where Jackson spent thirteen days.

Baum, the alleged shooter, was killed three weeks later.

Baum was also Mike Tyson's close friend and bodyguard.

Jackson recalled the incident saying, "It happens so fast that you don't even get a chance to shoot back.... I was scared the whole time.... I was looking in the rear-view mirror like, 'Oh @#!*% , somebody shot me in the face! It burns, burns, burns.'" In his autobiography, ''From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens'', he wrote, "After I got shot nine times at close range and didn't die, I started to think that I must have a purpose in life... How much more damage could that shell have done? Give me an inch in this direction or that one, and I'm gone". He used a walker for the first six weeks and fully recovered after five months. When he left the hospital, he stayed in the Poconos with his then-girlfriend and son. His workout regime helped him attain his muscular physique.

While in the hospital, Jackson signed a publishing deal with Columbia Records. However, he was dropped from the label and "blacklisted" in the recording industry because of his song "Ghetto Qu'ran".

Unable to find a studio to work with in the U.S, he traveled to Canada. Along with his business partner Sha Money XL, he recorded over thirty songs for mixtapes, with the purpose of building a reputation.

According to Shady Records A&R; Marc Labelle in an interview with HitQuarters, Jackson shrewdly used the mixtape circuit to his own advantage saying, "He took all the hottest beats from every artist and flipped them with better hooks. They then got into all the markets on the mixtapes and all the mixtape DJs were messing with them." Jackson's popularity rose and in 2002, he released material independently on the mixtape, ''Guess Who's Back?''. Beginning to attract interest, and now backed by G-Unit, Jackson continued to release music including ''50 Cent Is the Future''. The mixtape revisited material by Jay-Z and Raphael Saadiq.

2002–2009: Rise to fame

In 2002, Eminem listened to a copy of Jackson's ''Guess Who's Back?'' CD. He received the CD through Jackson's attorney, who was working with Eminem's manager Paul Rosenberg. Impressed with the album, Eminem invited Jackson to fly to Los Angeles, where he was introduced to Dr. Dre. After signing a $1 million record deal, Jackson released the mixtape, ''No Mercy, No Fear''. It featured one new track, "Wanksta", which was put on Eminem's ''8 Mile'' soundtrack. He was also signed to Chris Lighty's Violator Management and Sha Money XL's Money Management Group.

In February 2003, Jackson released his commercial debut album, ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''. Allmusic described it as "probably the most hyped debut album by a rap artist in about a decade". ''Rolling Stone'' noted the album for its "dark synth grooves, buzzy keyboards and a persistently funky bounce" with Jackson complementing the production in "an unflappable, laid-back flow".

It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 872,000 copies in the first four days. The lead single, "In da Club", which ''The Source'' noted for its "blaring horns, funky organs, guitar riffs and sparse hand claps", broke a ''Billboard'' record as the most listened-to song in radio history within a week.

Interscope granted Jackson his own label, G-Unit Records in 2003. He signed Lloyd Banks, Tony Yayo, and Young Buck as the established members of G-Unit. The Game was later signed under a joint venture with Dr. Dre's Aftermath Entertainment.

In March 2005, Jackson's second commercial album, ''The Massacre'', sold 1.14 million copies in the first four days-the highest in an abbreviated sales cycle- and peaked at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200 for six weeks.

He became the first solo artist to have three singles on the ''Billboard'' top five in the same week with "Candy Shop", "Disco Inferno", and "How We Do". ''Rolling Stone'' noted that "50's secret weapon is his singing voice - the deceptively amateur-sounding tenor croon that he deploys on almost every chorus".

After The Game's departure, Jackson signed singer Olivia and rap veterans Mobb Deep to G-Unit Records. Spider Loc, M.O.P., 40 Glocc and Young Hot Rod later joined the label. Jackson expressed interest in working with rappers outside of G-Unit, such as Lil' Scrappy of BME, LL Cool J from Def Jam, Mase from Bad Boy, and Freeway of Roc-A-Fella, some of whom he recorded with. In September 2007, he released his third album ''Curtis'', which was inspired by his life before ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''. It debuted at number two on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 691,000 units in the first week, behind Kanye West's ''Graduation'', whom he had a sales competition with, as both albums were released on the same day.

He confirmed on TRL on September 10, 2008 that his fourth studio album, ''Before I Self Destruct'', will be "done and released in November".

On May 18, 2009, Jackson released a song entitled "Ok, You're Right". The song was produced by Dr. Dre and was included in ''Before I Self Destruct''.

