- published: 15 Jul 2009
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Curtis James Jackson III (born July 6, 1975), better known by his stage name 50 Cent, is an American rapper, actor, entrepreneur, investor, record, film, and television producer. Born in the South Jamaica neighborhood of the borough of Queens, Jackson began selling drugs at age twelve during the 1980s crack epidemic. Although he left drug-dealing to pursue a musical career, he was struck by nine bullets in a 2000 shooting. After Jackson released the compilation album Guess Who's Back? in 2002, he was discovered by Eminem and signed by Shady Records, Aftermath Entertainment and Interscope Records.
With the aid of Eminem and Dr. Dre (who produced his first major-label album, Get Rich or Die Tryin'), Jackson became one of the world's best selling rappers and rose to prominence with East Coast hip hop group G-Unit (which he leads de facto). In 2003 he founded G-Unit Records, signing his G-Unit associates Young Buck, Lloyd Banks and Tony Yayo. Jackson had similar commercial and critical success with his second album, The Massacre, which was released in 2005. He released his fifth studio album, Animal Ambition, in 2014 and is working on his sixth studio album: Street King Immortal, scheduled for release in 2016.
Jay Wayne Jenkins (born September 28, 1977), better known by his stage name Young Jeezy (or simply Jeezy), is an American hip-hop recording artist from Atlanta, Georgia. In 1998, he launched the label imprint CTE World (then known as Corporate Thugz Entertainment). Aside from his solo career, Jeezy is the de facto leader of the southern hip hop group United Streets Dopeboyz of America (USDA), and is a former member of Bad Boy Records' Boyz n da Hood. Jeezy is also known for helping pioneer the hip hop subgenre trap music, alongside fellow Atlanta-based rapper T.I..
Jeezy embarked on his music career in 2001, as Lil J, with the release of Thuggin' Under the Influence (T.U.I.). He later joined Boyz n da Hood in 2005, the same year his solo major label debut Let's Get It: Thug Motivation 101, was released. Its lead single "Soul Survivor", which features R&B singer Akon, became a top-ten hit in the US. His subsequent albums, The Inspiration (2006) and The Recession (2008), both yielded chart-topping singles. Jeezy has also been featured on numerous hip-hop and R&B hit singles, such as "Say I" by Christina Milian, "I'm So Paid" by Akon, "Hard" by Rihanna and "Love in This Club" by Usher, the latter of which reached number one on the US Billboard Hot 100, in 2008.