50 Cent

50 Cent

50 Cent exploded onto the music scene with his blockbuster debut Get Rich Or Die Tryin’. Now he’s set to deliver his fourth major label album, Before I Self Destruct (Shady/Aftermath/Interscope), on December 9, 2008.

For the explosive Before I Self Destruct, 50 Cent returned to working closely with Dr. Dre and Eminem as he did on his first album. But Before I Self Destruct is more than an album. The package also includes a DVD with an original, gritty, feature-length movie he wrote, directed and starred in. 50 Cent proves with Before I Self Destruct that no one on the hip-hop scene is more aggressive about putting the street on stage.

With Dr. Dre and Eminem each producing and guesting on tracks, and led by the club-friendly first single, “Get Up,” produced by Scott Storch, Before I Self Destruct is darker and harder than last year’s Curtis. 50 Cent wrote much of the album while he, as Curtis Jackson, was also penning the 90-minute film of the same name that would be his directorial debut.

The film Before I Self Destruct is a coming of age story about an inner city youth raised by a hardworking single mother. When his dream of becoming a basketball player fails to materialize, he finds himself employed in a supermarket. After his mother is tragically gunned down, Clarence (played by Jackson) is consumed by revenge and takes up a life of crime in order to support his younger brother.

"My film captures the harsh realities that reflect so many communities today. There will be some who will greatly identify with the characters and the situations presented and then there will be others who may be shocked at the struggles that go on in the inner city,” states 50 Cent. "I made the film for both groups."

Before I Self Destruct, both album and film, continues 50 Cent’s phenomenal rise from street culture hero to superstardom. 2003’s Get Rich Or Die Tryin’ sold 872,000 units in the first four days of its release, making it the fastest-selling debut disc in the SoundScan era (since 1991). The #1 Pop, #1 R&B/Hip-hop album was the biggest seller of 2003 and has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide.

2005’s The Massacre, again #1 Pop, #1 R&B/Hip-hop, was the second biggest-selling album of that year and has sold more than nine million copies worldwide. With the album’s “Candy Shop,” “Disco Inferno” and “How We Do,” 50 Cent became the first solo artist in Billboard history to have three singles in the Top 5 in the same week.

2007’s Curtis reached #2 Pop and #2 R&B/Hip-hop, selling more than five million copies worldwide. Three tracks reached the Top 40 of the Hot 100: “I Get Money,” “Ayo Technology” and “Straight To The Bank.” Time magazine named “I Get Money” one of “The 10 Best Songs of 2007.”

Thanks to Curtis, 50 Cent was honored as the year’s Best-Selling Hip-hop Artist at the 2007 World Music Awards. His music career has also been marked by an impressive 13 Grammy nominations, from Best New Artist to Best Rap Album.

In addition to his record label, G-Unit Records, 50 Cent has enjoyed enormous global success across a vast array of entrepreneurial ventures, including videogames, books, clothing, footwear, beverages, personal care products, automotive and more. He has also starred in a handful of films, including 2005’s semi-autobiographical Get Rich Or Die Tryin’, Al Pacino and Robert De Niro’s Righteous Kill and now Before I Self Destruct.