In Fall 2009, 50 Cent appeared in the new season of VH1's Behind The Music.

On September 3, 2009 months upon the release of his "Before I Self Destruct" album 50 Cent posted a video for the Soundkillers' Phoenix produced track "Flight 187" which introduced his mixtape, the 50th LAW, and was also featured as a bonus track on his iTunes release of Before I Self Destruct. The song ignited speculation that there was tension between rapper 50 Cent and Jay Z for Jackson's comments in the song.

2010 – present

In an interview with the British entertainment website ContactMusic, 50 Cent announced that he was working on a dance album named ''Black Magic''. 50 Cent said he was inspired by the European nightclubs. "First they played hip-hop which suddenly changed to uptempo songs, known as Eurodance". He went on The Invitation Tour in the summer of 2010, in support of ''Before I Self Destruct'' album, and the then shelved ''Black Magic'' album. He "recorded 20 songs to a whole different album concept" before he put those to the side and did something different.

50 Cent revealed that he wanted his new album to have the same "aggression" as his debut record, ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''.

He later tweeted that the album was "80 percent done", and stated that fans can expect the album in the summer of 2011; however, the album has been delayed to 2012 at the earliest, due to tensions and disagreements at Interscope Records, Later 50 Cent said that he will release his album in November 2011 and it has also been confirmed that "Black Magic" will not be the album's title. 50 Cent has already confirmed that Eminem will appear on the album, but he also confirmed that he has been working with new producers such as Boi-1da and Alex da Kid. Cardiak, who produced Lloyd Banks' “Start It Up”, also confirmed that he had produced a song for the upcoming album.

DJ Whoo Kid confirmed in an interview that 50 Cent was filming a new movie with Robert DeNiro in New Orleans.

50 Cent released the first song from his fifth studio album, titled "Outlaw", to the Internet on June 16, 2011.

The single was produced by Cardiak.

It was released to iTunes on July 19, 2011, although 50 Cent confirmed through his Twitter account that the song was not the album's first single.

50 Cent is set to release a book titled ''Playground''.

Unlike his previous literary efforts — which focus on his life story and the rules of power — this time he's aiming at a teen audience with a semi-autobiographical novel about bullying. According to a statement from the book's publisher, the first-person novel is slated for release in January 2012 and will tell the story of a 13-year-old schoolyard bully "who finds redemption as he faces what he's done."

50 Cent has promised to deliver his fifth studio album album over the past few years, but the LP may be delayed until 2012. In a series of tweets, 50 Cent explained that him and his label Interscope Records aren’t on the same page on how to roll out the album and that he’s delaying its release until they see eye to eye.

50 Cent later suggested that his album will be releasing in November 2011, along with his headphone line ''SMS by 50''.

50 Cent spoke to MTV in relation to the possibility of leaving Interscope Records. "I don't know," 50 told MTV News when asked if he would ink back with Interscope once his five-album deal was fulfilled. "It will all be clear in the negotiations following me turning this actual album in. And, of course, the performance and how they actually treat the work will determine whether you still want to stay in that position or not."

On June 20, 2011, 50 Cent announced that he will release an LP titled ''Before I Self Destruct II''. The announced sequel to his 2009 LP is suggested to be released after his fifth studio album.

On June 26, 2011, 50 Cent planned to shoot a music video for the lead single from his fifth studio album titled ''I'm On It''. However, the music video never surfaced.

50 Cent spoke to Shade45 in relation guest appearances for his fifth studio album. "I did four songs in Detroit with Eminem. I did two with Just Blaze, a Boi-1da joint, and I did something with Alex da Kid. We made two that are definite singles and the other two are the kinds of records that we been making, more aimed at my core audience, more aggressive, more of a different kind of energy to it."

In September 2011, 50 Cent released a song titled "Street King Energy Track #7" in attempt to promote his charitable energy drink ''Street King''.

On September 28, 2011, it was confirmed that 50 Cent is shooting a music video for his lead single from his fifth studio album titled "Girls Go Wild", which features Jeremih.

On October 26, 2011, 50 Cent announced that his fifth studio album will be released in December 2011.

Other ventures

Jackson has established himself in a variety of fields. In November 2003, he signed a five-year deal with Reebok to distribute a "G-Unit Sneakers" line as part of his G-Unit Clothing Company. He provided the voice-over as the protagonist in the video game ''50 Cent: Bulletproof'', which was released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, and the PlayStation Portable.

