BAND ONE
Though he would later struggle with the nature of his fame
as well as market expectations, 50 Cent endured substantial
obstacles throughout his young yet remarkably dramatic life
before becoming the most discussed figure in rap, if not pop
music in general, circa 2003. Following an unsuccessful late-'90s
run at mainstream success (foiled by an attempt on his life in 2000)
and a successful run on the New York mixtape circuit (driven by his
early-2000s bout with Ja Rule), Eminem signed 50 Cent to a seven-figure
contract in 2002 and helmed his quick rise toward crossover success in
2003. The product of a broken home in the rough Jamaica neighborhood
of Queens and, in turn, the storied hood's hustling streets themselves,
50 Cent lived everything most rappers write rhymes about but not all
actually experience: drugs, crimes, imprisonments, stabbings, and most
infamously of all, shootings. Of course, such experiences became 50 Cent's
 
BAND TWO

Though he would later struggle with the nature of his fame
as well as market expectations, 50 Cent endured substantial
obstacles throughout his young yet remarkably dramatic life
before becoming the most discussed figure in rap, if not pop
music in general, circa 2003. Following an unsuccessful late-'90s
run at mainstream success (foiled by an attempt on his life in 2000)
and a successful run on the New York mixtape circuit (driven by his
early-2000s bout with Ja Rule), Eminem signed 50 Cent to a seven-figure
contract in 2002 and helmed his quick rise toward crossover success in
2003. The product of a broken home in the rough Jamaica neighborhood
of Queens and, in turn, the storied hood's hustling streets themselves,
50 Cent lived everything most rappers write rhymes about but not all
actually experience: drugs, crimes, imprisonments, stabbings, and most
infamously of all, shootings. Of course, such experiences became 50 Cent's