Its sequel, ''50 Cent: Blood on the Sand'', was released in early 2009. He worked with Glacéau to create a vitamin water drink called Formula 50. In 2007, Coca-Cola purchased Glacéau for US$4.1 billion. ''Forbes'' estimated Jackson, who owns a stake in the company, earned $100 million from the deal after taxes. He has teamed up with Right Guard to launch a body spray called Pure 50 RGX Body Spray and a condom line called Magic Stick Condoms, in which he planned to donate part of the proceeds to HIV awareness.

Jackson has signed a multi-year deal with Steiner Sports to sell his memorabilia.

In 2005, Jackson made a cameo appearance on ''The Simpsons'' episode "Pranksta Rap", in which he makes light of his legal troubles. The same year, he starred alongside Terrence Howard in the semi-autobiographical film ''Get Rich or Die Tryin'''. He starred in the 2006 film ''Home of the Brave'', as a soldier returning home from the Iraq War, traumatized after killing an Iraqi woman.

Jackson is working on a role as a fighter in an Angola State Prison in ''Spectacular Regret'' alongside Nicolas Cage, and starred opposite Al Pacino and Robert De Niro in 2008's ''Righteous Kill'', a movie regarding a police death.

He also started the film production companies G-Unit Films in 2007 and Cheetah Vision in 2008.

In August 2007, Jackson announced plans to launch a dietary supplement company in conjunction with his movie ''Spectacular Regret''.

In August 2005, shortly before appearing in ''Get Rich or Die Tryin''', Jackson published an autobiography entitled ''From Pieces to Weight: Once upon a Time in Southside Queens''. In it, Jackson explores the cultural and economic forces that led him to sell cocaine and crack, details his entrepreneurship as a drug-dealer and then as a rapper, and reflects on his own ethos and on society.

On January 4, 2007, Jackson launched his G-Unit Books imprint at the Time Warner Building. He also co-wrote ''The Ski Mask Way'', a novel about a small-time drug dealer who attempts to rob his employers, which is to be turned into a film. Jackson said he read Robert Greene's ''The 33 Strategies of War'' and worked with the author on a book titled ''The 50th Law'', an urban take on ''The 48 Laws of Power''. In May 2008, Jackson met billionaire Patrice Motsepe to forge a joint venture selling 50 Cent-branded platinum.

In 2008, Jackson started a reality television show on MTV titled ''50 Cent: The Money and the Power''; the winning contestant, Ryan Mayberry, won a $100,000 investment from Jackson.

On September 8, 2009, he published his book ''The 50th Law''.

In 2010, Jackson's film company Cheetah Vision landed $200 million in funding.

In July 2011, 50 Cent revealed his initiative to provide food for millions of people in Africa by 2016. 50 Cent teamed up with Pure Growth Partners to launch a charitable energy drink called ''Street King'' that will help aid in combating world hunger. For every purchase of Street King, a portion of the sales will go to providing a daily meal to an underprivileged child around the world. The partnership coincides with Fiddy’s mission statement of feeding a billion people in Africa over the next five years.

“50 Cent and I share a common vision: To address the world’s problems through smart and sustainable business models,” said Chris Clark, the founder and CEO of Pure Growth Partners. “With the rampant starvation in Africa and hunger afflicting children worldwide, we need socially responsible businesses that affect real change now more than ever.”

50 concurs, stating, “I’m inspired by Clarke’s vision and innovative approaches to tackling serious issues. It’s our mission with Street King to really change children’s lives around the world.”

Jackson founded SMS Audio, selling headphones with the name Street by 50. He has pledged to donate a portion of the sales to charity.

Personal life

Jackson has a tattoo of "Marquise" with an axe on his right biceps. "The axe is 'cause I'm a warrior. I don't want him to be one, though," he explains. He also has "50", "Southside", and "Cold World" inscribed on his back because "I'm a product of that environment. It's on my back, though, so it's all behind me."

Family

On October 13, 1997, Jackson's then-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins gave birth to a son, Marquise Jackson.

The birth of his son changed Jackson's outlook on life: "When my son came into my life, my priorities changed, because I wanted to have the relationship with him, that I didn't have with my father." He credited his son for inspiring his career and being "motivation to go in a different direction".

Politics

In 2005, Jackson expressed support for President George Walker Bush after rapper Kanye West criticized him for the slow response in assisting the Hurricane Katrina victims.

If his felony convictions did not prevent him from voting, he claimed he would have voted for Bush.

He later stated that Bush "has less compassion than the average human. By all means, I don't aspire to be like George Bush."

Wealth

In 2007, Jackson was the second wealthiest performer in the rap industry, behind Jay-Z. He resides in Farmington, Connecticut, in the former mansion of ex-boxer Mike Tyson.

He put the mansion for sale at $18.5 million to move closer to his son who lives in Long Island with his ex-girlfriend. On October 12, 2007, the Mayor of Bridgeport, Connecticut declared it "50 Cent Curtis Jackson Day". He was honored with a key to the city and an official proclamation.

One of his homes in New York purchased for 2.4 million dollars in January 2007 and at the center of a lawsuit between Jackson and ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins caught fire on May 30, 2008 while he was out of town filming for a movie in Louisiana.

In December 2008 Jackson told the Canadian press that he had been affected by the recession, losing several million dollars in the stock market as an investor. He also went on to say that he had been unable to sell his Connecticut mansion and pushed ''Before I Self-Destruct'' back because of the recent economic downturn.

Legal issues

On June 29, 1994, Jackson was arrested for helping to sell four vials of cocaine to an undercover police officer. He was arrested again three weeks later when police searched his home and found heroin, ten ounces of crack cocaine, and a starter gun.

He was sentenced to three to nine years in prison, but managed to serve six months in a shock incarceration boot camp where he earned his GED. Jackson said that he did not use cocaine himself, he only sold it.

His ex-girlfriend Shaniqua Tompkins sued Jackson for $50 million, claiming that he said that he would take care of her for life; the suit, which includes 15 claims was later dismissed by a judge, calling it "an unfortunate tale of a love relationship gone sour."

50 Cent was sentenced to two years probation on July 22, 2005 from an incident in May 2004 when 50 Cent jumped into the audience after being hit with a water bottle. He was charged with three counts of assault and battery.

Lawsuits

On July 21, 2007, Jackson filed a $1 million lawsuit against advertising company Traffix Inc. of Pearl River, New York for using his image in a promotion which he claims threatens his safety.

He became aware of the internet ad after one of his staff members saw it on a MySpace page. According to court documents, the ad features a cartoon image of the rapper and the message: "shoot the rapper and you will win $5000 or five ring tones guaranteed".

Though the ad did not use his name, the image allegedly intended to resemble him, suggesting he endorsed the ad.

The lawsuit calls it a "vile, tasteless and despicable" use of 50 Cent's image that "quite literally calls for violence against him". The lawsuit seeks for unspecified punitive damages and a permanent injunction against the use of his image without permission.

In November 2009, 50 Cent won in a lawsuit against Taco Bell over the fast food chain using his name to promote the brand without his permission.

Feuds

How to Rob

50 Cent said that he intended the single to be a joke, and not meant to disrespect anybody. Nevertheless, a number of rappers mentioned on the song responded on record.

The comments made towards the Wu-Tang Clan were responded to on the Ghostface Killah album ''Supreme Clientele'' on a track called "Ghost Deini" and even more directly on a skit called "Clyde Smith" which included one of the Wu-Tang Clan members talking about how they intended to harm the rapper, which is identifiable as Raekwon when the track is sped up. A supposed diss song, "Who the Fuck Is 50 Cent", which circulated the web in the beginning of 2001 was rumored to be by the Clan, but was proven to be recorded by Polite of American Cream Team (Raekwon's then-side project).

Jay-Z also reacted to the comments in the track called "It's Hot (Some Like It Hot)", off the album ''Vol. 3... Life and Times of S. Carter'':

"Go against Jigga yo' ass is dense I'm about a dollar, what the fuck is 50 Cents?"

Sticky Fingaz responded to the diss with the track "Jackin' for Beats."

"The real 50 from Brooklyn god bless he got outed You just a fake clown who front and rout about it."

Big Pun responds to this track on his album ''Yeeeah Baby'', in the song "My Turn."

"And to the 50 Cent Rapper, very funny – get your nut off, 'cuz in real life, we all know I'd blow your motherfucking head off...If I'm gonna write a song, it'll be about how I had to beat your mothafuckin' ass. And that'll be the name of the motherfucker: 'That's Why I Had To Beat Your Motherfucking Ass', featuring Tony Sunshine."

Kurupt responded on the diss track "Callin' Out Names."

"Now it's 50 mc's that ain't worth shit Get ya ass kicked 50 times, beat to 10 cent"

Wyclef Jean responded on the song "Low Income", from his 2000 album, ''The Ecleftic''.

"I stay so hungry that if 50 Cent came to rob me he'd be part of my charity."

The Inc.

Before signing with Interscope, Jackson engaged in a well-publicized dispute with rapper Ja Rule and his label The Inc.. Jackson claims that a friend robbed Ja Rule of his jewelry and that Ja Rule accused him of setting it up. However, Ja Rule claimed the conflict stemmed from a video shoot in Queens because Jackson did not like seeing him "getting so much love" from the neighborhood. In March 2000, while at The Hit Factory studio in New York, Jackson had an altercation with Murder Inc. associates. He was treated for three stitches after receiving a stab wound. Rapper Black Child claimed responsibility for the stabbing, saying he acted in self-defense because he thought someone reached for a gun.

An affidavit by an IRS agent suggested that Murder Inc. had ties to Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff, a New York drug lord who was suspected of being involved in the murder of Jam Master Jay and the shooting of Jackson. An excerpt of the affidavit read:

In an interview with MTV, Ja Rule acknowledged his defeat against 50 Cent and stated that his new album, The Mirror, will not be continuing any past feuds that he has engaged in. He said: There was a lot of things I wanted to say, and I didn't want there to be any bitter records on the album. Because I'm not bitter about anything that happened [in the past few years].

Fat Joe, Nas & Jadakiss

Before releasing ''The Massacre'', Jackson recorded a song "Piggy Bank", a response to Ja Rule's song "New York", which was leaked before the album's release. The song takes aim at rappers including Fat Joe, Nas, and Jadakiss. Fat Joe responded with a song, "My Fofo", accusing Jackson of taking steroids, hiding in his home, and being jealous of The Game. Jadakiss also responded with a song, "Checkmate", and said that Jackson was trying to "create a buzz for his new album". The "Piggy Bank" music video portrays animated caricatures of Jadakiss (as a Ninja turtle), Fat Joe (as King Hippo from ''Mike Tyson's Punch-Out''), Nas (as a kid chasing a "milkshake" truck in a Superman costume), and The Game (as Mr. Potato Head). He also disses all of them on the beef version of his single "Window Shopper" Kelis, Nas's then-wife, responded to the song on her single "Bossy". Nas later responded with "Don't Body Ya Self (MC Burial)." Nas later dissed 50 on the song "Street Ridaz" on Game's mixtape "Brake Lights".

Sean Combs

Jackson spoke negatively about Bad Boy Entertainment mogul Sean Combs and recorded a song, "Hip-Hop", revealing the reasons behind his negative feelings: primarily, a contract dispute over Mase. In the song, he implied that Diddy knew about The Notorious B.I.G.'s murder and threatened to expose him through former associates. The feud was resolved, with both rappers appearing on MTV's ''TRL'' and ''Sucker Free'', respectively, stating that there were no longer problems. The feud reignited in 2010 with 50 Cent dissing Diddy, saying his music "sucks".

Cam'ron

On February 1, 2007, Cam'ron and Jackson had a live argument on ''The Angie Martinez Show'' on Hot 97 radio. Jackson commented that Koch Entertainment was a "graveyard", meaning major record labels would not work with their artists. Cam'ron then ridiculed the record sales of G-Unit members Lloyd Banks and Mobb Deep by stating that Jim Jones outsold their albums despite being signed to an independent label and that his group, The Diplomats, had a distribution deal from several labels. Both rappers released "diss" songs with videos on YouTube. Jackson suggested in "Funeral Music" that Cam'ron is no longer able to lead The Diplomats and that Jim Jones should take his place. Cam'ron responded with "Curtis" and "Curtis Pt. II", in which he makes fun of Jackson's appearance, calling him "a gorilla, with rabbit teeth". Jackson responded by releasing "Hold On" with Young Buck.

Game

Although he was close with The Game, before The Game released his debut album ''The Documentary'', they soon became at odds. After its release, Jackson felt The Game was disloyal for saying he did not want to participate in G-Unit's feuds with other rappers and even wanting to work with artists they were feuding with. He also claimed that he wrote six songs on the album and was not receiving proper credit for his work, which The Game denied.

Jackson later dismissed The Game from G-Unit on Hot 97 radio. After the announcement, The Game, who was a guest earlier in the evening, attempted to enter the building with his entourage. After being denied entry, one of his associates was shot in the leg during a confrontation with a group of men leaving the building. When the situation escalated, both rappers held a press conference to announce their reconciliation. Fans had mixed feelings as to whether the rappers created a publicity stunt to boost the sales of the albums they had just released. Nevertheless, even after the situation deflated, G-Unit criticized The Game's street credibility. The group denounced The Game and announced that they will not be featured on his albums. During a Summer Jam performance, The Game launched a boycott of G-Unit called "G-Unot".

After the performance at Summer Jam, The Game responded with "300 Bars and Runnin'", an extended "diss" aimed at G-Unit as well as members of Roc-A-Fella Records on the mixtape ''You Know What It Is Vol. 3''. Jackson responded through his "Piggy Bank" music video, which features The Game as a Mr. Potato Head doll and also parodies other rivals. Since then both groups continued to attack each other. The Game released two more mixtapes, ''Ghost Unit'' and a mixtape/DVD called ''Stop Snitchin, Stop Lyin''.

Jackson posted a cover of The Game's head on the body of a male stripper for "Hate It or Love It (G-Unit Radio Part 21)" mixtape, as a response to The Game displaying pictures of G-Unit dressed as Village People. Although he was signed to Aftermath Entertainment, The Game left the label and signed with Geffen Records to terminate his contractual obligations with G-Unit (although others claim Jackson pressured Dr. Dre to kick him off). G-Unit member Spider Loc had also began to insult The Game on various songs. In addition, The Game released "240 Bars (Spider Joke)" and "100 Bars (The Funeral)" both attacking G-Unit, Spider Loc and others. Jackson's response was "Not Rich, Still Lyin'" where he mocks The Game. Lloyd Banks replied to the Game on a Rap City freestyle booth session. The Game quickly released a "diss" record called "SoundScan" where The Game pokes fun at Lloyd Banks' album ''Rotten Apple'' falling thirteen spots on the ''Billboard'' 200 chart and disappointing second week sales. Lloyd Banks replied on his mixtape ''Mo' Money In The Bank Pt. 5: Gang Green Season Continues'' with a song called "Showtime (The Game's Over)". Lloyd Banks states that Jackson wrote half of The Game's first album ''The Documentary'' and pokes fun at The Game's suicidal thoughts.

In October 2006, The Game extended a peace treaty to Jackson, which was not immediately replied to. However, a couple days later, on Power 106, he stated that the treaty was only offered for one day. On The Game's album, ''Doctor's Advocate'', he claims that the feud is over on a few of the songs.

In July 2009, The Game stated the beef was squashed with help from Michael Jackson and Diddy, and he apologized for his actions during the beef. Tony Yayo said that neither Jackson (50 Cent) or G-Unit would accept his apology. Since then, The Game continued his old "G-Unot" ways at live concerts. Jackson released "So Disrespectful" a diss song on ''Before I Self Destruct'' targeting Jay-Z, The Game and Young Buck. Game later responded with the song "Shake", poking fun of the music video for 50's single "Candy Shop", quote, "Me and 50 aint agreeing on shit so I had to (Shake) Aint no telling what he putting in that protein (Shake) Seen the candy shop video look at this nigga (Shake) And thats the same shit that made the nigga Young Buck (Shake)". He also takes shots at Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo, in which he says, "I'm surprised that Lloyd Banks and Yayo didn't (Shake) Wasn't selling no records Jimmy Iovine said (Shake)". Game also dissed G-Unit several times on the song "400 Bars".

In September 2011, 50 Cent dissed Game on the song "Love, Hate, Love", in which Game responded to on his twitter, saying he was going to diss him back after his tour was finished, quote:

Rick Ross

In January 2009, Rick Ross started a feud with 50 Cent because he supposedly looked at him the wrong way at the BET Awards. However, Jackson told news sources that he did not even remember seeing Rick Ross there. In late January, a track entitled "Mafia Music" by Rick Ross, leaked onto the Internet. There were several lines that seem to diss Jackson. Days later, Jackson released "Officer Ricky (Go Head, Try Me)" in response to Rick Ross's disparaging remarks on his "Mafia Music" song. The next day Rick Ross appeared on Shade 45, and told Jackson to come up with something better in 24 hours.

Before going to Venezuela, Jackson uploaded a video entitled "Warning Shot", where he warns Rick Ross: ''"I'ma fuck your life up for fun"''. In addition, Jackson released the first of a series of "Officer Ricky" cartoons. Early February, Jackson once again made a video which he uploaded to YouTube where he interviews "Tia", the mother of one of Rick Ross's children. She verifies his being a correctional officer and claims his whole persona is fake and fraudulent. On Thursday, February 5, 2009, The Game, who Jackson has a long-standing "beef" with, called up Seattle's KUBE 93 Radio Station. When asked about the beef between Jackson and Rick Ross, The Game sided with Jackson and said that things are not looking good for Rick Ross. However, he offered to help Rick Ross get out of this situation, stating ''"Rick Ross, holla at your boy, man,"'' and ''"50 eating you'', boy."

On his album ''Deeper Than Rap'', Ross references Jackson in the song "In Cold Blood". A video for the song was released that portrayed Jackson's mock funeral. Upon release, Ross stated that he has ended Jackson's career.

In an interview, Jackson said: "Rick Ross is Albert From CB4. You ever seen the movie? He's Albert," he added. "It never gets worse than this. You get a guy that was a correctional officer come out and base his entire career on writing material from a drug dealer's perspective such as "Freeway" Ricky Ross."

Lil Wayne

After hearing word that Lil Wayne had prepared a song for him after 50 made some unkind remarks, 50 lashed out at Wayne first on August 17, 2007 with the song "Part Time Lover". Wayne never really responded to the song, although a 50 Cent diss track called "Louisianimal" did leak much later on November 17, 2008. Jackson responded to Lil Wayne in January 2009 in a song entitled "Play This On The Radio". As of August 14, 2009, the controversy between Jackson and Lil Wayne seems to have ended after Jackson appeared and performed at Lil Wayne's America's Most Wanted Musical Festival stop in Anaheim, California.

Young Buck

After numerous rumors of a "beef" within G-Unit, Jackson officially dismissed Young Buck from the group, in 2008. He later assured that he was still signed with the label. Numerous slander songs then arose on the internet from both camps, with Young Buck appearing in a music video of former rival The Game. Jackson then leaked a taped phone conversation between himself and Young Buck, which showed one of the true reasons for the falling out; Jackson was owed money by the Southern rapper. Young Buck later stated the conversation took place over a year before the leak. The two camps have since released a multitude of songs against each other, with the feud settling down by 2009, with Young Buck stating he's been working on his latest album, which is still to be released under the G-Unit label.

Discography

''Get Rich or Die Tryin''' (2003)

''The Massacre'' (2005)

''Curtis'' (2007)

''Before I Self Destruct'' (2009)

''Fifth studio album'' (2012)

Awards and nominations

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Notes
2003	''50 Cent: The New Breed''	Himself	Documentary DVD
2005		Marcus	Film debut
2006		Jamal Aiken	Supporting Role
	''Righteous Kill''	Spider	Supporting Role
	Clarence	Supporting Role
''50 Cent: The Money and the Power''	Himself	TV series (one episode: "Choose Your Crew Wisely")
	''Streets of Blood''	Stan Johnson
	Himself	TV series (Season 6, Episode 3: "One Car, Two Car, Red Car, Blue Car")
	Thigo
''Caught in the Crossfire''	Tino	Executive producer
		Jimy
	Rich
	Lionel	Supporting Role
	Himself
		Black	Post-production
''Blood Out''	Hardwick
	Sonny
	''All Things Fall Apart''	Deon
	Malo
	–	Producer
	Shamus Cocobolo
		Pre-production

Voice work

Year	Film	Role	Notes
	''The Simpsons''	Himself	TV series (one episode: "Pranksta Rap")
''50 Cent: Bulletproof''	Himself	Video game, voice only
	''50 Cent: Blood on the Sand''	Himself	Video game, voice only
''Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2''		Video game, voice only

References

External links

50 Cent at AOL Sessions

* Category:1975 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from New York City Category:African-American businesspeople Category:African American film actors Category:African-American film producers Category:African American rappers Category:African American record producers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:American investors Category:American music industry executives Category:American shooting survivors Category:American stock traders Category:American video game actors Category:Brit Award winners Category:Echo winners Category:Businesspeople from New York City Category:Grammy Award winners Category:G-Unit members Category:Hip hop singers Category:People convicted of drug offenses Category:People from Queens Category:Pseudonymous rappers Category:Rappers from New York City Category:Shady Records artists Category:Survivors of stabbing Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:World Music Awards winners

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Coordinates	28°36′36″N77°13′48″N
name	Stat Quo
birth date	July 24, 1978
background	solo_singer
birth name	Stanley Benton
origin	Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.
genre	Hip hopGangsta rap
instruments	Guitar, Keyboard
associated acts	Dr. Dre, Eminem, Bobby Creekwater, Chamillionaire, 50 Cent, Young Buck, Obie Trice, GLC, Ski Beatz
occupation	Rapper
years active	2003–present
label	Shady/Aftermath/Interscope (2003-2008)Dream Big Ventures (2009-current)
website	www.statquo.com }}

Stanley Benton, better known as Stat Quo, is an American rapper. Benton worked his way to college and attended University of Florida, where he majored in economics and international business in 2000. Benton was contemplating law school, until veteran Southern rapper Scarface encouraged him to rap professionally. After 50 Cent, Stat Quo was the second artist signed to both Shady Records and Aftermath Entertainment and became Dr. Dre and Eminem's newest protégé. Stat Quo was supposed to release his debut album, ''Statlanta'', with Shady/Aftermath but, despite being made three different times, the album was never released by the labels. ''Statlanta'' was finally released on 13 July 2010 by Sha Money XL's label Dream Big Ventures.

Biography

Early life

Stanley Benton was born in Thomasville Heights, a neighborhood of Atlanta, Georgia, at Grady Memorial Hospital. In his early life, he lived with his mother and grandmother. Benton started freestyle rapping at around the age of 12. Later, his mother bought him a radio, and he would record himself rapping. In 1997, Benton started taking rap seriously, but continued with his education.

Career

Stat Quo was discovered towards the end of 2003. Dr. Dre and Eminem individually came to know of the Atlanta-based rapper via his ''Underground Atlanta'' mixtapes. After Eminem heard his music, he gained interest and passed it on to Dr. Dre, and a joint deal was reached, resulting in Stat Quo becoming the third artist to be signed to Aftermath Entertainment and Shady Records.

His debut album ''Statlanta'' was originally slated to be released in 2003, but was repeatedly pushed back until finally being released in 2010 but it is not the original Statlanta recorded on Shady/Aftermath. Stat Quo is also featured on Young Buck's ''Straight Outta Cashville'', the compilatation ''Eminem Presents the Re-Up'' and on the track "Spend Some Time" on Eminem's ''Encore''. Stat has also appeared on tracks with artists such as Jermaine Dupri, The Alchemist, The Game, Disturbing tha Peace, and Chamillionaire. Stat Quo has said that his "number one goal is to bring a respect, and bring a voice to this whole southern movement around the world."

In 2005, Stat Quo shot a video for his single ''Like Dat''. The song was made to be a buzz single, in order to help the artist become more exposed. The video was shot in Atlanta's Zone 3 near the Thomasville Heights projects where Stat Quo was raised and explained his reason for choosing the location in an interview, stating "It's the beginning of my career, so I wanted to start where I began life, […] Plus, [the city of Atlanta] is supposed to be tearing the projects down, so I wanted to showcase the area I grew up in and capture it before it was gone forever."

He was featured on the summer 2005 Anger Management Tour, which also included Eminem, 50 Cent, G-Unit, Obie Trice, D12, and others. On July 13, 2005, a tour bus carrying Eminem's entourage for the summer's Anger Management tour swerved off the road and turned over. Stat Quo was taken to Independence Regional Health Center in Independence, Missouri, where he was treated and released.

On April 21, 2009, Stat Quo released ''Smokin Mirrors'', a street album, through EMI.

In October 2008, he left Aftermath Entertainment, unhappy with the release status of ''Statlanta''. Stat Quo hoped to release the album in 2009, and promoted the album by releasing multiple mixtapes for free download in 2009, including ''Quo City'', ''Checks & Balance'', and ''The Invisible Man''. It ended up being released on July 13, 2010. He has already started working on an untitled second album.

In 2009, with distribution from The Orchard, producer Sha Money XL founded a new record label, Dream Big Ventures. Quickly upon its creation, Stat Quo was signed to the label. ''Statlanta'' was released on the label.

In March 2010 Stat Quo appeared in a HP commercial alongside Dr. Dre promoting HP Beats Audio Laptops.

Discography

;Studio albums

2010: ''Statlanta''

;Independent albums

2009: ''Smokin Mirrors''

2009: ''Great Depression''

References

External links

Official Stat Quo website

Stat Quo's New in house producer "Lyr1kz" Website

The Stat Quo Interview with DJ Polique on Aftermath Music.com

Stat Quo Interview, 08/07/09

Quo, Stat Category:African American rappers Category:Aftermath Entertainment artists Category:Shady Records artists Category:Living people Category:People from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:1978 births

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